Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1883-01-01
HALF 4 MILLION LOST,
A Large Five-Story Clothing House Gutted
from Basemen, to Roof-Ina 0ectual
tn oh

A Large FiveStory Clothing House Gutted
from Basement to ROof-Ina 0ectual
Efforts to Reach Flames.
By far the most destructive fir that has
occurred in Milwaukee,, for years broke
out in the large clothing house of Friend
Brothers, corner Broadway and Michigan
streets, at 2:45 o'clock Sunday mv.ning.
The fire was discovered by a watchman
who, in passing by, noticed that tho iron
frames of the basement windows Of the
Large block were red hot. The Large
block, five stories in height, and 12O by
12O feet in dimensions, is protected
throughout by iron shutters. The fire,
which had evidently been in progress IN
side for hours, was thus kept from sight.
When entrance to the building was
gained it was found that the fire had eaten
through from the basement to the fifth
story and had virtually destroyed the i'm
mense stock Of manufactured clothing and
the tons Of cloth which Friend Brothers
had in stock. The four stories of the
block we're occupied by Friend Brothers
with their clothing establishment and
Landauer Brothers, wholesale dry goods.
The fifth story was occupied by Straw,
Ellsworth & Co., wholesale hatters.
Friend Brothers stock is almost total
loss. 1t was valued at between $500, 900
and 5000, 900 and the building at $3.50, 900.
Straw, Ellsworth s. Co.'s stock was dam
aged by fire and water TO the extent of
not less than $4,000. Landauer Bros,
dry goods, lose by smoke and water prob
ably $4,000. The building is insured for
about 5000.
When the fire department got to work
the smoke was SO dense and sitting that
! it was impossible to get men into the burn
| iug basement. Streams of water were
poured into the basement, which was lit
orally flooded, but the heart OF the fire, it
| seemed, could not bo reached. The whole
basement, measuring SO by l20 feet il
| area, contained an immense stock of wooden
goods, in bolts and pieces, put up several
feet in height on low tables. In the middle
| Of the basement, toward tie Broadway
front, was a large furnace, which heated
the building, and the belief is that the
furnace became Overheated and ignited
goods on the surrounding tables. From
the nature of the goods it is supposed that
the fire burned or rather smouldered for
hours before it was discovered and this
popularity of the closely packed material
rendered the extinguishing of the flames
no easy matter. Tho department had to
fight under great many disadvantages
and suffered terribly from the smoke,
which, carried by brisk northerly breeze,
filled the whole of lower Broadway in
| dense clouds.
The building has 10 stand. pipe, and
when it became necessary to prepare to
| flood the upper floors in order to save the
costly structure, the cumbrous work of
raising the large extension ladders to the
| windows had to be resOrted to, a piece of
| work which was rendered doubly difficult
on the account of the maze of electric
wires crossing the intersection Of the
streets. Then the rear windows were
secured by heavy iron shutters, which
could not be opened but from
| the inside, and for fully forty
minutes after the discovery of the
fire it was impossible to penetrate through
the smoke on the ground floor. At $50
o'clock two men of the fire department
tried to get into the basement and at the
place Of the origin of the fire, but could
| remain only for few seconds and did not
discover anything. Thus the work of the
department was from the start solely
confined to flooding tho whole basement,
and that was effectually done, the whole
department being on the ground and seven
steamers at work. The fire was gotten
under control before six o'clock. Not
withstanding the extent of the fire not one
of the adjoining buildings was injured in
the least. The elegant structure, the
chamber Of commerce building, directly
opposite, did not have any glass cracked.