, 1870-10-28

Loss, 1350,OOQ

--
Loss, s350,00o
From the San Ftane,ses AUa, OFT 81,
At sbuut quarter 70 O'Clock last night tho
fre Alarm bells gave the signal from Box So,
ccrner Of Mihsion and Fremont streets. The
oolloine o. nrc proved to bo tha Empire Mills,
owned By Miller Haley, situ2ts on Fremont
elfee', betWeen Mi; son and Marlet- The fsee
had gained considerable headvAT before The
alarm vas turntG on, and when tho enginen
arrived the flames shot through the south
side, The Windows md roof, and rosa into
the nn with defian. furT. The build
,xng xog Hss l.rEe tvo-stog frame, having =
aid in part extending acrota the block to
Btale street II was we'll filed with lumber
and manufactured goods, which fed the
aauen and added to their fury. In y fo+
minutes the entire building was a solid sheet
OF hIe, mo liquid asme from which. Al it rose
the brilllancv Of old Sol at noonday, Occa-
Hionl1iy = portion Of the roof. Or the aids
walls. would fall In, which gave va,1ety to The
scene. by frat sending up black volumes Of
emoke, then more bz,lliaut dame. and
hhal'S shower or small aubars, which ap-
peArtd like the exploded combustible matter
Of = thousand rockets fired into the air.
Il Was now evident that tbs factory could
not he aaved. and to confine the Ere to il. and
savc thestKTounding buildings, was the uni
vera! Judgment Of the thousauds who Wit
Messed the confAHgrstion. But tho tisomeu
seemed 10 lave no head, no Chial. WIN .r,ra
ordcrr, and each company apneared 70 .et On
it+ own Judgment The streau1 fron, .he
different hose were weak. and they wer. mt
properly applied. AL the st,eaus seemed to DO
concentrated on the burning building from Fte-
retsinea there, to prevent the de,trnct,on ~
tho house on the opposite side Of the stresi,
and the remainder taken to Deala strert 70
play on The rear OF the building. and ave the
factories md houses alfoinine. Hefora this
was douo two large tenement bouses which
stood in tho centre Of tina block. and reac!.cd
from Be.le street BY an alley-wsy. Ca caught f3rs.
md wpre ertire1y consumed. On Basla ntreef'
Immediately in rear Of Miller 4 Haiey's fac.
tory, stood tho warehouse of George 7.
fasetolt, importer of car1use materials. 1t
wss ouc-Btory franc tuilline. hat.
Icing eeFArh' Cd fr0u, Miller & u.1eys
rlill by . b:ick hrewa,l. the fire dill
rot reach It for more ttan m hour. Next
to this tr!dipg, III touthcr1y direction VAS
The esFh factory Of Doll / CO. This WAS :
large two-stnry fiAn,~, and ,sas soon in
row Of houn.s which c1tcutl 10 tue cosner Of
Hlissiou street. the confederation becAmn ter
ritc and tbrps tened to extend to the Atio1niar
11cckr. In tte meantime tho warelooms OF
tlc Gla-son. Metal aud Iron Impor;ins Com.
yauY, wf,lcl. et,,o1 ssear HITLER i H.leya fAr-
and bl-zcd up with 1urv. Tho fromcn worked
eaefEeliek1,, and exposed themselves to
t-emeudau. heat and ryeas pcril III order to
ssve il. Eu: their efforts mere unayai!ing,
and the llaze from tie roul aad aides o,4Iy
added TO the terrific grandeur of tho fisld al
baif flock. Tha1 ali the buildings now on
IRE would be- reduced to aslltb there seemed
rot tho shadow Of . doubt. To throw wAtsr
Gu this 1ee,hing Aursing mass Of flames.
rcycllinc t1.fiautjy aad li-ing in vast volumes
uu hunureds Of feet into tho air, seemed a.
rsclegs a, TO tu1n them INTO Tho gnters OF the
bry.
The heat wss terrific, and it waa with the ut
r,ost cifIicuity pt,siticuB could be- pntaiued
from Which 10 make the streams effective / !.
saviug aajoiuing property. The opposite
sides Of ali the streets surrounding the b,1r1.-
inv buiIdinrs we're thicktv studded with franc
houses. tho timbsrs Of "hich smoked, and
s.ltrnk, and twisted, 70 terrible was the heat.
Al tbie iuncture the apprehension became
general that the buildings mentioned woul1
is,stsntl. sbaro the common ruin Of thoss 81
ready III flames. The night was perfectly calm,
air must hare added 10 the slight breeze, it
could scarcely be- felt. It's direction, how
ever, being from tho west, the flames were
directed that var, and consequently the
houses on Bealo street suffered most. This
circumstance alan threatened tho safety Of
GaSebQltH b Warehouse. WHICH WAa now dk1eQ 10
| a crisp. The Chief Engineer utterly failed to
| compfchend tho situation Of things at this
moment, and while be rushed about, and Or
de1ed, Tie tire advanced IN fury and tho de-
| strnction OF noe property seemed inevitable.
| Fro Commissioners Ila;uey and Reynolds
ordered tho Chief Engineer to bring around
more streams to this street, and turn them
on the buildings. Two engines were at once
! sent around, bit, before they arrived. several
buildings were on fire. Among these damaged
arr tie Pacific File Works, Bailey 4 Co.'e ma
chine shop, roT Of fonr buildings occupied
AZ an offico by Holt Brothers, the Eureka Salt
| Company, mil Harley / Haedy's wadding fac
buildings, and the fire wss e1tinguished in a