, 1879-01-05

communicated to Postmaster Palmer Wy ni'
Patten, whose Office adjoins bis. The fostlnae-
ter and bis assistants attempted to get 10 tnc
basement BY the stairway, but were cut Oily
immense volumes of smoke and flame co1nlue
up the stalrTays aud the Dearborn street ese"
vator. They finally escaped by stand-plpe lad
der In the alley on the north Oh tae
building. The alarm was given GIL over
the building, and the entire force we're put
on the work of removal. Immediately ad1o1n-,
ing the boilcr-room, where the fire originated,
is the newspaper throwing room. There were
about htty sacks in the .room, and these "cre
thrown'up the chute and removed to the Amer
ican Express Compauy's- building by the De-
partment wagons, assisted by the express
wagons Of the Company. Just before the alarm
twenty-five sacks, destined for Milwaukee, st.
Paul, and other points In Wisconsin and Mime
sofa, had been sent off in the usual course OF
business. All of the matter was carried out the
rear way through the alley, thence on to Mon-
roe street. The ncwspaper-room occupied about
two-thirds Of the basement, and communicated
directly with the carponter-shop and boiler
room. No appearance Of the fire was seen here
for about an hour after the fire first broke out.
Bullwinkle's patrol kept the FIRE from spread
--f- -
In the mailing: department every letter was
saved, but only by the :best Of management.
There Vas ~vcEE,-l|ttle confusion, and the entire
force Of employees worked: together without any
great bitches. Owing to the delayed trains,
much OF the matter. that would. have been
in the Office had not arrived. There
were about the usual full mails
in the building, Saturday being heavy day in
+1,;c Ill. 1finhf inn,
Southern Railroad during the day had not ar-
rived at the building at the time Of the fire.
In the money-order department every dollar
was saved. The amount is not large probably
being less than $1,000. The return for the day
had already been sent off, as this department is
not in the habit OF carrying large amounts OF
money over night. The surplus is sent to New
York daily. All the records OF busi-
ness previous to yesterday were placed
in the vault, which is considered entirely
firesproof. The records OF yesterdays business
we've carried to the Sub-Treasury. The only
books left out were some old records and papers
which are Of no present value, being on!y used
for reference. There will be no direct loss in
this office except on the furniture. Every book
and scrap OF paper bearing on the work Of the
Office is secure. The Special Agents did not
trust to vaults and safes, bu1 carried away
all Of the valuable papers OF their office. All OF
the evidence against criminals was saved, and
the entire secret correspondence Of the Office WAS
carried to place of safety. 1n- carrying
out some cases, Special-Agent Henshaw had
Que of his fingers badly smashed, but it WAS
not allowed to lntc:fere with bis work. The
furniture in this room, valued at about 81, 200,
was deserted, the attention Of the officers being
devoted to saving the. records Of the Office in
tact, in which they were entirely successful.
On the fourth floor, where the repairing OF the
mai]-bags is carried on, no effort was made to
save anything, as the Furniture and tools are Of
but little value. There, were about 4 dozen
young ladies employed in this department..
They were entirely cut of from escape by the
stairs, and were compelled to climb down the
escape on the north side Of the building on the
alley front. The descent to the ground was ac-
complishcd with safety, one of tho male e11-
ploYes following with little yellow dog care
fully tucked under his arm.-
In the carriers department, which is in the
second story Of the wing. the work Of removal
proceeded quietly, under the direction of Mr..
John NJ. Hubbard, Superintendent of Carriers.
The carriers had just gone out on their O'Clock
trip, and tho office was almost entirely cleared,
Fifty-three carriers went out at that time, and
they took out almost every pound of matter in
their department. Had the usual large guam
tity Of mail letters 4seen In tho boxes and in
course of distributiou,'a large loss would in-
evitab1y have taken p'sce. The damage to this
room will amount to 81, 200, mainly by water, az
the wing WAS ont Of the line Of the flames. :;
MIR. S. RULER, the manager of the German
delivery, reports that there were only seven
bags of matter III bis department., ard they were
all saved. The registered mail was also brought
out safe, although it is believed that there will
be some rather heavy losses among the regis
tered packages, many Of which we're left be-
hind:
In the wholesale. and retail stamp-depart-
ments there will be some losses Of stamps, etc.
There were between thirty and forty cases OF
stamped envelopes in the basement which
we're completely destroyed. The exact
amount and value ,will not be known
until comparisons can be made from
the books. They were placed near
the boiler-room and right next to the carpenter
shop. II not touched bv the fire they would be
utterly DESTROYED by the water.
Mr.. E. J. >Rook, foreman of the general de-
livery, reports thot every pound OF matter under
his charge has been saved.
In almost all of the departments m effort was
made, and in some cases with success, to save
the cases which are used in Throwing ,: the
mail. This is an important thing, as these
cases are specially arranged for the work, and
without :hcm the work of the office would be
greatly retarded. The cases, as fast as
brought out, were carried off up the
alley. Immediately north of tho building
is a large open lot, and great deal Of the mail
saved was piled there temporarily and put un-
der guard of men from the department.. Tar
pauItns were brought into requisition, and the
pfIes we're protected from the water which was
falling on all sides from the heavy streams
thrown from the adjoining buildings. None Of
the mail sayed is believed to haYc been injured
in the transfer.
THE SINGER BUILDING.
When 1t became evident that the building
must 20, Postmaster Palmer made immediate
efforts to secure another place for base
Of operation. After considering various places,
tho basement OF the Singer Building WINS Sc
cured, and the transfer Of the property to that
place began. All OF the cases that were saved
were sent over first and placed about the base
ment, which is unusually large aud commodious.
The bulk OF the mails were sent TO the Rock
Island depot, where Capt. White had charge