Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1874-07-23

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| 4 crash" was the general exclamation as
the furious fire clasped 1t round and
round and shot up to the tower. The
two uorti, turrcts came crashing down,
ard then the others, and by and by the
roof fell in with mighty crash that
could be heard above the din of the tor
rent of flame.
In about half an hour after the Bap-
tist Church caught, the Postofiice " went
nm and about the same time the old
Church of the Messiah, occupied by
Julius Bauer. shared the common fate.
When the back wall of this building fell
the flames shot up with fierce heat and
| splendor, and gave an immense impetus
| tn the confagration. Still the people on
| Michigan avenue kept at work with I'M
finching courage, although il seemed at
one time as if everything there was
doomed to destruction. Men were seen
on the roofs of the houses, some with
buckets, some with hose-pipes, energeti-
| cally at work wetting down everything,
and 1t is owing in great measure TO the
determined efforts Of individuals in this
direction that the fire was eventually
checked from sweeping clear through 10
the lake front at several points.
As darkness fell upon the scene the
crowds in the Lake Park increased, and
then the feeling of terror in the minds
of the excited people was heightened to
a painful degree Of course the despair
ing exclamation from every one was that
the whole city was doomed to destruction
once more. The dread noise and whizz-
| ing of the engines, the multitudinous
hum of voices, mingled with frantic
cries, the tramp of innumerable feet the
| thunder OF wagons, the clang OF Dells,
and the boom of the steamers combined
to produce an indefinable sense OF fear,
such as one might have on hearing the
! first awful sound of coming earthquake.
| The rushing of the wind through the
trees had an ominous and CHASTITY sound.
The red balls of fire that shot skyward
| struck fear to the heart. And then that
sullen, gloomy mass of hery smoke that
moved away over the lake like some
guilty thing, as if conscious of the tale
of terror it was carrying to some other
shore.
After the Postoffice and the Baptist
! Church had gone, the next most promi-
nent building to be seen looming up from
the red glare was that at the corner OF
| Harrison and State-Pat O'Neill's build
ing This strong, solid structure APP
peared to hold out long, although the
fiery hail of sparks was pouring over II
and the volumes of flames were encom-
passing it around Presently, however
a fierce ridge of fire started out on the
roof, and in another moment it was roam
ing and cracking to the sky, the flames
careering furiously to the opposite corner
where they soon seized upon and de-
voured the building of Mandel's. 1t had
been hoped that the grand fight would be
made at that corner, and that the prog
ress of the fire might be stayed there,
But such hopes were not realized, and
from this point the fire gained fresh
impetus and swept onward with renewed
force.
About nine o'clock the Michigan ave.
nue. residents were beginning to feel
comparatively safe, and some of them
began to think of taking in their furni
ture again. But new danger suddenly
loomed up in the north Of them. The
large building on Wabash avenue, north
of Eldridge court, occupied by Mr.
4 Stearns, had caught fire in the cupola, and
men were seen hacking away for dear
life at the woodwork. 1t was a critical
moment, for it was evident that if the
fire got fresh start then it would SWEEP
down upon the avenue and carry every
thing before it. The flames were gaining
upon them, and yet the men, whoever
they were, stood their ground bravely
and fought it. A signal was given to one
of the steamers that had been playing
elsewhere, and in few minutes stream
of water was seen to shoot up to thu
cupola, and the building was saved. This
is but one incident illustrative of wha
was accomplished by the efforts Of indi
viduals in carefully watching the roof
and damping down everything.
The first alarm was turned in from
box 81. Then the blaze could be meas
ured by inches. Eleven minutes later i
was bounded by dozen buildings, bu
still not beyond control, if all the depart
ment had been there to have done thu
bidding of the Chief It was apparen
that there was work to be done. And /
was also evident that more than single
circle of engines would have to be callet
out. First Assistant Marshal Sweene,
at forty minutes past four sounded thu
second alarm, which embraced an add
tional force of the department. Tn,
square between Clark street and Fourtl
| avenue was seething mass Of flame
The breeze from the southwest freshenet
as each new finder roof caught tn,
torch of the annihilating ficnd ant
lighted his terrible death-dance as h
tripped with tremendous rapidity from
one shingled shanty to its neighbor Tn
flames had laid hold of Linch q Co..
oil works, just in the rear OF the rag
shop, and between that place and Thirt
avenue. The rear of the houses which
bordered it on the west side were sool
seized and fell an easy prey.
Just eleven minutes later, at 40
o'clock, the leaders of the department
saw their enemy, and felt his hot breatl
in their faces There was no battling
such foe successfully with the fore
they had The general alarm wa
sounded twenty-five minutes after tn
first puff was seen coming out of tina
fusee, the rag-shop. Assistant Marsha
Charley Petrie turned it in. A Whit o
the enthusiasm of "'71" came over tn
Chief. He was everywhere. Now h
was at the southwest line deploying tn
men: now his voice is heard above th
cracking of the flames, the rush OF th
wind, the noise of men, the shrieks o
women, the hurry and tumult of hall
clad and escaping victims, the monotc
nous jerks which issued from the en-