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The Miami Herald                                                                                                                                                          

 Thu, Mar 19, 1925                                                                                                                                                          

 Page 72

By RHODES MACPHAIL. Herald Staff Correspondent.

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PALM BEACH HOTELS ARE IN MASS OF RUINS

Flames Break Out in the Breakers and Ignite the Palm Beach.

GUESTS LOSE VALUABLES

Shops and Smaller Buildings Destroyed; Poinciana Threatened.

TROOPS CALLED OUT

Miami Firemen Assist in Fighting Spectacular Fire.

 

 

PALM BEACH, Fla., March 18.—Losses conservatively estimated at between two and two and a half million dollars were entailed, and two of Florida's magnificent resort hotels were rendered a smouldering mass of ruins in a fire which swept across Palm Beach island today.

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Both the Breakers and the Palm Beach hotels, the former one of the famous chain operated by the Florida East Coast Hotel Company for a number of years and the latter one of the newer resorts, tonight are an unsightly heap of hot cinder, while hundreds of workers are laboring arduously salvaging valuable goods belonging to guests and the proprietors of exclusive shops which occupied spaces in the arcades and stores connected with the two.

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While it was impossible to obtain an exact estimate of the losses at a late hour tonight, officials and insurance men said that $1,500,000 probably would cover the actual losses in buildings. Until inventories of losses can be made by individual guests of the two hotels it will not be possible to reach any estimate of personal losses sustained by those registered in the ill-fated resorts. Basing an estimate on the rate of $1,000 per guest gives 600,000 personal losses. Losses on the buildings are said to be covered by insurance.

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Hundreds of guests of the razed hotels are quartered in other hotels of the city, awaiting an opportunity to attempt to retrieve valuables totaling thousands of dollars that lie in the ashes. Many of them are attempting to locate relatives and friends who became separated from them during the panic attending the fire. Men in the uniform of the Florida National Guard are patrolling the ruins and policing the city to prevent plundering of the piles of clothing and valuables of the persons who fled before the flames.

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Various theories of the origin of the fire have been advanced, but the generally accepted story is that an electrical appliance being used by a crippled woman on one of the upper floors of the Breakers Hotel, started the blaze when it short circuited. The flames spread rapidly and sparks from the fire ignited the Palm Beach Hotel and cottages. Fire departments from West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Lake Worth received calls for aid and hurried to the scene. Late last night the fire was under control and order was being restored.

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The fire was discovered at 4:20 o'clock when smoke was seen issuing from windows and into the hallways of the upper floor of the Breakers. Attendants rushed to the floor and broke open the door of the room, where they found its contents a mass of flames and the crippled occupant struggling to make her way to safety.

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By the time she was dragged down the hall to the elevator the flames burst into the hall, and fanned by a breeze from the ocean, rapidly ate its way through the building, which, in less than an hour, had become a seething furnace.

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CONFUSION seized the guests and many of them rushed to save their belongings, but in many instances those quartered on the top floors barely had time to make their escape before the rapidly spreading flames. Many of the guests, who were away for the day at Miami and Miami Beach and others on the golf links, lost everything they had, including valuables. The estimated loss had not been determined at a late hour. By 4:40 o'clock, virtually the entire central portion of the hotel had been destroyed. An ocean wind from the southeast aided the flames to eat their way rapidly through the structure, making it almost impossible to approach the building from the rear. Both the Palm Beach and West Palm Beach fire departments worked heroically to stay the on- rushing fire, but it was soon realized that such was futile, so a hurried call was sent for assistance from the fire departments in every town from Miami to Fort Pierce.

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 The Palm Beach Hotel of 250 rooms stood across the narrow island on the shore of Lake Worth, directly in the path of flames fanned to the north- west by the breeze. Under ordinary circumstances the distance between the two hotels would have made it possible to prevent the building from catching fire, but scores of palm trees with downhanging and deadened fronds caught up the intense heat and one by one burst into flames, serving as a guide to the conflagration, while thousands of sparks and pieces of burning wood, carried high by the intense heat and wind, spanned the half mile distance and fell upon the roof of the Palm Beach Hotel.

 

The guests at the Palm Beach Hotel included, John B. Erwin, New York; Mrs. Elwood E. Rice, New York, president of the Rice leaders of the world; Mrs. Elsie Parsons and her mother, Mrs. Doig, New York; Mr. and Mrs. George Magill, Toronto; Colonel Sherrard, New York. Exclusive shops located in the wings of the Palm Beach Hotel, the contents of many of which were lost, included: J. F. Kirkton, gift shop; Exotic gardens; Kenneth L. Gillespie, flower shop; Pauline Grossman, wo- men's wear; Ferle Heller, millinery; Mrs. Haines, millinery and women's wear; Bettie and Anne, millinery; Florida Fruit Shop; and several hairdressing, beauty and garment shops.

 

The fire company from Miami reached Palm Beach shortly after dusk, having made the run in record time. It arrived at a time when extra help was needed to confine the flames to the Palm Beach Hotel, which already was doomed. Responses to the call for outside help also were made by the companies at Fort Lauderdale, Lake Worth and Delray. The company at Stuart started on a record run immediately upon receipt of the call but the engine lost a wheel and is said to have turned over near Kelsey City. No one was hurt. The police and National Guard will begin a thorough search of the ruins early Thursday to ascertain if there was any loss of life and to recover valuables that might not have been destroyed.

 

Shortly before 6 o'clock this building burst into flames and within a few minutes the hotel was a massive volcano of fire and roaring heat, shooting its huge tongues of flame skyward and illuminating the sur- rounding territory in the growing dusk for miles. Scores of palatial yachts, representing hundred of thousands of dollars in valuation, were anchored in the lake in close proximity to the hotel and for a time it was feared that many of them would catch fire before they could be removed to safety. Quick work, however, on the part of their crews succeeded in saving all of them from damage with the exception of a few, which were scorched by the intense heat. The flames spread to and destroyed several shops near the Palm Beach Hotel which were immediately in the path of flames as it spread from one hotel to the other.

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MORE than 400 persons were registered at the Breakers Hotel. The list included some of America's wealthiest people. The building had 800 rooms. Up to an early hour tonight no loss of life had been re ported. Although a complete check of the register had not been completed. When the Breakers Hotel burst into flame,s scores of guests from surrounding hotels went to that vicinity to watch the progress of the fire. These included guests of the Palm Beach Hotel. When that building caught fire, it was virtually empty. As the flames spread to the building, there was a rush of guests seeking to enter to rescue their belongings. The majority of them were turned back by the police. Goods from several high-class shops occupying an arcade on the first floor of the Palm Beach Hotel were thrown into the street and piled indiscriminately into heaps in an effort to save it. The immense column of smoke from the burning buildings attracted thousands of persons from West Palm Beach and traffic congestion on both sides the south and north bridges made it impossible for motor cars and pedestrians to cross. Newspaper men endeavoring to rush to the scene were more than an hour getting over.

 

Movement of the yachts in Lake Worth made the operation of the ferry slow and uncertain. As evening came on the illumination from the fire cast a golden glow over West Palm Beach and the surrounding country. The fire was discernible far out at sea and scores of fast motor boats carried spectators to the ocean side of the Palm Beach island from the shores of which they viewed the conflagration, free from the scorching heat that traveled northwest with the wind. The tops of office buildings and hotels in West Palm Beach were thronged by hundreds who sought to gain access to any high elevation from where they could watch the fire consume the properties at the famous resort. As fast as they could get across the lake, hundreds of guests of the burned hotels and cottages sought new quarters in West Palm Beach hotels, already crowded in many instances, while scores of others prepared to go to Miami and Miami Beach.

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SEVERAL parties of guests of the Breakers Hotel had gone to Miami to spend the day and returned here late this afternoon or early in the evening to find their hotel destroyed and their belongings either burned or lost in the confused pile of property thrown into the streets and parkways during the first stage of the fire. Up to 9 o'clock tonight, no loss of life in the fire had been reported. One small boy was run down by an automobile rapidly proceeding to the fire from West Palm Beach. He was removed to a hospital and was reported in a serious condition early tonight. The Breakers Hotel was built in 1895 and was first known as the Palm Beach Inn.

 

It was destroyed by fire in 1904 and rebuilt and given its present name the following year. It is a part of the Flagler estate and is operated by the Florida East Coast Hotel Company. The Palm Beach Hotel was owned by Sidney Maddox and was built several years ago. Twenty-three negroes were arrested early tonight by the police here and in Palm Beach for looting. Thirteen of these were taken here and ten in the vicinity of piles of baggage and goods from the two hotels during the fire. Fearing further depredations, Captain W. H. Von Behren of this city ordered out his company of the Florida National Guard and posted all roads to the scene of the fire and instituted a patrol in the fire district. It was stated at guard headquarters that a strict vigil will be kept all night.

 

At 8 o’clock, the fire was pronounced under control and shortly before this hour cessation of the bright glare that had lit up the skies since dusk relieved fears of those watching the conflagration from house tops here that the Royal Poinciana and other buildings at the famous resort would be burned. Work of salvaging thousands of dollars worth of trunks and valuables removed from the hotels and shops was started by hotel attaches, guests and the police shortly after 8 o'clock. Goods roughly estimated to be worth $25,000 were brought to the West Palm Beach police headquarters by detectives, where they are being held until identified by owners. Officials of both The Breakers and the Palm Beach hotels also began a check of their guests to ascertain if any could not be accounted for, although the departure of many of them for other hotels and for Miami indicated that it probably will be late Thursday before a complete tabulation can be made.

 

GUESTS at the Breakers included some of the wealthiest and best known persons in the United States. Among these were, George Altmeyer, McKeesport, Pa.; George T. Ahrens, New York; Frederick M. Gould, New York; Richard P. Mur- ray, Chicago; Mrs. Delos Wickham, New York and Cleveland; William H. Harrison and son, Jack, of New York; Mrs. D. L. and G. Glidden, Lakewood, Ohio; Mr. and Mrs. Albert S. Dewey, Washington; Mr. and Mrs. W. L. Hodgkins, Chicago; Col. and Mrs. William Sevier Paine, New York; Eugene O'Neill, Pittsburgh and New York, former owner of the Pitts- burgh Dispatch; John M. Painter, New York; Mr. and Mrs. L. H. Green, New York; Mr. and Mrs. H. C. Greer and Miss Jane Greer, Pittsburgh; Judge and Mrs. Louis Goldstein, Brooklyn; Mr. and Mrs. John V. Fox and John V. Fox, Jr., Chicago; Col. H. C. Stebbins, New York; Mr. and Mrs. Ward Ames, Jr., and family, Duluth, Minn.; Mr. and Mrs. George Amyot, Quebec; Elbert R. Erskine, president of the Studebaker Company, and Mrs. Erskine, South Bend, Ind.; John F. L. Curtiss, Chicago; Mr. and Mrs. Jesse L. Livermore, New York; M. Wendt and George P. Usservy, Peapack, N. J.; Mr. and Mrs. Edgar F. Price, Portchester, N. Y.; Mrs. James Francis Burke, Pittsburgh; Edward L. Arnold, Massillon, Ohio; Mrs. Joseph R. Dilworth, New York; Col. Owen Kenan, cousin of the late Mrs. Henry M. Flagler; Raymond Lewis, Bridgeport, Conn.; Judge and Mrs. William E. Glasgow, Philadelphia; Mr. and Mrs. Edward N. Hurley, Chicago; Col. J. B. McClean, publisher, and Mrs. McClean, Toronto; Mr. and Mrs. Ed- son R. Bradley, New York and Washington.

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By DONN I. SUTTON. Herald Staff Correspondent.

PALM BEACH, Fla., March 18.—

WINTER PLAYGROUND IS TOMB OF ASHES

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Salvation Army Serves Peanut Butter Sandwiches to Multi-Millionaires as the Breakers and Palm Beach Hotels Make Swift Exit Behind Curtains of Fire; Brute Force Saves Many.

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The golden glory that was Palm Beach—fashionable America's most famous winter playground—was partially reduced to a crimson tomb of molten ashes tonight after flames from an old lady's curling iron grew into a conflagration that swept into oblivion two historic ocean front hotels. The sedate Breakers and Palm Beach hotels—favorite winter homes of the socially elite ever since the fabulous four hundred began counting faces—made a swift exit behind a curtain of fire while thousands of persons from all over the East Coast looked on. The red and black-capped soldiers of the Salvation Army, always to be found at the scene of any catastrophe, were inside the fire lines here tonight, distributing peanut butter sandwiches to the multi-millionaire refugees and the Florida fire fighters.

 

Numbers of winter guests at the two hotels, men and women whose names are household words in scores of cities throughout the world, had to be driven by brute force from the flaming buildings by police and firemen, who believed human lives to be of greater consequence than jewelry and the lavish wardrobes that were doomed to disappear in the red inferno. BEFORE the fire gained much headway, men of wealth, noblemen and many who are distinguished in the arts and professions worked side by side with perspiring negro bell boys and hotel employees to rescue everything possible from the sweeping blaze. Huge trunks, valuable jewels and individual articles of clothing were thrown out of windows on every side of the hotel. The light-fingered gentry immediately came into being, and hundreds of dollars worth of valuables were appropriated by thieves who heard opportunity knocking on their doors.

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FLAMES ARE CONTROLLED AFTER STRENUOUS FIGHT                                                                                                

[BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS.] PALM BEACH, Fla., March 18.—

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Fire, which for a time threatened to wipe out an entire section of this famous winter pleasure resort, was brought under control to night after two big hotels, the Breakers and Palm Beach, had been reduced to piles of glowing ashes. Property damage was estimated in excess of $4,000,000. Early in the night the fire threatened to extend to the Royal Poinciana, another great hotel nearby, and guests were ordered to leave as a precautionary move. No definite loss of life had been confirmed, pending a check of the guests. It was reported, however, that two persons, an elderly man and woman, had been burned to death in the destruction of the Breakers and two small children and their nurse were said to be missing from the same hotel.

 

The fire started late this afternoon in an upper floor of the south wing of The Breakers Hotel, which had nearly 900 rooms and provided accommodations for nearly 2,000 persons. The cause of the fire was variously reported as a carelessly handled cigarette, a plumber's torch and a woman guest using an electrical appliance. All of the apparatus was quickly placed in use but checking the flames proved a matter of hours. Thousands of persons quickly assembled and work of volunteers proved useful to the professional firemen. In spite of the efforts of the firemen, the flames soon spread to the main section of the hotel and then to the north wing. In the meantime, the Palm Beach hotel was burning and although the fire fighting force was at once divided and a portion diverted to the second hotel, it was seen to be doomed from the outset. Adjacent buildings, however, were saved.

 

The roof of the Royal Poinciana smouldered and seemed about to break into flames but actual fire never attacked the building. Far into the night, Palm Beach was a scene of confusion. Adequate check of the damage done will be a work of hours. Haste and utility of nearest available provision for carrying clothing and jewelry contributed to salvage for some fortunate guests. Palm Beach has long been a mecca for the wealthy and famous and many distinguished persons have been guests at the two hotels burned tonight.

 

OCCUPANTS of the Royal Poinciana Hotel had been ordered to leave. Dynamite was taken to the scene, but was not used for fear of injury to the thousands of persons assembled in the vicinity. All available fire fighting apparatus in this section was being used in the effort to bring the fire under control. No loss of life had been reported. The Palm Beach fire department chief, shortly before 7 o'clock tonight, announced that it had been determined definitely that the Breakers Hotel fire started from an electrical appliance used by a crippled woman guest occupying an upper southeast room. When the woman was taken from the room, it was said that its interior was aflame.

 

Four cottages belonging to the burned Breakers Hotel, and lying immediately south of it were burning at 7 o'clock tonight. One of these was occupied by Leonard Ahl, and another by Charles F. Choate, jr., both of Boston. A number of shops lying along the North Lake Trail in the vicinity of the burned Palm Beach Hotel also were destroyed by the flames. Sparks flying like cinders from a volcano were showering down over all of Palm Beach and threatening to spread the flames in all directions. Even the great Royal Poinciana Hotel was in danger.

 

EFFORTS of the fire fighters were greatly handicapped by the intense heat which kept them at a distance of nearly 1,000 feet from the flames. The fire came without warning. Flames appeared first in the roof of the Breakers Hotel, followed by dense smoke throughout the building. Panic raged as several hundred guests began to throw their belongings, gems, clothing and treasures from the windows of the hotel. Guests were surging about the hotel grounds, helpless to render aid to the firemen from Palm Beach and West Palm Beach who were hurried to the scene. Some of the most socially prominent people of the United States are here as guests at the Breakers. Approximately 400 guests were quartered in the Breakers. Some were confined to their beds with illness and several rescues were made during the early moments of the conflagration. It was reported that some of the Poinciana cottages also had caught fire from flying sparks.

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Guests, most of them members of wealthy families, left the hotel hurriedly, few delaying to get their personal effects, it was reported. The loss from this cause will be great, it was estimated. Thousands of West Palm Beach residents flocked to the scene, attracted by the smoke and falling sparks, carried by the wind nearly a mile across Lake Worth and into West Palm Beach.

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FLAMES broke through the roof, and smoke almost immediately spread throughout the hotel. Guests hurriedly left the burning structure, many not waiting to save their personal belongings and loss of valuables of persons residing in the hotel is expected to be great. The hotel, constructed of highly inflammable pine wood, burned rapidly. Officials of the hotel, scenting the imminent danger, summoned the entire equipment of the Palm Beach department and that of West Palm Beach across the lake, as well as Lake Worth, seven miles away. When smoke and flame began pouring from the hotel, there was an indescribable rush from all parts of the immense grounds by guests to rescue their property left in the rooms. Much of the lower floor of the hotel was given over to an arcade containing high-class stores. From these, as well as from the individual rooms, huge quantities of materials were rescued and piled high in indiscriminate heaps about the grounds.

 

Within a quarter of an hour of the time of the alarm, the three fire departments of West Palm Beach had joined the Palm Beach firemen in an effort to check the spread of the flames. Fanned by a southeast breeze blowing in from the ocean, the firemen's work was ineffectual. As soon as it was seen that the hotel was doomed, the firemen turned their attention to preventing other buildings from disaster. For nearly one hour firemen concentrated all the water that could be mustered on the central portion of the Breakers but the flames spread through the interior of the building, consuming it, and then to the north wing. It, too, soon fell before the onslaught. Only in the north wing were any valuables saved. Here maids and chauffeurs united with their employers in hastily gathering possessions, tossed them into pillow slips and bed sheets and carried them out or threw them from windows.

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A CROWD of approximately 10,000 people assembled as the fire gained steady headway at the Breakers and police were forced to throw a line about the burning building to keep the spectators in a zone of safety. As the walls of the south wing of the hotel fell in, the heat became so intense that some of the onlookers were slightly burned before they could fall back to a greater distance. Falling sparks in the crowd also did some slight damage. Fire chief declared the building was emptied of guests within an hour after the fire, and hotel managers and firemen experienced their greatest difficulty for a time in preventing guests from entering the building in an effort to save belongings. The Breakers Hotel succeeded the old Palm Beach Inn, which was built by the Henry M. Flagler interests in 1895, and was destroyed by fire in 1904.

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The present Breakers Hotel was built immediately after the fire of 1895 and has been in operation since. Some of the world's best-known people have been guests at the hotel, which consisted of nearly 900 rooms and provided accommodations for nearly 2,000 persons. Owing to the fact that the Royal Poinciana Hotel, containing 1,800 rooms, was to close within a few days, a large number of guests had moved to the Breakers within the past week. According to insurance agencies here, the hotel and contents were fully covered by insurance. A little girl in West Palm Beach was run over and killed by an automobile that was being driven rapidly toward Palm Beach to view the fire.

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