, 1870-05-14
THE DEVOURING ELEMENT.
Partial Destruction OF an Ex-
tcnsfvc Furniture Establish
mcnt ON Canal Street,
Loss, $75,000-lnsurance, 100000.

At TWENTY-FIVE minutes after 10 O'Clock las!
evening, citizen, walking west Oh Randolph
| street. observed flames issulng from one Of the
side windows on the third door Of the large I've
story brick building fronting on Canal street. Just
north OF. Randolph, occupied by 4. L. Hale i
Brother, manufacturers Of and dealers In furnf-
ture- Others saw the fire imMedia teiy after the
7 Pedestrian mentioned, and neet-footed tndi-
F1duAl fnn to the Tempest Hose house, corner Of
Clinton and Washington streets, and turned In box
s56. The steamers In tho district responded, but
shortly after their arrival It WAS evident that addi.
uonol assistance would be required, as the fire
made rgp1d progress and Threatened TO enye1op
the entire structure. A second alarm was accord.
inglJ turned, and nvc morn engines wern soon
The structure has front Of one hundred feet
Oh Canal street. embracing Nos 10, 12, II, and IT,
and rune back to IN Alley, distant one hundred
large me wall between Nos. i and Il, being the
dividing line. The names originated In the rear
part Of the third moor. and towards this portion Of
1oo1s Of frame ahanties frontlng On Randolph
street we're taken possession Of by. the
asen o,-os snq s.nca SIT ;+ Of Ta,sr
frunt OF the structure, but when the nre worked
Its way forward tho number was increased to
three. There vas noH Tster entering the build
Ing from three sides, but as the Dire I'D not ex-
roof Of Nos II and IL, and Has satisfied He de-
clared be had the dames under control, and he
had, for they we're confined to the one structure,
although the other received its due Share OF
wafer .....
There must hare been az many as two thousand
people In the vicinity half an hour after the alarm
was sounded. Evcryone wanted to sec into the
building, and thcY crowded the sidewalk in front,
and materially intertercd with the nIemen- The
police then realized that the ropes which the Board
Of Police ordered to be taken 70 every nre were
Necessary, mud started to md fhem- After the
lapse Of ten OF fifteen minutes they were obtained
the citizens driven into Randolph street, and
mn r1prpd 11FrTpHf their intfi1a1Dn.
When the engines bad been WORKING about an
hkur, several persons reported to Fire Marsha-
ting sections Of the hose WIN penlnife. The po-
lice were informed OF this fact, and an c1aminal
ton showed that three sections Of the II A. Will
been cut. Onlcers were detailed to keep watch, |
and arrest the miscreants who arc supposed to be
men recently discharged from The department
ins biz knife into leader BY one OF the 4 a.
williams men, was knocked down, but he jumped
Tbe hames burned steadily, having worked theIs |
way through the third and fourth no0rs and the |
roof, until shortly After Il O'Clock when they be-
Cd 10 The second alarm were then ortiered home,
and nearly an the remaining ooes ordered to |
TWO streams were then taken up stairs and |
in half an hour more the Gre was edectnAlly SUBJ
iucd. Fire Marshal Williams and his assistants
ronndea The ire MS 81 he DID, boln ouildngs Would
Inevitably have been destroyed, and the loss |
augmented three or four fold
The total loss will not be fAF from $ibt 600. some
men who were present placed 1t Mt a !
higher ngure, but as the grestest damage Vas
done by water, The nfu5e NAMED 1sln p116aSly oo
Nearly every local and foreign company IN the |
city had risks, either upon the stocks, machinery
Or building as each e. haa but sompsa;Ia6iVG5 pr; MI
The building Is owned By Paul Cornell, Esq. 1t
Is damaged to the extent Of 10000; insured for
so5 COO which was plnceu bF the Mutual Security
int 1ist door Of No: 10 vas occupied W Warren
L Woodbury., den1ers In groceries and ship stores.
oso; insured for 900 IN n Il Jordan'a agency:
n n, ooT r. Il aa tas e.
picments generally. Loss by water, $500; fully
insured, but In Whist companies could NOT De u.s.
me n1st 100. Of No. /. was occupied BY G; Clark
Co. vine and liquor me mercnants, chants Nhe's loss os
The drst moor Of No. 10 was the warehouse OF
Miner Co, manufacturers Of blinds, mou1dlnXa,
4 Tne @ Second, thild. fourth and atsh stories, as
stated, were occupied By A. L Hale l. Bro. There
were eight largo rooms, three Of Which
ws5s com pa psateyt ali e
tons. The former NAB valued at about
While the latter was considered 70 be Wortn
which the IRE did not reach, but what they con- |
tained Tas badly injured BY water. Their loss on
machinery md stock By both clements 1s est!mat-
cd a. go GOO. TheE lave IN insurance Of .s's'ooo
In r Il. Jorlan's agency.
Seventy men were employed by tho flrm, nearly
every one Of whom lost his tools, as the fire was IL
the building when the finishing IVES done. Their
combined loss can not be far from 5000. It Is
1,ipbiE probably mat none Of them WIS insured.
The origin OF the fire Is a mystery. There were
no live Goals In the small stoves used fof heaune
glue, etc, when the establishment was closed
eat1y In the evening, and the theory OF spontan-
cous combustion was exploded by tnG
the oiled rigs used during the day
were carefully collected and thrown out ".
Hale had recently given orders to nse more than
ordinary precautlon in this respect, as the STOCK
on hand vas very large and the Insurance CON- OH,
paraurely light. Fire Commissioner james VIII
make IN Investigation to-day and may learn HonA
thinp definite regarding it. .,-.- r
II The IRE escape had been On the ground, the
flames might hare been checked much sooner than
they were, as the flremcn would have been able,
Ly It's use to play the whole length Of the building
II was sent for, but owing to the bad condition o.
the streets through which 1t w1s necessary TO drnT
it, the wheels became fast, and could not oe moved
forward or backward.