Rensselaer Republican, Volume 19, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 March 1887 — LIVES LOST BY FIRE. [ARTICLE]

LIVES LOST BY FIRE.

Flames Speedily .Destroy the Richmond Ilolel and Other Buildings at Buflnlo. Thirty Persons v ßelieyed to Have Been Burned to Death, and Many Badly Injured.

[Buffalo special.] Another calamity has visited Buffalo, The splendid new Richmond Hotel, at the corner of Main and Eagle streets, was totally destroyed by fire early Friday morning, together with tit. James lin.ll und other adjacent property. The most distressful part of ih ■ disa ter is the loss of several human lues. At this writing it is impossible to say just how many persons are killed and injured, but the number is large. The rapidity ot the tire, cutting off all means of escape, ltd some persons to leap for life from the windows. Others got down the fire-escapes or on Ilaves ladders raised by t.,e tire department. The shriekk and cries of ti e poor people in the upper stories of the burning structure wera heartrending. On; man, mad with terror, leaped from a third-story window, and was picked up from the stone sidewalk on Main street a mantled aud bleeding corpse. Several who succeeded in making their escape were badly injured and burned, end some of these, will probably die. Others, more fortunate, escaped with slight injuries. Many of the wounded were Liken to Carney s saloon, and afterward to hospitals. Robert Stafford, Sr., proprietor of the hotel, with his wife, occupied rooms on the second floor, and had a narrow escape. Terror overcame everybody, and even those who escaped in safety were in many cases prostrated by their awful .experiences. There were 125 persons in the hotel, seventy of Whom were transient guests, eight boarders, and the remainder porters, bell-boys, the families of the prop)rietors, and clerks. Twentytwo of these were rescued from the windows by it he firemen, twenty-two are at the hospitals, and a large number made their escape by other means. There is no doubt that at least thirty lives were sacrificed. The spread of the flames is said to have been frightful-in their rapidity,. The ele—vator shaft.served as a flue for the fames, and they rushed up to the top floor in a very few moments. As the guesvs were roused and saw the interior exits cut off’ they turned to the windows. They could be seen in their night-clothes, standing out clear and vivid before the lurid background of the flames. Their screams were horrible to hear, and they could be heard for blocks. The flames spread to the southeast side of the hotel first. The firemen did noble work and' confined the fire to the narrow limits of the three buildings named. Their work of rescue had many exciting incidents. Perhaps the most thrilling escape of any was that of Pres Whittaker, step-son of Proprietor Stafford. He roomed in the fifth story, and when aroused stepped to the window and looked down for a few seconds. Then he deliberately dressed himself aud, emerging from the window, stood on the stone capping above the win-' dow beneath. From this capping be stepped to the next one along the front of the building, and proceeded in this manner to the Hayes truck ladder, at the other extremity of the front. The nerve and coolness displayed were remarkable. Five girls who roomed on the fifth floor made a rope out of the bedclothes and hung it out of the window, but none of them seemed to have the courage to start. At last one of the five took hojd and swung down to a window ledge, from which ’ she was rescued. Three others came down in the same manner, and then the fifth girl started down. She had gone but a little distance when the rope paxtetL and down “she went four stories. Strange to say, she was not killed. Her legs were terribly cut and bruised, her back badly injured, and her face and arms were in a frightful condition from burns. She lay moaning upon a lounge at the Spencer House, begging to be sent home. Her name is said to be Mary Connell.