St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-09-09
THE CLEVELAND FIRE.
A Pen Picture of the Terrible HolO-
caust i'll That City Sunday
Night.
An Area of Twenty Acres Burned and the
Damage Much Greater Than
Reported.
The Aggregate Loss Now Placed at One
Million Dollars.

last nights conflagration presents desolate
appearance to-day. The fire covers an area
extending from Scranton avenue to the Bee
line track on the east and west, and from
the river to Girard street, north and SOUTH
1t embraces triangle base, which runs from
east TO west 1.1O0 feet. The two sides ex-
tending southerly and nearly meeting at a
distance of 1900 feet. The alarm was given
from box % at 6:57 p. M, by Frank
Stepanek, watchman in the employ of the
Variety Iron works, and simultaneously box
Il was rung in. The fire then obtained
considerable headway, and seemed to be in
the center of Wood Perry & Co.'s yard. En-
gines u and S and truck responded
to the first alarm. At 7:02 Chief
Dickinson made a call for assist
ance and engines 4, 6 and z and truck
were sent out. More help was called for
by the chief and engines 5, 9, II and 13
were out with rush. Still the department
could not cope with the flames and engines
10 and II and truck were sent out, leaving
the remainder of the city without protection.
Even the last reserve engine was put in SER
vice and at SAT the chief ordered the opera
ing cities for help. The order was imme-
diately complied with and Erie, Utica, San
dusky, Akron, Columbus, Youngstown and
Delaware responded. Only the last three
named got their men in service, their appa-
ratus not being required at the time of their
arrival.
After starting the flames extended west to
the lumber yard of Peter, Birdsall s, Co., ex-
tending from Scranton avenue to the Bee
line, and from the river 70 Carter street, eat
ing up five million feet of lumber, twenty
seven cars of the Bee Line, loaded with mer-
chandise aud other incidentals. such as
Office buildings, shanties and stables.
Having swept away the square the
flames leaped across the river on the
north and across the Bee Line embankment
on the west, and ate their way into The rear
of Sherman, Williams 6c Co.'s work and G.
a. Stanley's lard oil and candle factory on
the north, attacking Hubben & Westover's
lufn Der yard on the west. Considerable dam
age was done here, but the flames were iso-
lated after desperate fight and their progress
checked in this direction. Having DESTROYED
everything north of Carter street, the fire
made its way across the street, going south
and attacking the Variety Iron works, Eynon
IL Co.'s machine shop, House & Davidson's
box factory and planning mills, Woods, Perry
81 Co.'s planning mill and the Howells Coal
Co.'s coal yards, wholly wiping out the dis
tricts embraced between Carter Bereford
and Willard streets and Scranton avenue.
| Step by step the flames were fought, but un-
successfully. The fire burned itself out in a
southerly direction and then stopped.
Running along Scranton avenue from
north to south the flames leaped across the
street and, attacking the New York, Penn
sylvania & Ohio office, two freight offices
and the Merchants Dispatch building.
Almost the entire population of the city
was out last night, intensely excited over
the confagration, and except those too timid
to leave their homes unprotected, nearly
everybody rushed to the nearest eligible spot
in sight Of the flames. The best bird's-eye
view OF the sublime yet appalling scene was
from the foot of Huron street. From that
point could be seen the area over which the
terrible fire was raging with resistless fury.
The crowd here was very great, and did not
seem to diminish until about a. m, when
it was evident that the fire was under con-
troll. At half past one from fifteen to
twenty acres was apparently one
monster of flame, from which rose
frequent high spires of light which
flashed hundreds of feet up in the air, scat
tering immense showers Of great sparks like
incessant bursting of rocks. These sparks,
in many instances fire brands more than a
foot long, after being thrown up on the face
| OF the full moon, which shone with serene
indifference over the city, and sailed away
on the dense clouds of yellowish smoke and
distributed themselves thickly over houses
and streets for miles in different directions,
| according as the capricious wind guided
them. Here was imminent danger. The
weather had been very dry for several weeks,
and the people were in fear that the whole
:own was doomed to destruction. The fickle
breeze first scattered the sparks over the
down town district, Monumental Park and
Seneca streets receiving the heaviest bap-
tism. The wind then carried the blazing
cinders eastwardly, and distributed them Tor
two miles or more along Euclid avenue,
Prospect and Parallel streets. Some of the
lawns this morning presented the appear
ance of having been dressed with charcoal.
Everywhere people were out Of doors in q
state of alarm lest these cinders should fire
the dwellings. A close watch was kept on
the roofs, but the sparks which were the
cause of so much uneasiness, did no consid-
cradle damage. The cinders burned while
carried about by the wind, but on touching
any object ceased to burn, many of them be-
ing preserved as curious mementoes. The
wind shifted again and the smoke and spark:
5 were borne out over the lake. Presently
: another change came and almost gale blew
: from the lake, then subsded and the smoke
and sparks ascended in almost q straight
direction until the fckle wind in the upper
air caught the tawny bright studded cloud:
and whirled them first one way and theI
another, tearing them into fantastic shapes
and frequently dashing large patches of blacl
into the vortex over the dats. By midnigh
the sparks were much less abundant, as the
, lumber to feed the flames became searcer
+ and consequently the danger was to that ex
tent abated. But in another hour the rapa-
cious flames had crossed the Bee Line EN-
bankment, which it was hoped would prove
barrier, and found fresl
provender in the lumber yards there. Al
though the conflagration was under contro
l BY O'Clock the fire burned all night, anC
this forenoon six Of the home engines ant
D all the foreign companies were playing OF
: the smoking ruins.
q 1t was terrible night for the fremen
The intensity of the heat can scarcely be de
scribed. The Cleveland, Columbus, Gin
: cinnati & indianapolis railroad bridge owe
the river, which one would suppose was ia
2 enough away not to be affected, was swun,
t early in the evening because the heat wa
e perceptibly expanding the river draw, AM
o had not been open very long before it hat
heightened toomnch TO be shut without in
e jury. To such blistering Eeat were the fire
men exposed at short range, it was neces
sary for them to wet each other freely, ant