, 1879-01-05

PRIZE FIVE CENlS.
the basement at all, the sha7ings, paper, and
woodwork seeming to be smoked to pieces.
Along toward O'Clock the roof began to blaze,
first Ia one part aud then In another Every
few minutes large pieces Of corrugated iron aud
timber would tumble to the sidewalk. The re-
markab1e metallic figure on the ball which or
namented the ctntre OF the Dearoorn-stEeet
'front.' aud which was occc said to be Il. H. Honora
motloning to Eastern capitalists, disappeared
IN short tine,-was melted, perhaps, By tho
neat The Aansard root, composed OF wood
anu corrugated iron, yielded gradually. 10 the
names' and by quarter Of 5 most OF it had yam
fshed, the tire by this time having possession OF
the nth floor, particularly that part south of
the Dearborn street entrance, and, BY o'clock,
Oh the Whole OF it. Below no flames we're to be
seen from Dearborn street except in the centre
Of the structure, where the stairways were TO-
cdted, brands having fallen down through tho
elevator and set the woodwork abiaze; but In
the rear the fire had worked its way down to tue
third floor, nearly all the wintlow-frames having
I fgnited and the rear rooms, separated fror1
those fronting on Dearborn street by q hallway
fifteen feet wide, we're all lighted up by the burn
! ing OF their contents. This. rear part
"as difficult to get at, in TACT,
| could not be gotten at except from the roof of
! the west wing and that of the Rowland Block
! (old 1lonore Building), just north OF the alley
! and from these positions water coald be- thrown
! into only the fifth floor. There were four
streams on the top of the Rowland Block, eisht
on the top OF the west wing. seven on Dearborn
street, aud tive on Adams street. The two urst
mentioned did good executon,-that is, th4:
water Was thrown into the building; but, with
one or two exceptions, the balance were for /.
long time useless, since the water could not be
forced up high enough. Only the f1s:-cIass
steamers could do that Efforts were made 10
break the window pancs with the streams, bnr
they were unsuccessful, as in the case at the
Singer Building; so guns and navy reVolvess
were procured, and bullets and buck
shot fired at then- As it. was im-
possible to take aim, owing to she
smoke and steam which filled the street, very
little glass was broken, the missiles generally
hitting tue stone 'front.' When pane was struck
by accident the crowd yelled. This was tho
Gully way water could be gotten into the stories
below the fifth, and the attempt Was finally
Successful to limited extent.
EARLY ON THE GROUND.
The sight OF hre-engines dash1ng through the
streets about ESQ O'Clock yesterday afternoon
caused considerable excitement among the resi-
dents Of the business portion Of the city. as
quito gale OF wind was blowing at the time.
aud the intense cold made a eonhagration all
the more to be feared. The anxiety was not
al1ayed when second n!GTm followed the one
first given, aud steamers from the outskirts OF
the city came laundering to thes.enc Of danger,
which, as vas speedily. ascertaiued: Law in tno
Honore Block, corner Of Adams aud Dearborn
streets The building was well-known one,
occupied by the post-Of1ice, the Military De
partment Of the Missouri, and number Of
lawyers -, -,
As: soon IS the location Of the fire became
generally known, crowds began fieclsinc in its
direction, since an extensive blaze in SUCH
weather as Chicago was subject to yesterday
has not been known for years In response to
thr first aIarm several engines were promptly OH
the spot, out, Notwithstanding the activity Of
the lremen in responding to the CALL it Was
evident upon their arrival that the cxtlnguish-
rent of the flames was beyond their power, and
to make their progress through the doomed
structure as SLOW as possible aud p-eYen: their
spread to the adjacent buildings, WAS all that
could be done.
0+AA
known, although the general impression among
those in the building was that its origin was
taken near the boiler-room. However tais may
be, /: is certain .:hat it spread With almost mi-
raculous speed, aud in a few moments from its
inception egress from the upper floors via the
stairway was. .effectually prevented by vast vol-
umes Of thick smoke which rolled through
them. Hardly had the first engines on the
ground taken their positions and began an inef-
fcctual attempt 10 throw streams on the man-
sard roof OF the building, from which considcra-
b1e volumes Of smoke and flame were issuing,
when the somewhat startling discovery was
made that several men were on tue fifth floor
with
NO MEANS OF ESCAPE
save those which could be furnished from tho
outside. When this came to the knowledge of
the Fire Marshal he at once dispatched men To
the root OF the burning structure, and in q short
time they had securely fastened to it rope,
which in its descent to the ground passed til:
window in which were the men whose chances
for lie were diminishing With every moment
When the first Of them seized the rope
and gave it sharp jerk to as
sure himself that it was securely fa=-
tened above, hoarsc roar went up from
tue expectant throng which filled the street be-
low, ard which had been worked up to the
highest pitch Of excitement br the knowledge
That human life was in danger. The first man
TO essay the per:lous journey to earth and safety
was W. H. Hosack, Of Gen. Sheridan's force, i
in charge OF transportation in the
Department of the Missouri. He grasped tho
rope firmly, aud in an Instant was swinging III
nil ai1, clear OF the building. Down he cane.
sliding along the cable as If its friction against
MS legs and body was nothing, and soou
cached the icc-covered sidewalk in 4 thor
,ughiy exhausted condition. Friendly hands
y-aspcd his almost fainting form, ana
le was hurried 20 saloon III the
ld1oining building, where. BY the aid OF stimu-
ants, he was soon put to rights. But the1e
we're four others to follow, and their move
uents were ,wutchcd with intense interest,"
Chc sccond man to make the journey Uas II. L.
Rowland. Hc was not Us careful as uosaca,
md in passing the copinss Of the fourth-story
windows bumped violently against them, no
[amage, however, being done~ Then came T.
;. Baker and Charles Webo, and when EACH
cached the ground cheers went up from the
rowd at their safe dcilverancc from death.
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