The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-10-08
DISASTROUS FIRES IN NEW YORK.

ST. Patriclx's Cathedral DestrOyed-The
New Building of @. G. Gunther 6, Sons,
With Its Contents, Badly Damaged -
Less Over 5000 O,OOO-Firemen en- and Police
men Injured.
shortly before 10 O'Clock on Saturday nioht fire
was Ciscovered on the third floor No. A Crosby
street, IN the packing room of Messrs. John Vogt 6
Co., lmpor ers and dealers in porcelains, foreign
glas' ware, ana articles of 0ertu.
The building in winch the fire ORIGINATED is five
stores IN height and forms an l. on Crosby street
communicating with the adjoining, No. 46, which
extends through TO Broadway, aud is numbered 502
and 6O4 on that ihorouehtare The alarm was
sounded Immediately on the discovery of the fire. and
the fire department. quickly responded but before
their arrival the flames fed by the straw boxes, and
other infiammabe material with which the place
was ti]eG, ran rapidly through the upper stores
and seen the entire upper part Of the building was a
The 'front.' door Broadway was burst in by the
fremen on their arrival. and 6y leading lengths of
meet and prevent the flames tlom advancing far in
that direction The stairs the Crosby street side
only reached TO the third story, ana this
serious drawback, as the bulk Of the fire was on
that side the fourth and fifth stories This diff
Guilty was remedIed however, soon the hose
was leo the front of the building, but while this was
being done the flames mad attained headway that
they night not have reached but for this Circnm-
stance
In the meantime ladders had been placed against
the lurn ng building on the Crosby street side, and,
despite the intense heat, were mounted by tue fire.
men. and hall dozen streams brought to Lear upon
the flames. inside the building the firemen we're
aso working with vigor and daring. Two of their
number, the assistant foreman and ppeman of
Engine Company No. 20 having ventured too far
into the uiidlng were overcome by the smoke, and
sank to the aoor. They were rescued by their COM
radeS and borne from the buildlng into the street.
where the fresh air soon revived them.
A new source OF danger was soon discovered. A
quantity OF the burning material had fallen through
the .man-hOle''-reaching from the basement to the
top of the building, used for carrying up gas and
water pipe.-and IN few moments body OF flame
was seen illuminate the skynght on the first floor.
A door leading into this fue or "maD-bole" was
broken open, and blinding volume OF smoke and
flame at once rushed out, for the moment driving
back all who attempted to approach. Two streams
were brought to bear upon the flames, ana they were
speedily extinguished.
hour there every indication that the flames
would be confined to the three upper floors, and
prevented from advancing to the front portion OF
the building.
Burning of st. PatricI<'s Cathedral.
At this juncture the rumor was circulated that St
Patrcks Cathedral, situated on the lot bounded by
Mott, Prince and Mulberry streets, on ire
Our reporter proceeded hither. and found that the
rumOr was, unfortunately, true. The roof, which
was of the old-tashioned soping kind, and shingled
had caught fire in TWO places near the apex, from
sparks from the Crosby street fire. the wind setting
IN the direction OF the cathedral. Consld derable
delay was occasioned by those inside refusing to
open the door, and thus precious moments were
wasted Finally, the door was was, opened, and some a
put out the flames by cutting away the hery portion
Two engines were detached from the Crosby
street fire and ordered at once to proceed to the
Cathedral and endeavor to extingUlsh the fire. il
being evident thatlt the flames should gain the IN
terror of the vast edifce there would be no hope Of
SAVING it. BY TINS time an immense crowd haC
assembled around the building, drawn from the
other fire, and from the houses in the vicinity, the
rumor that the venerable edthce was on fire having
spread With startling rapidIty.
In spite of the exertons OF those on the roof ant
before stream could be brought to bear from tho
street. the fire had worked through the thin wooder
roof, and spread rapidly through the light wood
work ON the inside. 1t was now evident that the
building was doomed, and attention was at onc
turned to getting out the portable articles Member
OF tle congregation, and Others under the direction
OF Father McSweeneY, McGeehan, and others of th
priesthood succeeded in removing all of the fixture
with the exception OF two which hung above TIN
altar the silver service many of the Vestments ant
other articles and conveyed them to the residenc
of the pastor, Rev. MI Stars, located directly op
poste.
The Losses ON Broadway.
The basement and first foor of the building Nos
n SOP and 504 Broadway. extending Through int
Crosby street; IS occupied by @. Godfrey Gunther
had very large stock Of goods, amounting to abou
100000; in addition, they have on storage larg
quantity OF furs ne property OF various private pa
leaving Them with the firm Except during the wiz
ter seasOn) for safe keeping and preservation. TIL
building, large, white marble 'front.', hve stories i
height, was erected BY the firm few months since
cost of over 100000. =,
The three upper stories in the rear are pad
damaged by fire, while the remainder OF the DuiI
ing was flooded with water necessitating the tearI
down oi all the ceilings and replacing tnem WI
new. The loss on stock is about S25O OO0, prime
paISS py water The loss on building 7Oa y sPS Sn
principally IN city companies.
The second, third, fourth and fifth floors are 0cc
pied by Joan vogt Co., importers OF porcelain
stock was an unusually heavy one, he having r
Gently received large additions. On Saturday
Hs nte stock he in,%atas su TO S0SS SSve m
worth about $3.50 600, and his loss by fire. water an
breakaVe at $500 900. The firm have an insuran,
Of $lS0,O00, mostly In city cOmpanles.-AeH YOi
Tribune.