The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1882-04-25
SPARKS FROM THE FLAMES,
Details of tho Big Fire on sunday
Morning.

VI OuhuoJ NV 1hADEh d
brief statement of the fire that occurred
on that morning and which burned
down the old McDaniels-C Chase theater.
A more detailed account is presented
herewith.
The flames were discovered at about
half past 4 O'Clock, and were first seer
from the railroad. An engineer at once
whistled the alarm and soon the fire bell
rang. The fire companies all responded
promptly and attached their hose to the
different plugs and laid the lines to the
fire. But the water did not come re-
sponsive to call, and the Durant steam
er was brought out and placed wei the
cistern at Marks & Myers corner.
Then the Phil Sheridan steamer, with
steam up rushed by, and also an ambu-
lance and team pulling the hose cart.
The Sheridan took station at the Inter
Ocean cistern and had the honor of
throwing water very shortly after the
first stream played IN Addoms
& Glover's building.
Before this, however, three lines Of
hose lay near the flames and had to be
pulled out to be saved from burning up.
BY the time that water came, which
wa fully half an hour after the alarm,
the theater building was a mass Of
burning ruins, the last wall had tum-
bled in. And then to save the Key
City house the hooks tore down the
small frame building adjoining the thea
ter. which effected the desired end.
On the opposite side of Sixteenth
street, the heat beat 6ercely on the store
building of Henry Harrington, causing
the shingles and weather boarding to
smoke very much. However, Mr.. Har-
rington got out a lot of blankets and
covered the roof and sides and kept
these soaking wet so that the building
was not seriously damaged.
Addoms Il Glover's building, on the
opposite side of Eddy street, was badly
damaged. The fierce heat set FIRE to the
%cornice, to the window frames and the
doors. Although there was no wind
blowing at the time, and the flames
rolled steadily UPWARD, the great heat
vas sufficient to aiame the drug store
80 feet distant. Had there been water
in time this building would have been
saved without any damage.
When water came finally, through
the pipes, it came in force, and the
flames were soon extinguished.
The origin of the fire was undoubted-
ly incendiary. The theater had been
unoccupied for a long time and was in
tested with tramps of late, who would
break open the doors and sleep there at
night.
What contributes to the belief of in
cendiarism is the fact that an effort was
made to burn the building in rear Of
the Star restaurant, near the Masonic
Temple. j. H. Magoon and j.. d.
Corey discovered the plot in time and
put out the flames. There was a large
quantity of kerosene scattered about the
place when the fire was started, and in
a few minutes the whole affair would
have burned down, because there was
no water to be had at that time.
The theater building was not insured
in any company represented by agerts
in this city. The building originally
cost about So, 900 and an offer of $4,000
was made for it recently. The loss on
it however, cannot be reckoned at over
$1,000 for the eason that the theater
building was almost valueless for the
class of theatrical performances given
there and vas worthless for any other
kind CT business.
The estimated loss on the Addoms &
Glover building is 81, The insurance
amounted to $4,000 and was placed by
Mr.. Oliver in the Phoenix, of Brooklyn,
$1,000; Home, of New York, $500, and
the Springfield Fire and Marine, $500.
The loss or the other buildings Mr..
Oliver states to be merely nominal.
The companies represented by Bruner
lose only about $50 by the fire. The
Merchants, of Newark, N. j., and the
Fire Association of Philadelphia, will
share the amount. The damaged build
ing is the Revolution store. one side of
which will need re~painting.
The damage to the stock of Dare &
Collins is merely trifing. When the
6re broke out a couple of barrels of oil
were on the drug store sidewalk, but
were rolled away by some of the en-
ployes. Behind a blind door, which
caught fire one time, were stationed the
coal oil tank and a barrel of turpentine.
The entire building made a most for
tunate escape.
A sEGACIoUs boy.
Frank Housman, the boy who is on
the night watch at the Central tele
phone Office discovered the flames as
soon as they sprang up. Five times he
tried to telephone the engineer at the
U. p. pump house, but getting no re-
ponse and knowing that something was
wrong, he Immediately telephoned Maj
Lord, at Camp Carlin, that a destruc-
tive fire vas raging in Cheyenne and
asked him to send his "Phil. Sheridan"
to the rescue.
Maj. Lord, with the most Commend
able prcmptness, aroused his company
and the result was that the Camp Car
lin buys zane down with their engine
AID we're the nrst to turf a stream of
water on the endangered buildings
drawn from the cistern near the Inter