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Show TELEGRAPHIC' KIKE AND DEATH i:iir.i!nr of the Southern Huli'l, Si. Lou. ik. Forty or Filly I,fveN Lost One Ttillioii Ittilliir ol Property leNiroyel. IIotirt-IieiideriuE Sceucs-Tlie luuiulcH ol the Sixth Story. St. Louio, Mo., 11. The mott frightful calamity that baa ever bo-fill bo-fill len St. Louis Look place at a very o;irly hour thid morning, iuvul ving the destruction of the Southern holul by firo and tlio loa of a large number ol lives. The exact number cannot now be given but it is feared some FOUTY OU FIFTY PERISHED, either by being burned directly, or first smetheri-d hy ibe smoke and then consumed. The fire caught in the store rooms in the basement and was first seen coming through the ground floor, just north of the office, and in ten miiuiteg it had ascendod the elevators and rotunda and epread itself over the uixth floor under the roof. This floor was occupied entirely by employees of the hotel, the largest part of whom were women. Tbe tire spread rapidly, filling every room and hall with the flames and amoke, and the scene was of the most terrible deecription. Frantic MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN ran through the halls shrieking in the most heartrending manner in their wild and desperate etlorts to escape. The Bmoke was so deuso in eome ol the halls that tho gas jets were extinguished, ex-tinguished, which rendered egress to those most familiar with the building a matter of great difficulty. The density of the smoke in the halls drove manv PiieRL and rmrmlprs hark- into their rooms, and they RUSHED TO TIIE WINDOWS as a means of escape. Ladders were raised art eoon as possible and the women and children with nothing on but their night clothes were taken from the burning building. Some fainted from Iright and others sank exhausted to the ground from nervous ner-vous prostration. The ladders were generally too Bhort to reach the fifth and sixth stories, but by hoisting some on the one etory balcony on the east Bide and the two story balcony on the north si lo of the building these floors were icached and all those at the windows rescued. The 6KINSER FIRE ESCAI'E was brought into Bcrvice and was the meanB of saving many lives. While this work was going on some frightful fright-ful scenes occurred. One man who had been occupying a window on the street front of the hotel became desperate at the seeming delay in cflooting his escape. With nerveus hands he tore the sheets from his bed into strips, tied them together, fastening fasten-ing this improvised rope to the window sill, and disregarding the (act that it did not roach more than twenty feet, bo let himself down, hand over hand. Men below who saw his position turned away their heads to avoid witnessing the sickening event that was inevitable. Finally he roached the end of the sheet and then for the first time he teemed to realize his position. He stopped, threw his head back, revealing a ghastly face, and ewuhg slowly to and fro, swayed by the breeze which the roaring flames above created; his liml-s swung around convulsively as though to catch around something. Then he let go and groans went up from hundreds as he WHIRLED ROL'ND AND RODND and finally Btruck on tho etone flagging. flag-ging. He died in a few moments. Two other men jumped from the fourth story windows, one of whom seemed not to be dangerously hurt, while the other expired in a few momenta. mo-menta. A woman in the fifth Blory became panic-stricken and jumped out. She alighted on her feet and was carried to the Saint James hotel still alive. Her husband who had been standing by her side then tore up the beading and lot the strip so made out of the window. To this the firemen attached a rope, which the man hauled up, making it fast to the window-eill, and SAFELY DESCENDED BY IT. A man named J. E. Wilson jumped from the fourth Btory window and was killed. Andrew Easmaa and Mrs. Scott met their death in the same way. The mortality among the female help of the hotel is feared to be great. There were some two hundred of them, all of whom were lodged in the upper story of the building. The panic among them was perfectly terrible, ter-rible, and a number of them jumped from the upper windows. Among those known to have been killed in this manner were Bridget Mead, Mary Uarey, Bridget White, Ellen Reilly, and several others, who were carried away by friends, and whose names are not yet ascertained. Miss KATE CLAXTON, TUB ACTRESS, had another narrow escape and is unharmed. un-harmed. Among those known to have been saved are K. Kreitz, Texas; Mrs. A. McCoy, Altoona, Pa.; Mrs. Gott, SyracuEC, N. Y.; W. B. Coggs-well Coggs-well and family, and E. J. Kimball of Missouri; Dr. Gerlock, German consul, jumped from a window and broke ft leg. His wife is unhurt. Charles Teoman lost his life in attempting to save others. Phillip Ceroid, boarder at the hotel, wag brought out alive, but entirely bereft of reason. In about half an hour after the fire was discovered the entire en-tire roof was ablaze and the flames were rapidly descending to the lower stories. Half an hour later the floors and interior walls began to fall, the roof fell iu, and there is now nothing left of the building except the Walnut street front, and parts of the Fourth and Fifth Btreet faces. The loss on the building and contents will be from $700,000 to $ 1,000,000; insurance unknown. un-known. The engines still are playing on the fire and a force has been organized to search for the bodies. Several bodies have already been taken from the debris in a more or leas burned state, but their uameB ure not yet ; ascertained. There aro also several bodies at the Morgue, awaiting identification, Mrs. Mora's servant was killed hyjumping from a window. George Frank Geomley, grand secretary of the grind lodge of Freemasons of Missouri, is supposed to have perished, bix other persons, i namcB unknown, were killed either by jumping from the windows or were sullocatcd by the tmoke aud dragged out of the burning building, it is difficult to procure the names of the killed, but it is hoped a nearly complete list will be obtained this afternoon. New York, 11. Tho excitement relative to the fatal fire at St. Louis has been very gre.it, ad well as the anxiety 'o ascertain the names ol 1 1.00 lost. Several hotel difp'ayed at half mast. Mr. tiretdm, cue of "the proprietors of the Southern hotel, is interested in the Gilsey house, Metropolitan hotel, and St. Jamus in this city while the company of the firm is a party in Buffalo. j Boston, 11. The insurance companies compa-nies here have f 57,000 insurance on the burned building, ONE HUNDRED AND TWEVTYFtYE KILLED. Chicago, 11. The Journal's Si. Louis special estimates the killed at and says that forty are at the morgue and twenty have baen recognized recog-nized hy their friends and taken away. The hotel cost $1,000,000 al the b(-yinning of the war. Tho insurance in-surance is $'J'J2,000, and on the furniture fur-niture $200,000. |