Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1883-10-21
THE NEW TACOMA FIRE.


From proof sheet of the E,scs. kind
ly sent us by the editor. We get the full
account following of the FIRE at New
Tacoma on the 18th inst:
Perhaps more complete combustion
than. the tire of yesterday could not b,
imagined The ground on which tn,
Buildings stood is covered with thin
coat of ashes, and only the iron safe,
IN the buildings retain anything like
their original form. Every kind oi
metal was melted in the fierce flames
and the glassware about the premises
turned into curious and fantastic shapes
as il cooled.
The hardest loss falls upon Walter st
John, IN whose establishment the fire
started. Nothing was saved from his
building. he and his family escaped
with only the clothing they had on. La
| addition to his stock of drugs, St. John
had a large amount of furniture in the
rooms above. He figures his loss at
1900. He did not have cent of in
sHrance and is left penniless. Last
evening and this morning some of the
liberal spirited boys in town circulated
noon had secured Subscribers to the
amount of over 800, most of which has
been paid in. In day or 50 tue sum
will be presented to Mr.. st. John and
will go long way toward establishing
him in business again. In his lodging
rooms above, number of parties had
goods and chattels stored, all of which
were consumed. DIR. Armstrong lost his
OF nj tr,e
value Of f400. DIR. Chase, who moved
in only yesterday, lost his library aud
clothing; Messrs. f. w. Beach, ID. A.
Maulsby and another of the Ledger em-
ployes lost everything in their rooms.
Mr.. Reed, locomotive fireman. lost his
clothing. Lawyer Robbins lost every
thing'in his room, to considerable
value. Mail Agents Hayes and Cole are
in the same fix, net to mention Wells,
Fargo il Co. agents, Hayden and Ham
ilton. A new arrival by the name of
Fleischner lost a trunk. 1t is estimated
that the dodgers lost fully 5000 worth
of effects.
The next building to go after St.
Johns was Ouimette Il Tarbell's real
estate office. Nearly all of the furni-
ture was saved, and the loss is not
heavy.
Ouimette d Co. figure their loss at
5000. They owned the three business
houses burned. Mr.. Ouimette figures
the value of the buildings at 5000, up-
on which there was 5000 insurance in
the Commercial Union of California,
and the Union of New Zealand. He
does not know how much insurance was
upon the stock, as Mr.. Tarbeli attended
| to that, and he is now in Portland. II
is either 5000 or 5000 in the same
companies. The stock was nearly all
removed. but with what was burned
| and the damage to the rest. he figures
his loss at $1,000. From his handsome
ly furnished rooms above the store but
little was saved, which was also true of
Mr.. TarbelPs rooms on the same floor.
The ladies saved all their jewelry, with
the exception of gold watch owned by
Mrs. Tarbell. Mr.. Ouimette states that
he has made his plans for the future.
He will rebuild at once.
Packscher's stock of goods was re-
moved, and, of course, damaged to a
considerable extent. He had 5000 in
surance-$2000 in the Firemen's Fund,
$1,000 in the North America, $1,000 in
the Phoenix of London, and $1,000 in
New York companies. The goods are
all back in the store, but piled in dire
confusion. The building is owned by
Thompson & Cjffman of the Bank Of
New Tacoma, and il fully insured. 1t
was considerably damaged.
The residence burned in the rear Of
st. Johns store was owned by Sam
Wilkeson, Jr. Ii was valued at $3.50,
and was not insured. Ii was occupied
by Il. II. Merriam, who succeeded in
saving everything but some $40 worth
of furniture.
Several buildings on Pacific avenue,
opposite the fire, were damaged to the
extent of broken windows aud blistered
paint. All were insured.
Holt Il Pendegast figure their loss at
$500, all sustained in the hurried NOV
ing of the goods. They are fully in
sured.
The postofiice fixtures were back in
place-as soon as the danger was over,
and Postmaster Sampson was handing
out mail by 6 o'clock.
Ameng the losses at st. Johns was a
piano and $500 worth of silverware,
wedding presents to Mrs. st. John. The
silverware, to the amount of many
pounds, was found in the ashes this
morning run together in large Jumps
and sheets.
Ben. Everetts lost two trunks of cloth
ing, a lot of jewelry, silverware, ETC., in
the st. John building.
The boys all worked nobly to save the
town. The blackened sides OF adjacent
buildings show how close the call was.
When the alarm was sounded Mr..
| Chamberlain, one of the proprietors Of
the Tacoma furniture factory atOpDetl