, 1879-01-05

iceberg, or rather mammoth temple Ct II.
Upon the sidewalk at the foot Of the bui1d;s-
arose miniature mountain OF ice, at least ~
feet high, which had been formed By the cop,In'
ued splashing Of water thrown by the Mn.
against the wallis. Imbedded In this 1our rids.
of ice we're two fine steam-engines and man.
feet OF hose. The former we're still splitting a.
and working with will aud faithfulness thu
would have put to shame the alleged boy On IL.
burning deck.
+ One Of the first men with whom the repo,+..
came in contact upon the outside Of the rn;..
was Mr. Warder, the engineer Of III.
building, who volunteered the information
that the report Was false that Ii.
fire originated in the boiler~room. He said h,
had been all through the basement With tn.
boots, and averred that the cobwebs In the @,
gine-room we're unscathed. This Was uex a
parture from the popular theory, and the -.
porter insisted upon seeing with bis own eyes
"The water is about two feet deep atonna
there,n suggested Mr.. Warder.
"No matter II it IS ten; can swimn =.
turned the scribe.
Mr.. Warder accordingly sent a guide with
lantern to pilot the reporter through the ruin,
The two went around by the way Of Monns
street, through the alley and the entrance h
the rear building, and shortly the tnunda,ed
basement. wa5 reached. By means NJ
strides; jumps, and stradd1es, they It
length arrived at the engine-room.
which was full OF water. However, by means
of looking at section by section, from varioai,
standpoints, the reporter was convinced Of th.
truth Of the engineers assertion. The patr
next went through the larger, or main, carpentet
shop, which adjoins the eng1ne-room on the stda
next the alley. This Was unharmed, e1ce1t
one corner of the ceiling, which was slightly
charred. ShaVings we're piled upon the floor
about the room. 1t was evident that the seat
OF the confagration had not yet been reached
By exercising little strength, pile OF lumber
glass, and signs was thrown to one side, por-
tion Of the wooden partition Was torn out, md
entrance was effected to the south side Of. the
engine-roorn, or, rather, into a nsrroz
passage between. two walls which led
to a lsmaller~ carpenter-shop~ 1t was evident
that here was the origin OF the fire. The room
Was in ruins. A wooden partition had been
placed there, and along this extended a work
bench. In the partition were affixed three fold
ing gas-brackets, which we're used for light, and
for heating glue, paint, etc. Not Vessige ot
any Of these articles described remained as ei-
idence that they had ever been there.
About fifteen feet from this little carpenter
shop, toward Dearborn, was the Dearborn-strec.
elevator, and just as soon rs the fire had burned
through the ceiling it went for the shaft, filing
it with flame and smoke. To enhance the prog
ress Of the fiery tlend, the :e1evator~boy run bis
apparatus up and down with great rapid
ity 1t was a hydraulic, eleyatorl In
order to get all the people
out of the building and out of danger. Three
or four times be made a trip to the top floor
and back, through flame and smoke, and each
time he went above, the fire followed close
after, drawn up by the suction Of the elevator.
"Ee was q plucky little cuss,'. said the guide,
"but he burned the building" This ia.
doubtless true, for had the elevator been kent
down there would not have been such tre,
mendous draught Of air, which carried
the fire to the top of the building
in no time, where it had a fine, dry 3lansar1
roof to feed upon, and upon which it made good
time,-the firemen all say the fastest on record
except in p1aning-mill.
Capt Ben Bullwinkle stated that he was tba
first upon the ground, having been warned by !
mercuria1 signal. He believed the fire original
ed in the carpenter-shop, as did the engineer
One of his patrolmen turned In the first frs.
signal.
The following is diagram Of the basement
where the fire originated: