Democratic Sentinel, Volume 14, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 October 1890 — DEATH IN THE FLAMES. [ARTICLE]

DEATH IN THE FLAMES.

TERRIBLE LOSS OF LIFE IN A HOTEL FIRE. Between Twenty-five and Fifty People Burned to Death in the Leland Hotel, at Hyracn«e. N. Y.—A Scene of Wild Con-fusion-Guests Crazed with Fright. [Syracuse dispatch.] From twenty-five to fifty lives were lost early this morning by the burning of the Leland Hotel here, the largest hotel in Central New York. The building will prove a total loss. An eye witness says that he saw twenty-five people lose their lives in attempting to escape, and a guest who narrowly escaped death says that fully twice that number have perished in the burning building. The fire started a few minutes after 1 o’clock this morning, and almost instantly the largo structure was enveloped in flames from cellar to roof. Every effort was made to arouse the sleeping guests, but the smoke in the halls was so dense that it was found impossible to reach the upper floors, and it is believed many persons were suffocated and their bodies burned. A number of people jumped from windows and were killed or injured. The fire started in the kitchen near the elevator, and shot up tho shaft with almost incredible rapidity to the sixth story and*burst through the roof. All the fire engines'of the city were quickly upon the scene, but the fire continued to gain headway, and it soon became apparent that the building would be destroyed. The firemen worked heroically to save the inmates of the hotel, and a number were dragged unconscious from the first, second, and third stories, above which the rescuers could not ascend on account of the dense smoke which filled the upper stories. The scene was one of the wildest confusion. People were seen at the windows on every floor, shrieking frantically for help, which could not be given them. Many fell back into the flames, fainting and exhausted, while others hurled themselves from the windows, meeting instant death on the pavement. Many who escaped from the lower stories will die from the effects of their injuries, occasioned by the flames and portions of the falling walls. How many victims perished will not be known until the fire has spent its force and the debris has been cleared away. Indications, however, are that at least fifty persons have lost their lives, and probably a much larger number. The hotel was well filled with guests, and though many escaped, it seems almost certain that the loss of life has been very large. Five bodies partially hidden by bricks are lying ip the alley, but cannot be reached, owing to the intense heat. Two of the victims were women, and are supposed from the location of the bodies to have been domestics who jumped from their dormitory on the sixth floor. One woman was being lowered from a window by the aid of a rope and had reached a point opposite the third story when the rope became ignited from a burning sill. The rope parted and the woman fell to tbe pavement. Her brains were dashed out and her body flattened into a shapeless mass. So great is the confusion and excitement that the indentity of those killed and injured cannot be ascertained. Undertakers and ambulances are flying in all directions, and the streets in the neighborhood of the ill-fated hotel are thronged with excited crowds of people. Every physician in the city is on the scene, apd the wounded are being cared for as well as possible. Among those injured is Cora Tanner, the actress, who was severely burned about the head and feet She was playing an engagement at the Grand Opera House and had a room in tho hotel. Frank Casey of Glens Falls, N. Y., and Emil Forbes, a prominent brewer of Syracuse, are among the dead. Many lives were lost by people crazed with fright jumping from windows. One man says he saw six people jump from different windows on the Fayette street side of the building within a space of four minutes, and the sight sickened him with its horror, and he was compel? led to leave tho spot. The building was provided with both iron fire escapes on the outside and ropes on the inside, which were the means of saving many lives. Burnet Forbes, a stock-brokter, escaped into the street almost naked. He was slightly injured about the hands. He loses a gold watch valued at §SOO and all his clothing. One woman was found with a nursing babe in her arms crouched in a stairway, whore she had been overcome by smoke. She was removed by the firemen, but has not yet regained consciousness, aud it is impossible to say what her name or experience was. Escape by the stairways was cut off, and those in tho upper stories were compelled to jump. The clerk of the hotel began sounding in the alarm by telephone, but the flames spread so rapidly that he was driven from the instrument and compelled to jump to save his own life. Nothing is left of the building except the elevator shaft and the chimney. The New York Central Depot, which is across the street from the hotel, was in great danger, but was finally saved. The loss will exceed half a million dollars. This covers the hotel and furniture, the stores on the first floor and their stocks. The insurance will probably be about one-half tho amount of the loss. The hotel was one of the finest in Central New York. It stood on one of the most prominent corners of the city, and was well known to the traveling public of the United States. There were 400 rooms in.the house, and, owing to its convenient location as regards the railroad depot, it had always been’filled with guests. The New York Central Railroad’s station adjoined the hotel. Recently all the rooms and parlors of the house were redecorated and renovated. Elegant furniture was put in, and the entire hotel given a practically new appearance. It was a six-story structure built of stone, brick, and iron. There was an entrance on each corner. Running along the two street sides between the entrances were a number of stores. A restaurant was attached to tbe hotel. All the rooms were steam-heated. The caravansary was owned by Warren Leland, Jr., & Co. Barbers report that hair-dyeing is going out of style. Many “tonsorial parlors” do not keep the dyes. Gray threads in a young man’s head, especially if his occupation can be construed to be intellectual, are considered distingue. A new thing in penwipers is a silver pig whose back is thickly covered with natural bristle*