Poplar Bluff, MO Gifford House Hotel Fire, Nov 1900

ESCAPE CUT OFF.

GUESTS OF A BURNING HOTEL AT POPLAR BLUFF, MO., CAUGHT IN A TRAP.

Poplar Bluff, Mo., Nov. 12. -- Four persons were killed, one is missing, two were fatally injured, several were severely hurt and at least a dozen more sustained minor hurts in a fire which destroyed the Gifford House.
The dead are:
HECK CLARK, Donophan, Mo.
REBECCA OWENS, Poplar Bluff.
BENJAMIN SHELBY, Poplar Bluff.
D. HART, Poplar Bluff.
CURLEY BERRY, Poplar Bluff.
Fatally Injured:
ETTA HARGROVE of Poplar Bluff.
WINSLOW STOWE of Tennessee.
Missing:
EUGENE DALTON of Hot Springs, Ark.
Badly burned or injured:
BARNEY PERNAUD of De Soto, Mo.
T. A. SMITH, Poplar Bluff.
MRS. BENJAMIN SHELBY, Poplar Bluff.
CHARLES STRADLEY, Poplar Bluff.
PINK BERRY, Poplar Bluff.
ELMER FRESHER, Poplar Bluff.
CHARLES UPCHURCH, Poplar Bluff.
Originating in the rear of the hotel, a three-story structure of considerable size, the flames spread rapidly and in a few minutes the building, which was entirely of wood, was a mass of flames.
About 45 guests were in the building and the porter, the only person awake, was unable to give an alarm because the smoke and flames drove him back. The fire department responded promptly but was unable to render any assistance to the inmates. Guests on the second and third floors, unable to escape by the stairs.

Leaped From The Windows.
One of these, HECK CLARK, jumped and broke his back; ETTA HARGROVE leaped from a third story window and suffered broken limbs and internal injuries which will cause her death. Others were also internally injured. One guest, BENJAMIN SHELBY, forced his wife to leap from a second story window and thereby saved her life. SHELBY tried to escape by the stairway but the smoke and flames drove him back. He asserts that he saw 10 or 15 persons in the hallway overcome by smoke. If this is the case, a dozen or more bodies may be found in the ruins. Many guests ran from the building clad only in their night clothes. As yet it is impossible to tell just how many lives were lost.
Quite a number of the guests were not registered and their names are unknown. Every room in the house, 45 in number, was occupied. Men are now at work on the ruins but it will probably be several days before the complete list of the dead will be obtainable.

Austin Daily Herald Minnesota 1900-11-13
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!