Boston, MA Franklin Square House Hotel Fire, Feb 1904

FIRE SCARE AT BOSTON.

Hundreds of Occupants of Women's Hotel Left In a Hurry.

Boston, Feb. 9.---A panic in which four women were injured followed a slight fire in the Franklin Square House, a woman's hotel, early this morning. At the time of the fire there were over 450 women asleep in the building.

The fire is believed to have been caused by improper insulation of the electric wires. When Watchman Pollitt was making his rounds he saw smoke issuing from the bathroom on the second floor. He at once gave the alarm and assisted by Miss Mildred Fish, a lodger in the house, aroused the sleeping inmates. The building soon filled with smoke and the 450 women in the building started through the corridors and down the stairs in a mad flight for safety. A few of them had time to dress and nearly all reached the street in their night clothing. Miss Jennie Thornton slipped and fell while [ineligible sentence] sustained a fracture of the left leg. Miss Driscoll, Mrs. Graves and Miss Robinson received injuries by slipping and falling on the stairs.

Two young women, whose names are unknown, were found lying in a corridor on the second floor by the [ineligible]. They had been overcome by smoke. The damage by fire was very slight. At no time was there much flame to be seen, but the smoke filled the building completely.

The Fitchburg Sentinel, Fitchburg, MA 9 Feb 1904
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Transcribed by Linda Horton. Thank you, Linda!