Fire Claims the St. James Hotel
A late-night lamp fire traps families and destroys a prominent Chehalis building.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The St. James hotel, west of the railroad, caught fire yesterday morning about 3 o'clock and was completely destroyed. It is not known how the fire originated, but the supposition is that a lighted lamp left in the room of one of the lodgers set fire to a curtain. The blaze spread with great rapidity, as the structure was of wood. It was with great difficulty that the sleeping children of the landlord, Mr. Taylor, were taken from their beds. While trying to save them Mr. Bar, one of the lodgers, was badly burned. The building and contents were valued at $1,900, and were insured for $1,000.
“It was with great difficulty that the sleeping children of the landlord, Mr. Taylor, were taken from their beds.”
Wooden structures and open flames were a lethal combination in 19th-century Washington, frequently leveling town centers. This incident reminds us of the fragility of early frontier commerce, where an entire livelihood could vanish in a single night due to a simple household accident.
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