Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1872-11-20

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litsk u Co, thread and trimmings ;
Horter Bros, commission merchants !;
Nicholas " Sons, imitation hair At
the opposite end Of Summer street.
near the junction of Bedford street
Among, the buildings destroyed were
The following: Heyer Bros. import
ers of fancy goods Gilbert, toveioy
| y Cos dealer in woolens, No. 90; John
Cotter, hosiery, gloves, ETC., No. 100.
! Winthrop Square, the very centre of
the great wholesale trade of the CITY,
embracing some of the most costly mer-
+ cant1le buildings ever erected in this
country, aud occupied by such great
firms as JAS. M. Beele and Co: Stew
art and Co, Ahaetsoti Keath and Co.,
and forty or fifty others, was before
IO O'Clock, one mass of ruins.
On Kingston street was No. IA, occu-
pied by j. A. Hatch and Co., commits
sion merchants, the next was Nos. Is
and Is, occupied by Clark and Blod-
gett, commission merchants, and Mellen
and Goodwin. The other buildings on
Kingston street were dwelling houses,
and were all DESTROYED.
:. ABOUT ele*en o'clock the SEEMS iii
Lincoln, Essex, South Federal, and
other streets in that Immediate neigh
borhood, was one of the saddest of the
night Hundreds of men, women and
children were hurrying along laden
with every variety of household goods.
Behind them roaring flames were lap
ping mp their houses before they could
get half or even d uuartet of tl1eit
goods into the steeet. The fire ex-
tended on both sides of Lincoln street
and the Russia wharf. All the build
ings, mostly used by rag, paper and
Junk merchants, were destroyed. There
were vessels lying at this wharf AT
the Robbins wharf schooner was de-
stroyed, as were the coal sheds and
large Quantity of lumber on The bier.
The wharf of the Hartford ana Erie
Railroad was burned, and the passen-
ger station of the corporation on Broad
street, at the foot of Summer Street!
was destroyed.
A visit to
SUMMER STREET
showed the fire to have advanced ou
the aouth..Side as Far vert as ttoeey' 8
dry goods store, the upper portion of
which building was then on fire. The
wind had moderated some, but the fire
seemed to be fast taking it's way toward
Washington street, in which was the
establishments of Stearns and Co,
Walker and Co, VIM. II. Storms and
Co, Theire Ctttr1p ana Co, and a
large number of firms doing business
IN the upper portions of buildings,
wauld be SWEET away. The fire appears
to be making to therear of these build
ings, if pot. checked. The extersivs
plat3 OF GORDON, Masn and Go, in Cen
trail Court, and extending to Washing
ton street, stands in imminent danger
of destruction
After repeated solicitations on the
part OF business men, owners OF real
estat5 and others, Chief Engineer
Damrell, just before 2 o'clock, gave
orders to rope off the streets leading
into Milk street, preparatory to blow
ing up buildings on the south side of
that street, ..
A body of United states marines
ffot1 The navy yard marched up Wash
iDgton street about o'clock and ten
dered their services on police duty,
which were Immediately accepted.
BLOWING UP BUILDINGS.
The report of buildings blown up, in
dicating that gunpowder was being
used to stop the fire, was heard at five
minutes past three Q'sloek, and was q
tflBst Welcome sound, for it betokened
fearless, honest, radical effort to save
Boston from Chicago's fate. Three
discharges were made in Il block on
Devonshire street, and these threw the
buildings pArtialls down, but without
apparent benefit, for the flames jumped
over the gap almost instantly. The
building was close to the fire, and nm
less blocks more, distant are speedily
prostrated the effect will Of course be
5iilply nothing.
The trains were laid in Federal street
about o'clock, and the street imme-
diately cleared for action. At 3:45
on Sunday morning the destruction of
buildings in the path of the confiagra
tion, by the explosion of gunpowder,
was begun in good earnest, the shocks
shaking the city to it's foundation. 1t
is to beshoped the city may be saved
by this means. Nothing else will.
At an early hour Sunday morning
plundering by thieves Became general,
and firms who had removed tlieir stocks
to places of supposed security out of
doors were victims of these predatory
rascals. Arrests by the police became
SO numerous that it was found impossi-
bic to accommodate all Fthe prisoners,
and they were therefore discharged
from custody after making restitution of
the stolen property.
On Washington street the buildings
of the American Watch Company, on
the northeasterly corner of Washing
ton ahd Summer streets, was c0th-
pletely Quilted, but the walls remained
North of this, on Washington street,
the same side, all were destroyed as
far as the Transcript building, though
portions Of the walls of some of the
buildings were left. Both Washington
and Summer streets are filled with
bricks, mortar, and huge stones to the
depth of several feet A portion of the
front of Trinity Church is standing
alone to mark the location of the late
beautiful edifice.
WHAT WAS BURNED.
Contrary to previous reports, all
dwellings on Kingston-st. are safe. The
same is fortunately the case on Lincoln
street, All the residences of Fort Hill
section, so called, including Gridley,
High and Broad streets, have been des-
troyed, rendering hundreds of families
homeless and destitute. On Washing
ton street the fire was checked at five
o'clock this morning, in south herly di-
rection. It had not reached beyond
Summer street. The buildings on the
south side Of the latter street remained
standing, and those west of them I'M
touched by the flames, with the excep-
tion of three nearest Chauncey street.
These were burned out, though the
walls remained standing, and there was
no further danger in this direction.
Before O'Clock the fire found its
way across Water street, and caught
upon the window castings and the roof
finish of the Simmons block, in which