The New York herald., 1869-01-15

EXTENSIVE FIRE IN PHILADELPHIA.


EXTENSIVE FIRE IN PHILADELPHIA.
-~~~~>~~~~
A Block Of Buildings Destroyed by Fire In
PhiladeIphia-Hcavy L0ss In Jeweiry and
Other Property-Narrow Escape Of Seven
Clerks-Two Lives Probably L0st-Pnrticu-
lars or the Calnmity-Total vaIne Of the
Property Burned and the Insurance.
[From the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin Of yester-
The most serious connagration known In Phlladel-
tne hour Of writing this, though the spread OF the
ruin is checked, the firemen are still ut work en-
TSe q hee marble al the south
west corner Of Ninth ana Chestnut streets. run
ming through to SAMSON street, was the hand
soonest Of It's kind IN the city, and among the
costliest. the. corner store was occupied. BY
Messrs. Howell Brothers, manufacturers and deal
was occupied by James Il. Caldwell h Co., jewellers.
The third one was occupied by Messrs ). +. =. B:
orne, dealers IL CARPETS: The Chestnut nest street
beautiful architecture. the Ninth street and
SAMSON street fronts were OF pressed brick,
with trimmings OF white marble and granite. The
stores were erected about eight years ago, by the
estate OF Edmund Burd on the site OF the former
Messrs. Orne have occupied these since,
The middle store formerly occupied by J. M. Haf
feigh, was leased by Messrs. J. 4. Caldwell Co. ~
1867 and altered to suit their purposes They moved
into 1t little less than year ago, having opened
there on the I'd Of March, 1865.
ORIGIN OF THE FIRE.
little before one O'Clock this morning fire was
discovered coming from the rear Of Caldwell's store
on SAMSON street. and 1t Is said that explosion
was heard about the same time. In an amazingly
short time the flames spread through the interior OF
the beautiful establishment invading the art gallery
In the second story and filing all the space with
dense volumes OF smoKe.
, SIX men, clerxs q the store, slept sn Y. These
A Hasn
and Charles Hardy. Two OF these, it Is feared per-
ished and the rest are more or less injured In
another paragraph thsre will be information con-
SPREAD OF THE FIRE.
was cuisV in ms getting water into Int The interior. The The
wind was blowing from the southwest and
Howel!'s store was soon ., on are. while
Der was carried over to the Continental Hotel
Girard House and other establishments on Chest
pet store was also soon ignted, and in couple OF
hours all three Of the large establishments appeared
SCENES IN THE GREAT HOTELS.
The CONSERVATION IN the Continental and Gi-
rard became general, all the boarders, servants
q hasty departure. Nine. Parepa- Rosa, who had
rooms on Ninth street In the Continental. and the
quarters ana boarders and servants with trunks and
bundles were ready TO leave also. Fortunately there
KENT Within the limits Of The Rnr hock ~ stnres see
The heat Of the blazing interior told upon the
beautiful white marble front Of Caldwcis store, and
fell in with heavy crashes The fronts OF the others
are not SO muca hurt, and the outer walls on Ninth
% were very tncn and soa appear s to Se as as
ever.
CALDwELL's STORE.
The store OF J. f. Caldwell Go. is completely
destroyed. The value OF their stock Is estimated at
about $3500o0. or this about nalf-consistng OF
ing nreproof safes and 1t Is hoped that these will
all be found in good order, or at least not materially
rur rnssrs AVN yNsrp ANrrs
The building No. 902 occupied by Caldwell co.,
was owned by VIM. G. Houston. 1t cost, when built,
$5S,000. The insurance upon It, as furnished by M.
d. Evans, insurance agent, No. 43l Walnut street,
amounts to $4,000.
establishment Two Of these safes were In the front
part OF the store, and contained all the gold watches
and diamonds. The safes were all found in good
condition this morning. The value OF the stock Of
the firm which outside OF the safes is estimated
at s25oooo, on which there Is an insurance OF
$4,000.
The corner store was owned by Mr.. George How
ell. 1t cost $685. 900 and was insured for 5000
Messrs. Howell Brothers, the occupants, had on
hand very large stock Of paper OF all kinds. The
spring stock had only been placed In the building
within short time. Everything In the building was
$780, 600. Messrs. Howell h Brothers have SIO5,000
insurance on their stock and fixtures.
cost 500 900 and Is insured for s54 ooo the building
not much Injured by fre, but was greatly dam.
aged by water. The stock OF Messrs. j. f. & 4. b.
Orne, carpet dealers was valued ut $4,000 on the
lst INST. The entire stock was damaged by water.
1t was insured for $225,000.
ORIGIN OF THE FIRE.
The origin Of the Hre Is involved In mystery,
but Is being investigated. AT about half-past
twelve O'Clock the ncghborhood was perfectly
quiet, and very few people were In the street.
Suddenly a loud Kissing sound was heard, and In
few moments was followed by four or five
the explosion shook the sidewalks The force Of the
explosion was so great that the rear door OF How
81 e ero store sore on the ne
Orne was greatly injured. The last re-
port was followed by the crashing Of glass
AMI then names burst from the rear Of the basement
OF Caidwelrs building, where o Harrison boiler OF
ten-horse power and the heating apparatus were
located. As the Harrison boiler Is considered the
safest OF all stsam generators aud was tins case
run at very low pressure, 1t Is difficult to explail
how the explosion could have proceeded from that
THE ESCAPE or THE CLERKS.
Last night six men, whose names are given above.
store OF Messrs Caldwell d Co. All were on the
first noor, some being 'front.' and the others back. IL
~ S oen m ng or % a.
Soon after the explosions were heard and the
names broke out four OF the young men, Messrs.
Davis, Hardy King and Andrews made their
appearance at the front second story window got
out upon the ledge and worked their way along
TO the front OF Ornes store. They then called
for help, and the washington Hose Company
which had got upon the ground, quickly put up a
ladder and the men were taken down. All were
more less injured. Messrs DAVIS and Hardy
were taken to the Continental Hotel Mr..
King was taken to the Markoe House, Mr..
AnureW5 WAS taken 10 tHc NiruIu nousc anu,
after having his injuries attended to by DIR.
Morehouse, was removed to the Pcnnsyi.
vania Hospital by Fire Marshal Blackburn and
others. Both feet are burned and he has inhaled
smoke. His Injuries are serious but are not con-
sidcred fatal. Messrs. Hagan and Porlk have not
been heard or They got separated rom the others as
they making their way to the staircase leading
10 the upper part Of the building. Mr.:
Andrews says that when he last saw Hagan he had
fallen down near the front door. Both men are sup
posed to have perished. Hagan was from Provi-
dence, r. l.. and had been In the employ or the Drm
between two and three years. Mr.. P0uIk was from
Winchester, Va, and had been connected with the
establishment about year. Neither was married.
THE FIRENBN
were upon the ground In large numbers soon
after the alarm was given, and tney went TO work
In the most energetic manner TO combat the
store and it was thought that the fire would be
confined TO that structure. The names, however,
worked along the joists into the third story Of
the store Of Howell q Bros. and spread rapidly