Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1875-05-05
TIE OSHKOSH CALAMITY

THE OSHKOSH CALAMITY.
THREE HUNDRED BUILDINGS BURNED, IN
GLIDING Two noTELs, TnH OPERA
HOUSE, AND TWO NEwpApkR ofpIcEs----
LOSS 81, ,0O0, ,p00s9 N 4
OsnKosu, Nis,, April % Ycs,cry
days conhu4 4ntion|bcgan "A Pine And
Marion streetp, aud spread eastward
and northoastward thlpugli<llancocls,
Pearl, Warren and High Mrcets, do
stroying the depot of the 81, Paul Rail
way, and extending to Min street,
wherc the principal business honses arc
situated, and on the north line of the
above limlts,southeasterly across Fifth,
Wangoo, and Otter streets to Cape
street, the south limo being the river.
The burnt district covers the whole OF
this space, with the Exception of II
block or two about tho foot of Main
street. The 'buildiag in which-the tire
originated was the sawmill Of Morgan
4 Brothers, on tho north side Of The
river. II was Ms dry as tindcr, and
filled with tho most combustiblc ma.
tcrial. The heat wis so intcnsc that
tho fircmcn were unable to approach
sufficiently near TO render any service.
The neighboring lumber piles ftll nm
easy pcyto tho flames. Millions OF
feet Of sensonod lumbcrwcre ilnmcdi.
ately cnvcl0ped. "A dozen other saw
and shinglol mills and lumbcr piles
yielded TO the fury Of the flames, which
were famed by n high wind, and rap
idly consumed the small franc houses
of the mill employees. Few Of tho
families saved any Of their effects.
The firnmen for time fought brave
ly TO stay ylthc progress Of the fire. but
wcrc driven back step by stop. One
aftcr another Of tho business buildings
on Main street wyco 'dsekedii up and
crumbled into masses Of shnpeless ruins
extending from Algomn TO Capc street
where were situated oil the principal
dry goods stores, banks, hotels and
newspaper Offices. Al OF them went
down before the resistless hurricane.
Merchants had time to save but little,
iop' their facilities for the tansporta.
ton of goods to a place OF safety were
limitod. Hgi few succeeded IN carrying
some ofntheir most valuable wares
away from the track of tho FIRE, but q
great number lost them all. h r1aaoa r
The Bocxwith House and the Atams
House, two hotels of largo capacity,
furnished with oil the modernimpfoye
mcnts, were destroyed in almost a
twinkling. Nothing worth mention
ing was savcd.a Tho loss on the former
will be about $40, 900, and on the lat.
ter s32, ,000a The newspaper and tele-
graph offices shared tho fate of the sur
rounding buildings. The Daily NORTH
icesterR Office losses about SIS, 1000, and
the loss ofthe Times asprightly week
ly, will reach about Si0,0 Three
men were reported killed by falling
walls. a.H,H M
Over 200 residences, large and small
and over 100 stores. hotels, banks, &c.,
were burned. The Opera House. a
valuable structure costing nearly $780,
600, and the finest in Wisconsin, outside
Of Milwaukee, was also dcstroyed.--
The total loss is vniiously estimated
thcmost moderate estimate being $3.50.
0O0 aud the highest s2,0O0,000. The
city is IN the utmost confusion. Hun
drcds of families are homeless. Wo-
men and children are lying about the
streets, or roaming around in search
OF n place for shelter The heavens
were lit with lurid glare Of the fire,
which wp 10 late hour last night was
burning fcrccly. Gangs Of dcspela-
does were prowling about seeking
plunder They inspired great terror,
and tho citizcns organized for mutual
protection The police wore powcrlcss
to suppress them or to quiet the fears
Of outrage. The flames began to yield
to the persistent efforts Of the fircmcn
and citizens at Q O'clock rsf n
The following are some of the losses
sustained by fire insurance companies I:
Globe, Chicago, $4,000; Mercantile Of
Chicago, $4,000; Northwestern Ma
tional Of Milwaukee, 10000; Penn Of
Philadelphia, $4,000 Traders of Chi
eago, S26, 900; Fire Association Of Phil
adcipnia and American Fire Insurance
Company of the same city, from e2O,-
900 to s25,000; Phoenix Of Hartford,
$50, 600 Phenix Of Brooklyn s25, 900.
The heaviest losses src auatoio.,d la,