Chicago, IL Marco Hotel Fire, Jan 1913

FOUR DIE IN BIG HOTEL FIRE

REIGN OF TERROR IN EARLY HOURS

HUNDREDS FIGHT FOR LIFE IN CHICAGO HOTEL

Deadly Cigarette Thrown in Waste Basket by Poker Player Causes Awful Catastrophe.

By United Press.

Chicago, Jan. 30. – Four persons were killed and many injured in a fire which nearly totally destroyed the Marco Hotel here early today.

Panic Reigns
Awakened from sleep by choking smoke fumes and shrill screams of terror, guests of the hotel, who were in their beds, rushed to the corridors and into a seething cauldron of flames. Then ensued a panic and a fight for life. They fought their way to the fire escaped and in the rush many were trampled upon and badly injured. One person never awakened from his deep slumber and was cremated in his bed.

Work of Rescue
The firemen rushed into the building and sought to arouse those still asleep, but could not reach the top floor, from whence billows of fire belched forth and ate up the stairway. Passages were cut through the building and ladders were placed up the sides of the building, and scores of men and women were carried down to safety by the fire laddies.

Cigarette The Cause
The throwing of a cigarette “stub” into a waste basket on the top floor in a room where a number of men were playing cards is thought to have caused the conflagration.

The dead are:
JAMES O’DARRA, aged 30, of Louisville, Ky.
EDWARD BENJAMIN, aged 40, of Chicago.
JAS. FLOOD, aged 35, of Oak Park.
MISS PEARLE CLARK, of Chicago.

Iowa City Daily Press, Iowa City, IA 30 Mar 1913
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Transcribed by Jenni Lanham.