|
We present on page 244 a picture of the burning of the Lindell Hotel at St. Louis Missouri on March 30 [1867] The Lindell is admitted to have been the largest building for purposes of accomodation ever erected in America. It was six stories high exclusive of attic & basement; & was divided into five hundred & thirty rooms, the largest of which was 116 x 44 feet. The actual cost of the building was $950,000, which with the ground (valued at $326,400) make the whole value $1,276,400 - not to speak of furniture, $500,000 worth of which was imported. There were about 400 guests in the building at the time of the fire, none of whom were injured. The fire began about half past 8 p.m. in one of the attic chambers. The elaborate system of hose connections in the hotel was not brought into use; consequently the flames spread on all sides with great fierceness & rapidity. A little before 10 o'clock they had seized upon the cupola in the center of the roof, & completely enveloping the sides, made it resemble a twisted column of fire. The conflagration at the moment seized upon by our artist for it's portrayal presented a most unusual appearance. From the sixth story downward the hotel presented it's ordinary appearance, lights were still burning in the rooms, & there was neither flame nor smoke to be seen. But from the broad plane of the roof rose up a myriad of flame, roaring & crackling with irresistible force & fury. The account from which we gather some of the particulars says: "It is impossible to convey to a person who did not witness the conflagration an adequate idea of the scene as the fire reached it's height - within the broad spaces between the outer wall the flames roared like a storm. So astonishing was their fierceness that it seemed as if they were burning from a sea of oil. This was doubtless occasioned by the terrific draught caused by the heat, which transformed the immense building, with it's hundreds of windows, as it were, into a huge blast furnace. So strong was the upward sweep of the flames that large burning fragments were driven skyward, as if projected from the mouth of a crater. Some of these, although there was little wind, were carried away & fell on the houses of distant squares; others falling downward slowly in the vicinity were again brought within the influences of the whirling vortices of fire, & again tossed upward on the sheets of flame, smoke & sparks that streamed aloft from between the walls of the burning building." The efforts of the firemen were not relaxed, though it was evident that they would prove futile; the full forces of the Department was steadily at work until 3 o'clock on the morning of March 31, at which time all the inner work was consumed & a considerable portion of the walls had fallen in, & the once imposing hotel was a mass of crumbling, blackened ruins. |
