Richmond, Va., Feb. 7—Three persons were known to be dead, 25 injured, several probably fatally, as the result of a fire here today which destroyed the Lexington hotel and adjoining buildings. Several persons are thought to have been caught under a wall which collapsed on the Twelfth street side of the hotel. Many persons were injured in leaping from windows.
Property damage was estimated at $150,000.
The flames, starting in the Lexington Hotel from a cause as yet undetermined, quickly spread to the adjoining buildings occupied by the Savings Bank of Richmond, the Pearl Laundry, the Co-operative Exchange, the Anderson-Wilson Paper Company plant and the Clyde W. Saunders’ printing plant, which were practically destroyed.
The known dead are:
Hiram S. Austin, Fincastle, Va., who died in a hospital of internal injuries.
M.J. Fox, Williamsport, Pa., who died on the way to the hospital.
C.M. Thomas, sheriff of Albemarle County, Virginia, who died of internal injuries and a broken back.
The revised list of the injured is as follows:
A.H. Harrison, St. Louis, Mo., fractured leg and lacerations on head.
W.W. Bourne, Spartanburg, S.C., broken back and dislocated hip.
E.P. Howell, Norfolk, Va., compound fracture of the leg.
John R. Cochran, Richmond, broken back and injured chest.
Mrs. John R. Cochran, Richmond, shock and bruises.
J.S. Harvall, Portland, Me., broken leg and broken ankle.
Andrew W. Gallas, Buffalo, N.Y., broken back.
T. Flemington, broken back.
J. Folden, ankle and leg broken.
B. Wright, badly bruised about body.
Edward Staples, ankle fractured.
Charles Goodman, shock and lacerations about body.
George Cullen, shock.
James Hager, sprained back.
___ ____, Benton, shock.
B.H. Trice, Virginia, fractured leg.
J.H. Willis, lacerations.
J.E. Ford, Rocky Mount, N.C., lacerations.
William O. Bailey, New York city, bruises about body.
Pall Brigorna, New York city, right hip lacerated.
William Thomas Little, Portsmouth, broken leg.
Chester A. Haden, Crozet, Va., broken ankle.
D.H. Pitts, Scottsville, Va., injured back.
James Rogerson, North Carolina, injured back.
Fear 15 Fatalities
The hotel stood at Twelfth and Main streets. The police believe the death toll will reach between 15 and 20.
“I was at the desk when I saw the smoke and fire creeping up the fire escape from the basement” said R.E. Freey, clerk of the Lexington Hotel. “I grabbed the telephone, but it was out of order. I told the boy to get upstairs and notify as many of the guests as had not been awakened. The heat was intense and I do not know how many he was able to arouse. When I got back from turning in the alarm, the flames were roaring up the elevator shaft.
“It seems that few sought the fire escape. Most of the women appeared at the windows and several of the guests jumped. I do not know how many were injured, but I think there were a great many.
“There were 72 guests in the hotel last night. I had just finished counting up when I discovered the fire. It was just a few minutes after 4 o’clock. Several people jumped down from the third floor and I believe fatally injured themselves. My lungs soon filled up with smoke and I could do nothing but get into the air or faint.”
L.B. Pettus, the proprietor of the hotel, was overcome by smoke and had to be taken to his home.
Early this morning an automobile containing a man who said he was from Yonkers, N.Y. The machine was still standing in front of the hotel early today and it is believed that he lost his life in the fire.
The police began a search for the dead in the building about 9 o’clock this morning. Progress was very slow, as the interior was filled with smoke and the heat was still intense.
A man giving his name as Paul Brigoni, who said he was from New York, jumped into a fire net from the third floor. His back was splotched in many places with solder which had dripped from the roof, scaling and burning him. He said that had left his cousin, Joe Marlin, on the third floor and did not know what had become of him.
The Lexington Hotel and the plant of the Pearl laundry were practically destroyed. The printing plant of Clyde W. Saunders, that of Anderson-Wilson Paper Company, the offices of the Savings Bank of Richmond, and the offices of Branch, Cabe Land Company, were damaged by smoke, fire and water.
Up to noon the firemen had not penetrated the section of the ruins where they believed most of the bodies would be discovered.
The walls of the Savings Bank of Richmond and an adjoining building occupied by a brokerage firm collapsed during the morning. The safes and vaults are believed to be intact, though burned.
Among those reported probably fatally injured are:
John R. Cochran, lumberman, New York; Thomas Flanagan, 39, Brooklyn; James. F. Olden, traveling salesman, Patton, W. Va.
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Williamsburg, Va., Feb. 7—N.W. Tucker, of this city, listed among the missing in the Lexington hotel fire in Richmond, is safe, according to telephone messages received here today at the Eastern State hospital, where he is employed.
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Went to See Execution
Fincastle, Va., Feb. 7—Hiram M. Austin, of this place, who died early this morning as a result of injuries received in the Lexington Hotel fire, had gone to Richmond to witness this morning the execution of Ed. Thompson, negro, for the murder of his son, Peck Austin, more than a year ago.
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W.W. Bourne Is Safe
Spartanburg, S.C., Feb. 7—Mrs. W.W. Bourne, wife of W.W. Bourne, who is reported as seriously injured in the Lexington Hotel fire at Richmond, Va., received a message after noon from her husband, sayhing hie is safe and at another hotel.
From the front page of The Charlotte News, Feb. 7, 1922
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Body of Fifth Victim Is Found. . . Leg of Sixth Body Uncovered in Lexington Hotel Ruins by Police
Richmond, Va., Feb. 9—Discovery of the body of E.K. Bush of Cincinnati, in the ruins of the Lexington Hotel, which was destroyed by fire early Tuesday, brought the known dead in the disaster to five. Bush’s head and torso were found in the west portion of the wreckage and were identified by letters in a coat pocket.
A leg of a victim, whose body has not as yet been removed from the ruins, has been found in the debris.
“Muffy,” the pet cat that succeeded in arousing Mrs. L.G. Daniels and daughter, Miss Drusilla Daniels, of Raleigh, N.C., was found dead yesterday afternoon on a dangling part of the third floor of the hotel. “Boots,” a pet terrier belonging to Mr. Pettus, proprietor of the hotel, was rescued after arousing his master by barking.
Eleven persons still are missing or unaccounted for, according to a re-checking by the police of a list of the guests. Many of the injured in hospitals are recovering, while search of the ruins continues for missing guests.
Jack Pettus, the proprietor of the hotel, said today that he was concerned over the fate of the housekeeper, Mrs. Mattie Blackwell, who occupied a room in the center of the building and who was noticed at one of the windows with her clothing afire. Mr. Pettus received an urgent telegram from Mrs. E. Keller of Pensacola, Fla., inquiring as to the welfare of her son, Frederick Keller, whom she said, was a member of the United States navy and who was a guest at the hotel. His name did not appear on the hotel register. He is not listed among the missing.
The condition of Andrew Galles of Buffalo, N.Y., was said to be serious. Galles is suffering from a broken back and paralysis of the body, suffered when he fell from the third floor of the burning building.
John Folden of Patton, W. Va., and George Cutter of Buckroe Beach, Va., were reported to be in a much more serious condition today, but their injuries are not thought to be fatal. Folden is suffering from a sprained back and Cutter from a fractured leg.
From the front page of The Charlotte News, Feb. 9, 1922. The death toll rose to 12.
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