Morning journal and courier., 1882-03-01
The Malley Fire.


 Anew Opposite Trinity Church-Exten- l
 sion Of the Present Store.
 The destruction of E. Malley 6J Co. s man. l moth store by fire yesterday morning appear ed inevitable judging from the extent of the 1 spread of the flames as we went to press. 1 The fire did it's work effectually, enveloping the entire premises in it's grasp. The fire men worked on the ruins until the middle of yesterday afternoon. They toiled heroically. Great credit is given them for their energetic work. The whole rear part of the store, back from the central side entrance on Temple street to Center street, is mass of ruins,
 nothing remaining except 8 part of the Tenn
 pie street brick wall All else is a grand
 mass of blackened, charred rubbish. Here l can be seen charred rolls of expensive goods of all descriptions and rolls of choice scar- pets by the score mingled in indescribable confusion with blackened bricks and mortar, half burned joists and fragments of flooring and counters, nothing remaining of the building and stock but this grand medley on the cellar bottom. The Chapel street part of the main store, down to the Temple street entrance, is still intact, but presenting a sorry spectacle, the counters, cases and goods everywhere being soiled by smoke and the fierce heat and water, while the plaster ing of the ceiling is mostly pealed off, and in
 many places the ceiling is burned through. All the array of goods in this part of the store tells the same story of 8 half ruined or utterly worthless condition. From the tin ned roof of the one story addition to Perry's carpet store you step into a window of the second story of the Malley store, and here the scene of ruin is the most striking of all. E The second story of the building was the wholesaling portion. The rear part, as stated, was reduced into mass of rubbish \ by the flames In the remaining part, 8 place 100 feet long and more by 40 feet wide, you see an immense array of boxes of stock l ings, boxes of handlzerchiefs, boxes of sus- penders, etc., etc., piled up as they were be- ! fore the fire, but drenched with dirty water I and blackened by smoke and heat Everywhere ! the ruinatlon of goods was pretty complete
 From the roof of the same building you take l view of the ruins of the store which Mr. I Malley had for Christmas toys and which was being repaired. The flames ran around ' from the part of the building to Chapel street by this side store and the Fullerton grocery store on the one side, and the main ! store on the corner on the other, and enclosed the Smith building in which are Gilbert $ ! Thompson's fine grocery store and Perrys ! large carpet warehouse. This building,
 hemmed in on three sides by fierce flames, ! was saved by its thick walls, tin roof and the ! energy of the firemen. The firemen had had l two runs the same night and had but just re- turned to the steamer houses when the third alarm struck. The spread of the flames was
 most rapid. When the fremen arrived the Center street end was all aflame. The prem ises burned like finder box. Chief Hendrick ordered Assistant Superintendent of Fire Alarm Smith to send out general alarm, which was immediately done. This brought out ali the apparatus, reserve and all, making eight engines, two hook and ladder trucks ! and the separate hose carriages. These were stationed on Chapel Temple and Center streets, and cross streams were quickly es- 1 tablished. At first the flames were so in-
 tense that the men could not stay at the fire l on the Center street side. Attention was paid to the Moriarty building, on the corner of Temple and Center streets. This was badly scorched, but did not catch owing to the plenteous supply of water. The interior was somewhat damaged by flooding. Streams were directed to Rufus Smiths livery stable ! and the Smith building l The burned premises were of brick, and built in 1871. There were two stories and an
 attic on the Chapel street front, which are of l Philadelphia pressed brick. This front, which l IS about forty feet wide, runs back fifty feet
 or more and is joined by the remainder of the ! structure, built of ordinary brick It is of two stories, including an upper floor covered l with high timed Mansard roof This style, with break or two to insure variety reaches 1 to Center street. On Center street the build \ ing extends behind the Smith block This I was the whole of the establishment until 8 ! few years ago, when the old Park House, two doors below on Chapel street, was demolished
 and high one-story brick block of two stores built. One of these Malley has recently occu- pied, thus making two Chapel street entrances l and one grand sweep for the display of his | goods. The one furthest east the Boston l grocery-Fullerton Bradbury-occupied. This whole continuation of buildings is the ! property destroyed. It was built on grou nd
 leased of the Lefingwen estate, it is said for
 twenty years. The lease has only nine years 1 to run, when the building as usual, reverts \ to the lessee. Mir. Malley had insured the life of Mir. Lefingwell, whose interest in the
 land is a life estate, for $2O 1000, to cover l the worth of his buildings in case the lessee
 should die before the lease expired. MT.
 Malley is the beneficiary under the policy. | THE ORIGIN. --
 Such was the rapid spread of the fire that l nothing of consequence could be saved from
 the premises. The night watchman, John Casey stated as follows regarding the first \ appearance of the flames ssI was cleaning 1 up, as is my custom, in the wholesale depart ment up stairs about 3:15 this morning, when
 l smelled smoke coming from down stairs I
 went down and found the carpet room on fire. ran out and began crying fire. It | seemed to me to be some time before anyone
 heard me. Then policeman responded and
 6 fire alarm box was pulled. Superintendent
 Walton, of the basement department, came
 over from the Radcliffe building across Temple street, where he rooms, and the two of us tried to get into the store by the Temple street entrance. It was no use the fire was
 then raging fercely end the flames drove us back That is all can think of now" It was subsequently, stated that in none of the
 Malley buildings is there any hose or any
 means of extinguishing fire that may have gained slight headway.
 l Honceman Geo1ge Bradley, whose peat
 takes in the Malley store, heard the cry of
 fire and rushed to Malley's. When he ar- 1 rived the end near Center street was all afire.
 It looked as if the fire broke out in the nilli-
 nery department. A newspaper carrier pass- I ing by at 3:30 saw the flames, and thought
 the alarm then sounding for the Court street fire was for Malley's. He therefore made no sign Dr. W. D. Anderson was coming
 across the Green about the same time, and saw the flames. He overheard two persons | conversing, one of whom told the other to run and pull the box. The night watchman
 one Casey, rushed out of the side door on Temple street in his shirt sleeves, it is as- serted, quite beside himself, shouting fire fire" MT. Wheeler, of Robb $ Wheeler,
 livery stable proprietors opposite, was awak-
 ened as he slept in the ofice and, pulling l the curtain aside, saw the man. The build l ing, from Center street hundred more l feet towards Chapel, was in fierce blaze. His own property took his further attention. The watchman is quite certain that the fire
 broke out in the carpet room at the Center street end. At no place was the work of the fEe more thorough than ill this part The watchman tried to pull over some carpets and put the fire out, but it gained on him and he ran for the street to give an alarm, there