Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1877-10-09
The Patent once Fire

NJ, ID. Braintr I'd and Amos Hadley, OF the
Secretary of the Interiors Office, and w. B.
Reed, one of the fire commissioners of the
District, appointed by Secretary Schurz to
investigate the cause of the FIRE in the Int.
rior department building on the 2fth ultimo,
sui n1tttd fheir report last evening. accom-
ran1td with testimony OF large number Of
witnC 7e', covering several hundred pages of
manuscript. The boa.d say, In reference TO
some Of The tbeeries rs to the manner in
which this fire originated:
al. Did the fire originate from the spouta-
Ieous ccm bustion OF chemicals stored under
the roof In the rejected model room?
With reference TO this theory we think IL
only necessary to state that all chemical
srd other substances likely to ignite with
out the presence of fire were removed from
this IOCm many months before the fire &C.
CURED.
,. Did the fire originate from the careless
ness Of persons engaged in repairing the
With reference to this theory the testimony
shows conclusively that no repairs had been
made on the roof for week prior TO the
fire.
3. Did tie fire originate from the heating
apparatus in the conservatory on the roof?
This theory is as readily exploded. as the
y siimony shows thPt this ar paratus had not
been heated since last spring.
Havir & briefly reverted To the only thee.
Ties advanced as TO the probable origin of
the fire which in our opinion are at all de-
serving OF attention. we row come tn what
we consider the true cause thereof, vlZ:-We
find from the testimony that about $50
o'clock on the morning of the 9th ult. fire
was built in room No. Isl in the basement of
the 9th-stTeet wing of the building. by Henry
+. BIandebury, a labOrer in the Patent Of
nee, al the request OF the lady copyists en-
ploytd il said roc m, for the purpose OF re-
moving the ds MI ness ihereiIom. This fire
was built of pine boards, and a blower was
placed over the crate. ard 10 is shown by the
testimony tE8t the roaring of the fire excited
The attention of the persons employed in the
room, and was the subject of com .nent by
them a hat time. The smoke FROM the fire
paused up thI ough the third nue from +
street on the 9th street wing.
The testimony of MeSsrs. Sibley, Upton,
Smith, Daley, Ramsey. Churchill, HnPkins
ana Long, who were ufOn the roof some time
before the alarm OF fire WAS turned ~, shows
that n sc ctiOn of the wooden eating cover
ing he utter on the roof lying i'm .nediately
against the tine from which the smoke issued
was found to be on fire, and was thrown off
The roof into the yard on 9th street by Sibley
end others. We think there can be no doubt
but that tnis dry pine grating was set on fire
nom sparks or burning cinoers which came
up through this fiue. The amount of this
grating which had been burned at the tirae
The witnesses discovered IL is variousSy esti-
mated by them, but We conclude that not
less than thirty square feet of boards had
been destroyed. The witnesses state that
hey found large quantity of live Goals
lying on the roof and in the gutter, and that
The copper was so intensely hot that it had
changed color, and i'll some places sunk
DOWN, as though there was a hole underneath
ibis Intense IRE on the ROOF OF the building
was separated from the dry pine wood
shesthiDg underneath by the copper roofing,
which, as before stated, was only about one
fOrtieth of an inch in thickness, AMI was
Tapped and sOldered together along the gut
ter with common solder.
The boards under the roof did not fit suf.
ncleDtJy close together to exclude the free
circulation of air, and we are of opinion that
owing to the amount Of fire On the roof and
the thlnneSs of the copper roofing the board
sheatbing underneath took fire, and commu-
nitatlrg to the paper and other infiammable
materials stored in the immediate vicinity
OF tnts grating, in the r. jected model room,
mad gained uncomfortable Roadway before
any one in the building was aware of the
Danger, ard some time before the alarm of
fire was turned in.
Several ladies who were employed in the
west wing of the model room testify to smell
lDg smoke between and 10 o'clock on the
morning OF the fire, but as the windows were
open. snd the wind was blowing from the
southwes we conclude that the smoke came
nom the chimneys OF other buildings in the
Vicinity. Several persons testify to seeing
snlOse issuing from various parts of the roof
long prior to the alarm of fire, but az there
were fonr fires built on the 9th street side on
that morning, they undoubtedly saw the
smoke nom one of the CHI mneyS.
A1ter The most careful and searching in
vest1gatiOn We find nothing TO warrant the
belief that the fire was incendiaTy, but, on
the contrary, all the facts and circumstances
show that ii was accidental, and had its orr
GIN in the manner above stated.
Before c'oStng this report we consider Ii
our duty to call your attention IN the con-
dillon OF several OF the chimney fiues under
Tue roof CT the 9Th and + street wings OF the
building, which appear from ps">ouai in
spt elton 10 have bceo defective ani unsafe
for long time, and which, If not speed ly
70 raired, may be the cause OF further dis
aster."