DEAD

John White, 40 years of age.

Unknown woman and baby.

INJURED

Joe Mullins

Fred Coleman

Bud Hopkins

Nathan Burgess

A. E. Irwin, Night Clerk

MISSING

Room 11, Charles Adams, Manitou

Room 12, A. L.  Blake

Room 14, French and Larsh

Room 16, N. Carson

Room 27, ___ Edwards

Room 29, ___ Lenters

Room 30, Mr. and Mrs. R. C. Greiner

Room 32, Peter Gumry

Room 43, Chambermaid

Room 44, Two musicians

Room 46, ___ Holly

Room 47, Mrs. Wolff and daughter

Room 49, Two chambermaids

Room 63, James Murphy

Room 65, Bell boys

Room 66, ___ Rams

     At midnight last night the Gumry Hotel was destroyed by an explosion which startled the entire downtown region of the city.  In an instant one of the best known hotels of Denver was reduced almost to a heap of ruins.  The front of the structure remained standing, but a great mass of brick and projecting wooden beams marked the spot which had been occupied by the main portion of the hotel. 

Groans of the Dying

     To add to the horrors, fire began to break forth in different places from the ruins.  The groans of human beings in distress came from the smouldering  pile, and had it not been for the most strenuous exertions of the fire department, many imprisoned victims would have been burned to death.

No Estimate of Deaths.

     The great loss of life, the extent of which it is impossible at present to determine, was entirely unexpected.  As soon as the explosion occurred, every guest of the hotel was up.  When the fire department reached the scene, the windows were crowded with human forms and pleaded for help to escape from their perilouis positions.  It was not thought at that time, however, that the flames would complete the work of demolition.  The guests were naturally very much alarmed at the explosion, but in answer to their frantic appearls, they were assured that they were perfectly safe where they were, and indeed it seemed so.  Afterwards when the fire broke out, all calculations were upset, and many who might have been saved at once had it been known, that the fire was to follow went to their awful fates.

     The disaster came so suddently and so unexpectedly that persons arriving on the scene were dazed and stood in mute wonder at the spectacle.  First a dull, heavy report, then a cloud of dust and the sound of breaking glass.  Nearly every plate glass window on Lawrence Street, between Seventeenth and Eighteenth, was smashed, the pieces flying high into the air and covering the entire street from house to house.

     Such a catastrophe has never before been known in Denver.  From midnight until daylight the work of rescue was in progress and may continue for many hours before the whole truth can be known.  The horror of last night beggars decription.

     The first theory of the explosion was that the boiler had exploded.  This theory was disputed by persons familiar with the house, who claimed that the steam pressure was too small at the time to account for such a holocaust.  Dynamite or escaping gas were named as the probable agencies.  It is impossible to know the cause until the ruins have been thoroughly overhauled.

First Summons to Duty.

     At 12 o'clock the fire department was on its way to the scene of the disaster.  The report giving notice of the accident rang out through the stillness of the night and within a few minutes a great crowd of excited people gathered from all directions.  The fire department responded nobly and not a moment was lost by the brave men in beginning the work of rescue.  Ladders were run up to the windows fronting on Lawrence Street and men and women were assisted down the stairway.  The escaping guests found refuge in neighboring lodging houses.  Many of them came away from the hotel in their bare feet, which were badly cut by broken glass in the streets.

     While the fire department was bending its energies to the important work of rescue, a report spread through the crowd that the rear of the building had fallen down, carrying many victims.  The spectators surged around to the alley to find the firemen already bending every exertion to extend assistance.  The cry of a babe caused a thrill to sweep through the hundreds of men and women who look on and in moments of silence the entreating voice of a woman could be heard coming from a great mass of brick and mortar that lay piled forty or fifty feet high near the center of the ruins.  At another point toward the northwest portion of the ruins, the voice of a man was heard.  Men set themselves at work with superhuman exertions to clear away the debris and release the imprisoned human beings.  Nobody could estimate the number of victims in that mass which extended across the alley and as far toward Lawrence Street as the front row of rooms in the building.

Dying Before Thousands

     Buried in the ruins in the rear of the building lay a man, about 40 years of age, black hair, slightly turned gray, black moustache.  He met a most horrible death, living for hours; and slowly dying, conscious of his fate, and yet with a hundred or more willing hands helping their best, a hundred and more anxious hearts bending above him, saw him pass to the great beyond.  It was a pathetic death.  The man evidently knew that the worst was rapidly approaching.  One leg was bound tight by the cruel brick and mortar.  It was suggested that he might be saved by amputating the limb, but no surgical operation could have been performed while the flames played about the body.  The firemen did their best.  "Keep the water playing on that spot," shouted Chief Pearse.  His orders were obeyed.  The slowly dying man spoke weakly. "If you could only get that leg out."  His left arm was free.  With it he picked and threw as best he could bricks that encircled him.  He lived stubbornly and hundreds of eyes gazed in pity upon the awful scene.  Bound to meet his death, he refused to succumb, and remained conscious.  He must have suffered untold agonies. To none he gave his name.  The flames burned on, and it seemed impossible to stay their progress.  His eyes closed, the face grew paler and paler, and still the help that all sought to give did not result in reaching the imprisoned body.

     The word went through the crowd that just beyond their gaze lay a human being who could not by human means be saved from swiftly approaching death.  The eyes of the helpless victim under the debris closed again, to open only upon the same scene, with no help that could solve the problem of saving life.

     Above the ugly walls hung, seeming to be about to bury more beneath fresh ruins. Slowly the gasps came, and when at length the body was lifted out life was extinct. 

     No nobler fight for human life has ever been witnessed.  Every man who stood upon the mass of ruins was in danger himself of being swept to the beyond.  Bravely the firemen fought, but the fates were against them.  The unknown man was doomed to die and human help was unavailing.

     When the body was first discovered it lay upon the bed where the cruel flames commenced the work that ended in the death of the victim.  The tongues ate the pillow, the bed clothes, the framework, and finally reached the helpless being awaiting the end.  There were some groans, a few gasps and the mystery of death was solved by the unfortunate.

Almost Saved

     One poor woman was almost saved.  Assistant Chief Roberts reached her side, but he and his men were driven back by the smoke and fire.  "For God's sake" she cried, "save me."  Then came a rush of flame and smoke and to have remained there would have meant instant death for the firemen.  One arm was above the ruins.  Two children, of which this woman, who spoke with a German accent, was the mother, already lay buried in the ruins, and the agony of the poor woman was ended.  She lay under many feet of brick.  The quiet upturned face tells the whole story.

     Peter Gumry the owner of the building could not be found, and it is thought that he has lost his life in the building.  A search up to this hour has failed to locate him, and from the fact that he would naturally be on hand, the awful conclusion was reached that the gentleman was among the ill-fated.

List of the Guests.

     The following names are taken from the hotel register which was picked up from the debris in the office:

Thursday:

Mrs. F. P. Minton, Lake City, Colo.

W. R. Logan and wife, Buena Vista.

S. Morris, McCook, Neb., 66

J. W. Wilfer, Boston, 65.

Richard White & Wife, Silver Plume, 21.

Ethel White, 20.

James Glynn, Leadville, 5.

Mrs. May Jenkins, Kansas City, 43.

U. P. Updegraff & wife, Topeka, 14.

J. C. Thomas, Chicago, 59.

A. L. Dallas, city, 25.

George Burt, Colorado Springs, 65.

A. J. Snyder, city, 8.

Frank E. White, Lincoln, Neb., 9.

A. W. Hardy, San Francisco, 9.

J. W. Richards, Sioux City, 7.

Mrs. A. Burrows, Collin, Cala., 36.

H. J. Franklin, Colorado Springs, 15.

Friday:

James Mural, Cairo, Ill., 62.

Ray Helmer, Ogden, Utah, 61.

W. R. McCormick, Chicago, 56.

A. L. Blake, Pueblo, 12.

Peter Younger, Geneva, Neb., 5.

Charles D. Meyers, Indianapolis, 4.

William Sayer, Indianapolis, 4.

W. G. Reddin, McCook, Neb., 66.

W. S. Somlinson, McCook, Neb., 66.

Miss Josie Brown, Central City, Colo., 14.

E. M. Dodd, Washington, D. C., 53.

A. L. Dallas and wife, Houston, Tex., 25.

W. L. Bowan, Chicago, 65.

W. H. Snyder, Chicago, 65.

J. H. Hood, Louisville, Colo., 10.

N. J. Allen, McCook, Neb., 70.

George Burt, Colorado Springs, 66.

H. Keilhorn, Salina, Kan., 64.

J. L. Thompson, Butte, Mont., 6.

Agnes King, De Soto, Mo., 95.

A. Berry, Caribou, 23.

M. E. Letson, city, 7.

F. W. Willard, Cleveland, Oh., 72.

W. B. Ropes, Boston, 9.

W. E. McCord, Martinville, Ind., 20.

Mrs. A. Burrows, Colton, Colo., 36.

H. J. Franklin, Colorado Springs, 18.

S. A. Abbey, Pueblo, 14.

Saturday:

John A. Coleman, Omaha, 44.

Bert Crook, Fairplay, 58.

T. S. Rowen, Lake City, 57.

Cecil Bronson, McCook, Neb., 66

E. E. Clark, Black Hawk, Colo., 5.

M. E. Letson, city, 7.

N. Cartens, St. Louis, Mo., 18.

D. E. Clark, Goodland, Kan., 41.

A. Berry, Caribou, 23.

M. J. Baker, St. Louis, 65.

Yesterday the following registered at the hotel:

Mrs. O. H. Knight and sons of Lake City,

21.

J. L. Kirk, Omaha, 65.

J H. Brown, Omaha, 66.

Bud Burns, Colorado Springs, 3.

J. W. Roberts and wife, Colorado Springs,

52.

Miss Jennie Howard, Boston, 49.

Mrs. C. M. Williams, Boulder, 43.

Mrs. Hattie Williams, Boulder, 43.

Mr. and Mrs. W. C. McClain, Huron, Kan.,

53.

Mr. and Mrs. Henry Silvan, Huron, Kan.,

54.

George Bert, Colorado Springs, 66.

F. McClosky, Central City, 59.

F. French, Central City, 14.

B. I. Larsh, 14.

M. E. Letson, city, 7.

W. J. Carson, Pueblo.16.

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FIRE DEPARTMENT

Life Saving the First Effort of Chief Pearse's Men.

     The fire department arrived on the scene in remarkably swift time.  Officer Watson turned in the first alarm and simultaneously a second alarm was turned in.  Watson pulled a box on Seventeenth Street and the second alarm was sent from Eighteenth Street.  Half an hour later the firemen learning that the task before them was too great for them to handle, a general alarm was sent in to bring the entire department to the vicinity of the wrecked building.  Chief Pearse, who had arrived with the first engine and who was only partly dressed, so great was his haste to get to the place, gave his orders rapidly and soon there were several ladders against the front of the structure.  The first firemen to go in and discover the awful havoc that had been done in the rear of the building returned to a front window and shouted down for more men.  At this time there were no signs of fire in the building and the men worked simply to rescue the unfortunates who were still within.

     A moment after the call for more firemen was heard, there was a cry that there were people buried under the ruins in the alley and Chief Pearse hurried a squad of twenty men to help those already at work there.  Fire was discovered a moment later and a steamer was quickly at work pumping water on the ruins.  Assistant Chief Owens had charge of the men who were at work in the rear, while Chief Pearse after giving his first general orders took charge of the front of the building.

     It was feared that the stairs might give way at any moment and the large extension ladder was raised with much labor to the front of the building.  Firemen were sent up this ladder to every story in the building to help those who had gone before them to search for those who were known to be missing. 

Worked with Difficulty.

     The firemen worked under the greatest difficulty, for the floors shook and swayed and it was feared every minute that they would give way.  In the ruins on the alley they were in the greatest danger.  The debris ran up to the second story and gradually sloped down until it was stopped by the fences on the other side of the alley.  Immense timbers rested on the crumbled bricks and every now and then large portions of the debris rolled down and the men were compelled to leave their posts to get out of the way.  Live electric wires broken from their fastenings hung over the alley and threatened each moment to shock whoever came in contact with them.  The electric company, after being notified of the danger, sent a man to the alley and he placed the wires out of the way.

     It was an intensely dramatic scene, the firemen working like mad under the glare of the fitful light thrown by the torches, throwing away brick and tugging at heavy beams to get at the unfortunates whom they heard groaning beneath.

Flames Seize the Ruins

  As they got down deeper into the ruins the debris became hotter until it became too warm to handle and then there was a little of smoke and the mass was in flames.  This soon became known to the spectators who stood about at a safe distance and their faces were blanched with horror.  It required a long time to get a hose through to the fire for the alley was so littered up that the firemen could only move about with difficulty.  Many spectators seized the hose and helped drag it to those working almost under the falling walls.

     In the meantime the men who had gone in through the front of the building had led all the guests they could find to the street.  Then they begun the search for the dead.  Occasionally a piece of glass would fall and then a brick.  The front of the building could not bee seen very distinctly in the darkness, but just above the first story there was a large crack.  There are probably other, but they will not be discovered until this morning.  In the rear, where the building looked as if it had been sliced in two, beams and rafters hung from every floor.  Some of the firemen ventured out on them and made those in the alley below fear for their safety.

     Lawrence Street, in front of the hotel was littered with immense pieces of broken glass from the windows of the structure.  It cut the hose in numerous places and caused miniature fountains to sprout forth, but the firemen, as soon as they discovered this took means to prevent a recurrence.  The front of the building half an hour after the explosion occurred was covered with ladders, but the firemen after getting out those of the guest who were still alive could do little and all that could be spared from the interior of the structure were sent to the rear to help dig out those buried under the ruins.

###

SEVENTY IN THE HOUSE

Thrilling Scenes That Followed the House-Splitting Reverberation.

     It was estimated an hour after the accident that there were seventy to one hundred people in the house when the explosion occurred.  Nearly every room was occupied and a number of the rooms had two guests.  The house was a favorite stopping place for people from all parts of Colorado and for traveling men who do not draw large salaries.

###

Turned in the Alarm.

     Officer Watson was one of the first on the scene after the explosion.  He picked up a man lying on the sidewalk who had been prostrated and leaving him to the care of several men who had hurried to his side turned in the alarm.  The man was covered with blood and was taken to the drug store on the corner and afterward to the city hall.

     C. A. Newberry, who lives on Market Street rushed up from his room, half dressed, and dashed up the steps of the building.  He met a man half blinded on the second floor and led him down stairs.  Then he helped out Mr. Hopkins, a bartender, who had been sitting in the office when the explosion occurred.  Hopkins was badly injured and was carried into the house next door, where he was attended by a physician.

     Pete Daily and ex-Detective Leyden also rescued a number of people.  Daily carried down stairs from the fourth floor Miss Prosser and a child.

     There was a report that John A. Coleman, the comedian, had been killed in the wreck.  Mr. Coleman was found later.  He occupied room 44 on the second floor in the rear.  He had completed his part at the theater and was just entering the hotel when the crash came.  The next he knew the glass began to fall and he fled.  He received no injury at all.  Before he reached the corner in his flight the people began to crowd the street.

     A man was picked up at the corner of Seventeenth and Lawrence Streets.  He was bleeding profusely and his face was terribly lacerated.  He gave his name as Nathan Burgess.  He said that he was passing on Lawrence Street and was in front of the store occupied by the Wilson Sewing Machine Company.  After the crash came the glass upon his head and face and he fell bleeding to the sidewalk.  The police ambulance was called and Burgess was taken to the station.

     T. J. Rowan was in room 57 on the fourth floor when he was awakened by the plastering on the ceiling falling on his face.  He heard the dull sound of the explosion and going out into the hall saw that the rear portion of the house had fallen away.  The stairs were still standing, however, and he groped his way down to the street.

One Woman Missing

     Mrs. A. Schmittal and her two sons, Charles and Leo, had a very narrow escape.  They had just returned from Elitch's Gardens and were preparing for bed when the crash came.  The plastering on the ceiling fell and they were panic stricken and did not know which way to turn.  Finally they ventured out into the hall and were led down stairs by a fireman.  Mrs. G. R. Wolf, who had only arrived yesterday from Lincoln, Neb, had left them a few minutes before to retire to her room, which was No. 47 on the same floor, the fourth.  Her room however, was in the rear, and when Mrs. Schmittal got out in the hall she could see nothing of the room.  She fears that her friend is among the dead.  Mrs. Wolfe's husband only left her yesterday morning to go to Pueblo.

     Mrs. Schmittal and her sons were taken to the Windsor Hotel.  She was clad only in a wrapper and her sons had only their trousers and shirts on. The grief of the poor woman over the loss of her friend was pitiful.

     W. G. Purcell occupied room 17 on the second floor. He dashed out after he heard the crash of timbers and was one of the first to reach the street.  His room, fortunately, was a front one, and although it was badly wrecked, he had no difficulty in escaping.

     William Rubbe, the proprietor of the barroom, next to the office was talking to his partner, Mr. Hopkins, when he found himself lying on the floor covered with plaster.  He picked himself up as soon as he could and groped his way to the street.  Mr. Irving, the clerk, was near him at the time and also escaped, but he disappeared after he reached the street and could not be found. 

     Just before this occurred James Murphy, a wealthy contractor, had been talking with Mr. Rubbe.  He left to go to his room and that was the last seen of him.  Mr. Rubbe fears that he is lost.  Mr. and Mrs. Greiner and Mr. Gumry, the owners of the hotel, all occupied back rooms, Mr. Rubbe said, and he feared that they had not escaped.

Proprietors and Wives Buried.

     A woman, formerly housekeeper was seen standing in front of the house and wringing her hands an hour after the accident occurred.  She was almost distracted but said that Mr.. Gumry and Mr. and Mrs. Greiner were in the ruins.  Mr. Gumry and Mrs. Greiner, were proprietors of the house and both of them had rooms on the third floor in the rear of the building.  Mrs. Greiner acted as day clerk.  It was estimated that there were 60 to 100 people in the building when it collapsed.  Several of them occupying front rooms dashed down the front stairway and disappeared in the darkness very soon after the great clouds of dust lifted in the air.

     W. C. McClain, wife and baby of Horton, Kansas, came in from Manitou last evening on the 7:30 train and were assigned to the rooms on the fifth floor.  With them were Henry Sloan and wife of the same city, and they were assigned rooms just in the rear of those occupied by Horton and his wife.  When the crash came the rear wall, a greater part of the ceiling and some of the floor of the room occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Sloan went out.  The falling plaster bruised the arm of the husband most severely, but the wife and little injured.  They made their escape to the street by way of the stairs, though but one was allowed to go down at a time.  Mr. Horton is cashier of the Horton State Bank and with his friends has been making a tour of the state and its points of interest.  He was unable to tell more of his experiences than to say there was a great noise and a great cloud of dust and the falling of walls and debris of all sorts.  They felt their way carefully down the stairs, the light being just enough to enable them to ascertain where the next step was, but not bright enough to see whether the footing was secure.  Through the hallways, full of crumbling plastering and debris of all sorts, an anxious half hour, it seemed was spent in making the way continuously to a lower floor and from there they escaped with their family to the roof of the next building and were shown down by firemen.

     W. R. McCormick, a mining man, occupied room 50 on the fourth floor.  He says that at least half the people occupying rooms on that floor died in the flames. "I happened to know of the fire escape on the next building, and that is the way I got out.  If I hadn't noticed that I would not be here to tell the story."

     Mr. McCormick says that the scenes in the building were pitiful.  One lady occupying a room called upon him to help her.  She shouted from the window of her room when Mr. McCormick was upon the roof.  To retreat would have meant instant death to the retreating miner, and he could do nothing for the unfortunate guest.  Again she shouted, "For God's sake, save me.", but he was powerless to help her.

     Bud Hawkins, a bar-tender, was taken out of the building in an unconscious condition from suffocation.  It was impossible to tell whether his condition was critical or not. He was taken to the county hospital.

     One old man whose name was not learned, made his way through the smoke from the fourth story and escaped in the crowd.

     Alexander Graydon, a traveling man of Indianapolis, was asleep in room 33 on the fourth floor of the building when the collapse occurred.  "I found myself lying on the floor," said he, "nearly suffocated by a dense cloud of dust.  There was not light burning in the building.  I burst open the door and broke into the next room, which fronted on the street.  There I found a lady and gentleman who were greatly agitated, but were not injured."

(Continued next column top of page.)

     Mr. Graydon says he reached the pavement by climbing downstairs, although he had to make a jump of six feet in order to pass a break in the stairs.  Mr. Graydon is of the opinion that nearly every room in the house was occupied, as he had difficulty in securing a room last Friday.  He thinks, all the guest in the front rooms escaped uninjured.

     Fred Coleman, a commercial traveler, was carried from the building soon after the collapse.  He appeared to be suffering from shock to the entire system.

     Fred Hopkins was standing in the office when the explosion took place.  He was thrown to his feet and blinded and hurt by the flying splinters and plaster.

      The police ambulance was called when Nathan Burgess, who was injured by flying glass was picked up from the sidewalk.  Police Surgeon Mack was in charge and Burgess, who had been taken into the patrol wagon was removed to the ambulance.  His face was horribly cut by the glass.  Soon after the ambulance arrived Police Surgeon Jarecki put in an appearance and assisted Mack in caring for the wounded.  Several other physicians and surgeons went to work to alleviate the sufferings of those who escaped from a horrible death with slight injuries.

     Frank Surber of the Merchants' Police and Officer Huth was among the first to ascend the stairs of the standing section of the building.  those on the second floor in the front end were able to escape, although several were overcome for several minutes by shock.  Upon the third floor Surber and Huth assisted six persons out of their rooms and on the top floor six men and five women were helped to the stairs.

     W. C. McClain and wife and Henry Sloan and wife of Huron, Kan., who occupied adjoining rooms upon the top floor of the building were among the saved.  Their experience was a horrifying one.  They registered at the hotel last night and went to bed early, being wearied with their journey.  McClain, speaking of their experience said:

     "We were in rooms near the front of the building.  We were awakened by a thundering noise and we felt the building shake as though it would topple over.  For nearly a minute the crash was deafening.  We were covered with plaster that fell upon the bed.  We were so shocked that we were unable to move for some time.  Finally, it seemed like an age, we were assisted to the roof of the building adjoining the hotel and were shown down some more stairs.  As we descended the stairs swayed and we thought that we would never reach the bottom."

     Mr. Sloan's hands were horribly cut and lacerated as a result of an attempt to raise a window.  The room in which he slept was close and stifling after the explosion.

###

HOUSE DESCRIBED.

Built of Fire Relics and Scourged Frequently by Flame.

     The hotel was a five-story building of seventy rooms with stone ornamentation in front and was the highest structure on Lawrence Street east of Seventeenth.  The rotunda occupied the east side while the bar room and billiard room occupied the remainder of the frontage.  The hotel desk was in the rear of the rotunda and the elevator adjoining.  A board stairway led from the street to the second floor.  The lodging rooms were ranged around an air shaft which extended to the roof and gave opportunity for both light and air to enter.  The entire building had an appearance of solidity which could not fail to impress guests most favorably.  The dining room on the first floor in the rear had not been used for a year or two, the hotel being used for lodging purposes.  The house was well furnished and was conducted so as to attract a liberal patronage from people of the state.  A wooden cottage adjoins the building on the east side.  This cottage was used in connection with the hotel. Several persons were sleeping in the wooden structure last night.  They were thrown from their beds but were not severely injured.

     The building was heated from boilers and furnace in the basement toward the rear of the structure.  The explosion exerted it's force mainly on the middle and rear of the hotel, carrying away those portions entirely.

     The building was erected in 1887 and was occupied for some time by the Eden Musee, and afterwards by the Scott Hardware Company, which company was burned out in 1889, the loss amounting to about $150,000.   The building was repaired and another story added.

     The front of the building is made up, with a few additions of stone, of the from of the old Clifford Block, which was burned in 1886.  This building occupied a site in the center of the block on Lawrence Street where Daniels & Fisher's building now stands.

###

OFFICER WATSON'S STORY

Report Was Sharp and with Fearful Effect.

     Officer Watson, who turned in the first alarm, said: "I was standing at the corner of Seventeenth and Lawrence, when a sharp report filled the air and the next moment a great cloud of dust rolled out of the Gumry Hotel.  The windows along the street were smashed into thousands of pieces and I was almost thrown from my feet.  The shock was so great that it was only with difficulty that I regained strength to turn in the alarm.  The street was filled with dust, but at the moment of the explosion, I saw a man thrown across the street.  He was walking in front of the hotel.  I ran to the man and helped him to his feet.  He was able to walk, and hobbled away without giving his name."

     The officer says the explosion was not accompanied or followed by a flash of light.  There was a dense, cloud of dust then the din of breaking windows.

     N. G. Sleight and wife, who occupied room 50, was saved.  When the house was lifted by the explosion the couple were hurled from their bed into a corner of the room.  They picked themselves up and reached the hallway, where rescuers assisted them in reaching the sidewalk.

    W. G. Purcell of Brokenbow, Neb., was rescued.  He occupied room 17, and was in an almost unconscious condition when taken out.  He was overcome by the smoke and but for a brave fireman his name would have been on the list of the doomed.

     On the Eighteenth Street side of the building there is a frame cottage.  Last night  Eugene Helen and Fred Coleman, young  boys, were sleeping together in a rear room of the house.  The crash of the falling debris created a force that threw the boys out of their beds.  They were not seriously injured. George McMurray, nephew of the mayor of the city, was in room 38. He escaped.

###

CARELESS FIREMAN.

Driver Leaves His Reins with Fatal Result to a Horse.

     During the excitement which followed the explosion and while the fire department was answering the call, South Denver Hose No. 2, was seen to disappear up Seventeenth Street.  There was nobody on the wagon and the horses increased their going at an awful rate when they reached the Brown Hotel.  The few people on the street who saw them coming along feared that they would dash into the hotel, but the horses turned down Tremont Street and ran at breakneck speed to Fifteenth Street. There they attempted to turn the corner toward Broadway and one of the wheels catching a telegraph pole overturned the wagon and threw the horses to the ground.  One of them was so badly hurt that he will have to be killed.

###

UNDER THE RUINS.

Peter Gumry and R. C. Greiner and Wife

and Wife Among the Known Missing.

     Peter Gumry, proprietor of the Gumry, who has perhaps perished in its ruins, was one of the best known men in Denver. He is both an architect, and a builder of note, his latest work being the superintendency of the state capital managers.  Besides he was superintendent and architect of the county court house, and because of his knowledge of the structure, he was given the job of adding an extra story to the building about two years ago by the county commissioners.  He is about 70 years of age.

     The Gumry was opened as a hotel four or five years ago.  The site is an ill-fated one.  Before being made into a hotel it had been occupied by Kilpatrick as a furniture establishment and the building was gutted by fire.  Still prior to that, it was the Eden Musee, and the story of the destruction of that institution is well known.  It was one of the fiercest fires ever witnessed in the city, although there was no loss of life.

     Robert C. Greiner was the assistant superintendent of the State Capitol and Mrs. Greiner held the position of day clerk at the hotel.  Mr. Greiner was well known as a builder, and had been a resident of the city for many years.

     Mrs. Greiner was a remarkably handsome woman about 27 years of age. She was a great favorite with Colorado people who were in the habit of stopping at the house.  The happiness of Mr. and Mrs. Greiner in each other's society and their tender affection for each other were subjects of frequent comment from guests.

     Charles Adams is supposed to have been lost in the building.  He occupied room 11, which was in the rear of the building and which was wrecked.  He is said to be a brother-in-law of Louis Schwanbeck, ex-state auditor.  He was the local agent for the Manitou Mineral Water Company.  His brother wandered around the ruins early this morning endeavoring to find some trace of him.

###

NIGHT CLERK'S STATEMENT

Heard a Roar and Then the Roof Came Crashing In.

     R. E. Irwin, the night clerk, made the following statement:

     "I was standing at my counter, talking to Budd and Hawkins, the two bartenders, when all of a sudden a terrific roar was heard, and instantly the roof came crashing down, and I was pinioned beneath some heavy beams, which held me so tightly that I could not move my limbs.  The room began to fill with smoke and I was unable to breathe.  After about giving up all hope I heard firemen above me, and soon they had removed enough timbers to allow me to crawl through and I managed to drag myself up onto the floor, and from there to the street.  I was struck with a big beam across the back of my head, which ripped open my scalp quite a bit, and they have sewed it together again with eleven stitches.  I am also hurt in the side and back, but don't thin it is very serious.  I do not know where the two bar tenders are. I heard them shout, and then they disappeared.  I heard that one had turned up alive, but I haven't seen him yet.  No, I don't think it was dynamite that caused the explosion.  I don't see how the boiler, which was at best, only partially filled with steam, could blow up and knock out the whole back end of the hotel and smash window lights for blocks around.  I do know that the engineer is a boy, 17 years old, named Elmer Loescher.  He was drunk, at that the time he went on duty.  In fact he either gets full all the time, or is away from the engine room.  I cannot say just how many were in the hotel at the time, but I should say about seventy.  There are eleven now in the ruins including General Adams."

     The clerk was covered with blood and presented a gruesome sight.

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REMOVING THE DEBRIS.

Fire and Police Board Orders Out All Their Forces.

     At 3 o'clock this morning Chief Pearse finding that the work of getting at the bodies was interfered with by the great amount of debris in the alley telephoned police headquarters asking that Mayor McMurray and Frank Church, president of the Fire and Police Board be sent for.  He explained that he wanted permission to hire help to clean up the alley.  His message was communicated to Chief Goulding and without waiting for the arrival of the Mayor or Mr. Church, he sent an officer, N. C. Northington, Superintendent of the Street Cleaning Department asking him to bring all the men and carts he could get to the scene at once.

     The Mayor and Mr. Church arrived shortly afterward and authorized Chief Pearse to hire all the help he needed.  Half an hour later several gangs of men were at work on the ruins removing the brick and timber.

     The outbreak of the fire was very sudden for a minute before it was discovered there was not the slightest indication that it was slumbering in the woodwork beneath the fallen brick.  Several of the steamers had been sent home when the flames were discovered, but they were quickly recalled.

     There is some very strong criticism regarding the cause or even nature of the explosion.  The report was sharp and short, and those who are versed in matters pertaining to boilers and engines claim that the boiler in all probability burst open through the accumulation of gas in the pipes.  On the other hand, how gas or steam even when at bursting pressure could cause the terrible destruction, not only to the building itself, but for blocks surrounding the hotel, seems incredible to those knowing the power and characteristics of dynamite.

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**DAY TWO COMING SOON!