, 1877-02-21
FIRES.
The St. Louis Bridge Not So
Badly Damaged as at First
Reported.
Unanimous Failure or the Water
supply Just When 1t Was
Needed.
Record Of Miscellaneous Conaagrations.


examined tho lrflgc to..lny now say not more
than about 700 feet of the approach Is seriously
damaged. III this distance many Of tho irun
braces, chords, aal so,no Of the supporting
columns nru injured beyond reclaim, hut new
ones will bc substituted for them nt once, and
The railroad tracks will be restored nntl trains
passing within wreck at farthcst. The follow
ing insurance on the bridge Is held by tho COM
pnny: American, Nuw York. $al.000; Tras1cs-
s c .asssa sa 'c;s Ssxals j ~ Htaen., seSe Sew
ark, N. d.; Sewarkt Of Ncwnrk: tmpotters' &
Truslcfs't New York; Clinton, New York; Mcr-
cautilc, New York; Pacific, New iurk; Ctn-
raaat, % Scw S York: ssanlsss. H New New iork; safc
guard, New Yark. Tutnl. *lk], ,7D0. Tho loss
o, tl!e buildings where the Tire Urigtnntcd Is not
kuown, but i Is not 1arge.
The must disastrous rnnaaxratton that has
rta!sel ST. Louis fn .nAny day was brought tn
tue attention. VI the City Fire Department, ut
u 10 o'clock last night, by un alarin from, BOX
IT, located at the castcrn end of tho big bridge.
Tic eastern approach lns, sInrc It's construction
nnA occupancy, lowered ab0rc u iUt of framc
lMtltltngst n vesfsablo uifc of kn!inK wood,
which should At least hayo suggested to thu
bridge management tue alSlsablll,yR R always
Keeping tlle wnttrs-npplv IN working oricr.
These frasnu rnhIcrlcs wcro lnasscd Together,
nmost by their "plparanec inviting coi,tlasra-
tion. atld etuntcf III such position that III rnsu
oi tLelr b,lrnInE tue brldgs suui4 not escnpo Il
serious singing. Despite all this the t,rlgo
watcs-supply ta!icsl when It was most needcd,
the ,t'nserles tso9 ilrc, a.i.l 90 ii! THO bridge,
bic a,nl ia likely to renain 20 for some ilnc, By
reasun of u gap Ut so.uo DO0 Ut 1,0U feet III the
EASTERN approach All that remains of tl!ts
pnrtIun through, which the ttre passed arc il,e
braces md upflrhtt, cycry, particle Of cotnbust-
biz material llasiilE BEEN burned away.
Thu lire lcyan about fn the centre OF tho
block to the north ol thy eastern npproacl,, IN
a S.' g Syn%,td s ns fs dt.Iy sq9 syst Ssa y at M
st. l.ouis. Tho building, q twnasory frame,
waa uu.scnple1, which mtHht With reasou giya
rise to Il suspicion that tAo tire llad been tho
,sfs pf az .., two sfe I IL c
lunE!nE, the t,rst to Afr. Loy'ngstun, and tho
sceutd to Mr.. George fierce, II sun Of Sergeant
Pierce, Of tic s., Louis police ,fozce. Thc
time, for whcn they burst through 'thc roof "
the structure It wa* nplarcnt A. Il glance that
t!e whole ntrrlor llau fajleu . prey, and that
th1 building was 1lttin more than tiery shc1.
the flames shot into the building nlJoinInr
I'll tic south, as though eager to get ut thu
massive structure tlat lowered nbuyc all, but
was 20 yet u1iseathcd. The alaln was giyru
e sr, pvs ro IL a sher a :'' .d se' Of s"'fss sss
signals on on lila sdc. il,eru ai,prarsI to Lave
been no apraratns for tho cxtin!<uts!lncnt ottlrc
NI GASk ktEfE AskJs ~ Ai0 INV puk
i, an appearance IN tiuc 70 be of material serv-
lie, aud such structures IN close proximity to
the fire ~ were snycl owed tlclr salvation 10
the ci,fcicncy OF t'lc burkct.bsiaadcs that wesu
tc.zed upon tho bridge With such avil!ty That
Garrlct OF tlto waa raised lp against thu 81.
Louis Department, anu but ono cuginc (So. ls)
ani llook.and.L Ladder NJ. were allie to reach
response to the alar,n; hut tho Tire was ,noro
rnp:tl thai, tic nsetncn. The slght was une
which uonc who eaw It will speedily forget. Tie
fatlcs wrapped themselves about tho bridge,
vicioutly III t.elr wprk Of dcstrulion went oli.
Tie strung wind blew them both above unl be.
low, wreaihing tAa doomed structure In q
clrclct.of fire, aMl ocsasol!us tue crowd Of
to tlelr safety. Unc man, wlo discovered that
the floor uu which 10 stood was burning ull the
Under silc. lnaIu sudden break to'Fafls the
west,, .rcmarktnE to an equally expeditions
for II slc cues down, VIC may stand some show
there, but hero 4 fcE!uw Lon't know exuctly
what lle Is standing on" Such WIS precisely
the cas<, and for u tiue It looked Us though
tl,e brislgc would bu destroyed. Chief Sexton
hal conlc too late to cross the tieFy cliasI, aud,
III q consequence, ho praneel thu brilge like Il
natln'a1t, shouting Ills orders tlinc a'id again N-
fur1 he could bu heanl, to tho men VI No. IL,
who weru stutIDned fur, fur below, VI, the south
sf1c, trying tQ oycrctNne the olds against them,
na! thruw strcun up hi1 froM the river. "Cut
the ro u1 here, anu !ct tn Gust clid take care of
tricd at every nozzle. from one ctld 10 the other.
but NOT q drop of Wnter waa to be hau from
them. lu tho time ot l!rs Necessity they failed
most completely. Hose had been attached to
sed,lctlons fur tlc consumption VI valuable
tine. Tic men uG NJ. Is worked With will,
autl succeeded With the MD of ropes tu rais[ng a
I.ne Ut hosu from tller position on the rlver
n fftf p f1,,. ,1f1
scseFal hundred fcet and IL WIS oil decidedly up
hill, but tho staucil little steamer responded
travc1y, aud by l2:W o'clock strca!n-the
tirst effective ouc--was thrown uIon the tire
from tue bFilEe, aud tllu eut-0f ordered Gy the
tlsIel VIA tnatu, for thu ItAulcs never got west
Ut st!c point they thou held possession VI. llah
the brlIEo "atrr.apparatus been tn working
orer t!,v ,naIu disaster, It Is reasonably safu to
IL part Ut lcast, Tor 1y tts timely lsc tllc ntc,
It cs,ult not have usen Aucnehcu, couli haYt
been held ln suh!eetion till ths t!ss department
got Gy an1 In puaiiIon for working.
One Ut the Nlxg1ns ferryboaks, which lay
south ol tho bridge, got up steam promptly liz
rssnonse to cnll, and cr0asng the Etscr, rar-
red back With her number OF the engines thut
hasl hceu standing Oil the. St., Louis leveu
pr inoru to attract atteutlon from my craft that
| might fee! disposeA 10 lend hriulug lanl. by
| this titDc the entire block Of franc rookcHes
had been destroyed, AMI tho houses south Of tho
I
Ire Grey for the flames, The frat In this dis
trtet tu atlccufnb to the inevitable was tho Wig
gus Ferry CoMt,atty's office. two-ssory trasap
building. willis the next was if4r.ling's Amerl-
| can Kitchen, . ouc.story I1ans restaurant,
! From uot,e Ut the lo,txrs destroyed wua there
much removed In the way Of fuEuiturc Of stocks.
Tho la,Hes Travelled u rapidly from building 10
building ~ to cause panlc, among tho ocy.s'
pal4ts, With WHOM tho chief desire seclued Il, ba
| 10 save themselves, aul to let the Insurance.
companies settle fur tho rest. One of tue re,
sulta oi the nro that will bu first felt by the
| pubifc Of ~. Louis Will be = tloFtaya OF tcle-
craphtc l,cws, tho wires Vt the Western Union
Company which rsos.cd the bridge having Vt
I"arsc been destroyed. However, they will bu
replaced tu-tlay. -
The Tire continued to burn htIskly until 80
O'Clock tlt4 morning. wl.vn II was got Under
c1ntrol aud suun thereafter suppressed, sayu
where Il snnllcscd !n tlu rul,ls Vi tlo housps it
had rlzed. Thu wreck. ns viewed tfut, tue north
side q tlte bridge, was sad Que. A long
tlrcteh Of thu apploach, eatltnAtcl At nearly uF
uuits ~ iect IN lc,.;al,. stands tu skrlctoIi
toru'. With oniy lhc bare .ea1nes. Tho l1rut