The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-09-04

and brick structures. with fiat roofs. whore the
the iremcn had no difficulty in siationing
advantagcously; ana there tne pg prog-
rcss Of the flames in this direction was arrest
cd. To the north they spread almost 10 tno
Tenth avenue corner whore stout brick
building acted as buttross against tneni. In
Tenth avenue. east Of the piano factory, tne
buildings are mostly low OF wood anu brick;
Nearly AL of them were damaged. and several
were Quilted. Across Tcni.i avenue stands ST.
borman's grea; silk fa.tory. rms was IN
danger from the showers OF embers tht fell
upon It and the blasting heat. but by hard work
The flamrs that caught II several times were ex-
tinguished phclan's billiard table manufac-
tory stands diagcnally across Tenth avenue
from tho burned block. and was in some dan
ger. but careful watching saycd it.
The s'rmcs inside the fro lines when the con-
Migration was raging hottest were terrible: The
great fragments. sending enormous volumes OF
black smoke. filled with sparks. spouting up
ward. rattling the broken bricks in every di-
rection and keeping up dcaiCning roar.
while the fire licked up the wooden houses
ant climbed from story to story IN tn" tall brick
t,nements. out of which harcheadod women and
children ran, crying with terror. 4 German
woman who had been out shopping returned
while the fire WIS raging in the tcnemcn,s. She
the door. She fought and kicked the officers
who held her back. and was taken away almost
frantic.
1t was about noon before the Twentieth Ward
ers began to breathe freely. Then the tens Of
thousands Of spectators who had filled the
streets and the housetops in the vicinity Of the
FIR Tor hours saw that the llrcmcn were hcgin-
ning to win. The flames ceascd to sprend Then
the remaining walls began 10 fall In. and To
smoth' the fire. At about O'Clock the ilremcn
be. an to play on tho Vnst mass Of rcd-hot brick
at the north end Of the burned plano factory. In
ORDER TO cool them SO that digging l9r the bodies
OF those supposed to be- buried might be- hogun.
\ constant strcAm WIS kept pouring ON the
brick until nighiiall. when they were still hiss
ing hot. although digging nj the edge was nj
ready going on. Some Of the trcmcn estimate"
that there are bodies 100 feet from the street
Others thought they might be found nearer the
Soon after O'Clock while some Of Engine 1873
men were playing on the embcrs OF the IRE at
tho southwestern cdge OF tn" ruins. tall brick
wall fell. strik ing Fireman James Roland, His
lett leg was broken below the knee. He was
tend,sly cared for hy ihe embplpncc corps.
maincd on duty all dav. Commissioner Brrn-
nan was at the fire experimenting the nmbu-
lanc,s and the Fire Commissioners were on
the ground during most OF the day.
Before ? O'Clock the flames were under con-
tr1l. Then the burned streets were filled
ruins oi their homes. Women went about with
sheets thrown round their shoulders, and in
fants IN their arms weeping over their losses ;
and some OF the men declared that they
,iielr homeless families. Those who had
been 50 fortunate rs not TO have lost their
homes began to carry their hastily removed
goods back into the houses and others
who had lost everything rakcd hlackcncd
and carried them on Thieves aboundgl, and
several were arrested by the police. Tn" in
surance patrol began To look over the Eruuni.
The work Of asccrtaining the losses and in
surances proceeded very slowly Little inior-
nation that was definite and accurate could be-
obtained. Mr. Hale. the owner of the piano
factory. and the largest loser. WAS out OF the
city. Others could not recollect either their
losses or the amount oi their insurance. Fire
Marshal Sheldon's aids last evening had no iig
ures from which To reckon the insurance. hu,
they estimated the total loss at from 5000 900 10
tsOO. 1000.
On account - the uncertainty "a to the loss
of life. the police officials request that all per
sons VINO have missing friends or relatives who
are supposed tO hav. been in the piano factory
may report 10 police headquarters.