The Leavenworth weekly times. [volume] (Leavenworth, Kan.) 1870-1880, 1870-09-15


Dasl6a16 o. A1e61s6 II 8o10o-01,
:, ssrcyed- several Llyes Lea.
- 4s.i. 1Elpm the 0icaeo Evsains Rsal.n 20
3 The most disastrous couAagzatioa which
has visited Chicago since The great lAks
txreet fire of FebFuasy, 1867, oceu1red las
evening, resulting in tie los ofone or mOtS
Liver, and in the total destruc4isno Of the mag
niacent building Known - Tie Dnke Block
ION Wabash avenue, from Waahingtoa stree
to near Madison, togsAher with nearly all ii
e0ntents.i The first alarm Wae given 4t 6vx
minutes lefore five O'Clock Yesterday (Snn-
day) afternoon. There seems 10 have bees
some delay, both in discovering the 6fe and
in communicating intelligence thereof, md
by the time the Ellsworth engine followed
BY the othenr within the districl, arrived
on the ground and got their hose filled
the flames, which had their origin in TIKI
uppeHnosA story lin the French roof q
the paper warehouse Of Latin, Butler 4
Co., had already got we'll under way. Thu
remote distance Of the SCAT Of the coudasre
ton from the ground, and the very inflam
mable nature Of the roof, rendered 4 next t.
impossible for the Fire Department to CHECK
the progress of the deyOuring element; bu
~ ii this we're not enough, the vrstched hos
with which the most of oar fire engines an
supplied, and the character Of which ha,
already been exposed in these columns
proved almost utterly worthless, 20 that be
fore any stream Of any magnitude could b
brought to bear upon the flames, they had
enwrapped with their devourtng breath the
whole store Of Latin, Butler 4 Co., and, in
in matters pertaining to cOnfagTatiOns, that
the entire building Has doomed.
THE, CROWD
had Sr-thb time hlmpe inpielise, and vol
unteers from the throng were set to work re-
moving goods from the dry goods store Of j.
V. Farwell Il Co. which Is next door north
Such goods zy c0nld secured were removed
to the Second Presbyterian Church, across
Washington street, spa stored therein. A
few goods taken from Lyon 4 Healy's music
store, occupying the northwestern corner o
the burning building, were placed under
guard in the open street. "-
But little, however, was done ut this work
before the floor of the Farwcll store fell il
with 4 terrible crash, the uppermOst foo
carrying all below it to the ground, ant
crushing to death, it is believed, nearly :
score Of human beings. This calamity &C
CURED at quarter before six, when the fir,
had been less than an hour in progress.
The floors and portion Of the walls o
Latin, Butler & Co.'S store had alread.
fallen.
This horrible calamity had not been un
anticipated, and efforts had been made, BY
policeman Brown and other officials, to war;
those inside of the building; but only por
ton were saved. The extent of the loss o
life has not yet been fully ssccrtained, bu
further particulars Of probable fatalities vii
be found further on in this account. On,
effect Of this fall was to create a panic q
horror among the crowd, and they fell bach
Ia safer distance from the lettering walls
No further attempts were made to save s oods
even though there was but little evidence o
the presence of fire in the stores Of Kirkland
Or,lway & Co., Lyon & Hcaly, and Smith 4
Nixon, situated in the northernmOst part o
the building. -..t....
TILE ROOF.
General blame is now attached to the
architecture Of the building, safety having
been sacrificed to beauty by the construction
Of very light and inflammable roof, instead
of one palmer and fire proof. The danger
does not seem, however, to have been ap.
parent to the Fire Department until the
flames had PROGRESSED well through the
building, for the department prevented
Lyon 4 Healy from removing their goods
from their store, assuring them that the fire
would not reach their end of the building.
THE SCENE
was one of great beauty and sublimity,
though its awful grandeur would have been
far more apparent if the background had
been darker. As it was, the fire occurred in
the day time, and extended late into moon
light night, so that the conhagratiOn
was apparently shorn Of much Of its fiery
ficrceness. The flames ran up walls, sped
along corniccs. wrapping in their fierce en-
brace building after building until the whole
offering, as it were, propitatory sacrifice
to the fire fiend. As a wall would crumble
and fall with crash, stronger
flame would leap exultingly from
the pyrc, a magnificent cloud Of
sparks would spread itself for blocks around,
and the mighty throng would be h,,shed in
the presence the mighty spectacle. 1t was
ghoulish. In the presence Of the dread ele-
mcnt at IFS work Of destruction, man and
his ingenuity seemed TO sink into the meanest
insignitcancc. About half past six, the
front wall of Farwelrs store gave way, and
fell across the avenue with crash like the
discharge Of hundred batter
les. The gap produced by the fall disclosed
a mass of fame in the interior, feeding upon
the combrlstible material stored there, and
causing sight Of such hriIliancv as is rarely
seen. Through the thick rising smoke, and
the dusk of evening creeping on, the out
line Of Jagged walls left standing might lie
seen, with here and there broken and char
red beam or heated iron pillar clinging to
the swaying mass, and telling painfully Of
what had been but few hours before. The
corner wall was standing, and through each
window there was seen such an illumination
as, happily, seldom lights up such build
ing.
THE SPECTATORS.
Never. perhaps, in the history Of this
city's fires were such universal excitement
caused among all classes Of people as was
last night. 1t is doubtful If there
was single pcson, living in any quarter Of
the city, who was not aware before nine
o'clock of the whereabouts of the mighty
the reflection Of which, If not
its flames, was visible for miles in every di-
rection. 1t would be impossible to arrive at
an intelligent estimate Of the number Of per
sons who were congregated in the neIghbOr-
hood watching the fire with breathless inter
est. The cars and Omnibuses from all parts
Of the city we're crowded to excess, at every
trip, BY persons desirous of reachinS the scene
and the main avenues were thrOnged with
multitudes of pedestrians all moving toward
the central pOint Of attraction. Even the
swain who makes his hebdomedal call upon
his sweetheart, tucked her under his arm,
and the twain like everybody else, moved to
the grand spectacle.
WHEREABOUTS OF OWNERS.
The Farwells, John V. and c. B. were
both absent from the city at the time of the
occurrence. The former was absent on the
plains as member of the Indian Commits
sion, The latter resides at Lake Forest, and
was brought to the city by special loco
motive which was sent for him.
QUICK WORK.
The business firms which were burnt out
by this FIRE are, rs is doubtless understood,
among the foremost firms in town. All had
moved in but recently, had stocked up with
immense piles Of goods, and all commanded
large trade. So many large establishments
eiug robbed of stores at one swOop, the
question became at once with each, "Where
shall We 60 now?'' Mr.. Simeon Farwell, of
J. v. Farwell & Co., was, 50 far as heard
from, the earliest on the ground of all the