Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1885-04-14

The Largest sawniIi In seattle De-
yoaresI ~ the Fiery Etemenf.


Attxenfy minutes past O'Clock San-
daJ morning . general IRE alarm Sss
sounded, aud citizens rushed 70 their
doors and windows only to 'fId that
Ssetsoa & Posts new ssgniii Was n
q .mes, sAd vsIi-nigh consumed when
tue alzrm was given. The members Of
the FIRE Department made all haste 10
reach the scene of destruction. line
of hose, which arrived 6Es., Was at
tached to one Of the SpriSR Hill Com
/ pauy's uiags on Com snereiai street, and
the first stream on the IRE Was frU2
/ that source. The tho steamers belong
/ inc "a the city were soon on hand. one
/ Of them No. II pumping directly from
/ the bar, and No. from the rrees1g.
| Aftsr awhile, however, both steamers
were set to work from the bay. thus re-
dacing tue length of hose considerably.
| Txensy minutes after the alarm Was
sounded four streams OF water were
/ playing on the flames. IL was eVident
/ tom the start that no portion OF the
I battling could be saved, as the rafters
ware exposed before the alarm was
| sound ID, aud the department bent is
/ of the foundation on which the mill
1 stood ard the lumber ard wharves
I on either side OF the mill. This was no
easy task. however, as the hrs had
| caught in the slab piles underneath the
wharvss, and was making great pro-
eress. For a time all the work was ne
cessaKiiy done on the east END OF the
mill, from the fact that tkere was ne
| passage way hy which the tireunen or
/ ANYBODY else could get TO the west end
| OF the burning building. As soon as
/ possible, however, scov vas procured,
| on which a line of hose was taken
| around to the west end, bat the IRE had
communicated to the huge piles of lum
| Der on the wharf, and for q time It
/ looked as though the entire oaier end
of the wharf, with thousands OF dollars
worth of lumber stored thereon, must
be destroyed. Several bucket brigades
we're organized, and for two hours
| fought the devouring element with tell
/ ing effect, aiding materially the exer-
tiOns of the tireuIen, who ooald eonfns
their entire efforts to the most import
ant point. The light from the 4 ianes
| illuminated the entire city, making IL
for half mile around as light AS day.
/ rhe morning Was clear and caiD, there
| t'eing little air stirring at the time. BY
| 7 o'clock IN the morning the ire was
practically under control, although
| much work still remained to be done.
At 8 o'clock Engine No. l was relieved
| by the powerful steam engine belong
| ing to the Oregon Improvement Com
pany, whish, with Engine No. 2. kept at
| work the remainder of the day, until
evening, when further pumping was not
deemed necessary.
THE MILL
| Which il totally destroyed, vas built
| two years ago, to take the place of the
old mil. which was converted into a
sash and door factory, and has bsen
added to from time to tims as demand
required, uutil is had grown to be the
largest mill in Seattle, with cutting
capacity of 5000 feet of lumber per
day. Up to the first of January, tnis
year, tine mill "a 1t stood had cost $751;
| 0oO, since which time a large steam Gu
CINE, patent steam feed, a very fine
p.aner, cable road appliances, and much
other expensive machinery has been
added, costiag 10 the aggregate so 200.
hense the loss at the lowest possible es-
innate amounts to So, 600, 10 say moth
| ing of the loss which will be occasioned
to the business Of the firm. George W.
Ste,son and j. j. Post came to Seattle
from Port Gamble about ten years ago.
They had very little money, but plenty
| of pluck, energy and muscle. Their
frs. venture WAS to star. q little sash
and door factory on Mil street, WITH
| which they earned the money to puT-
chase some lots at the foot of CONNER
cisl street, on which they started a lit
tie sawmill, in connection with
sash factory, and for several years
Ieatrlei on business there. In 1882 the
mill was found too small, and tie Grm
piled out a wharf and laid the founda
| j n for a large and powerful mill. To
this mill new improvements have been
added up to the day il WAS burned.
Among the last improve ments was a
cable incline, on which dummy cars
carried lumber from the mill and
dumped it on the end of ths wharf, 400
feet distant. Oae man With car could
handle $1,000 feet of lumber per day.
The machinery was all destroyed with
the exception of the nest of boilers,
which, il is thought, are not seriously
injured. The mill belonged TO George
| w. Stetson, J. j. Post, Leroy Stetson
and Ed. Statson, under the name of the
Stetson d Post Mill Company. The
4 E0tKlCa Ad thoukah1S UuAl
$4,000 on the mill.
ORIGIN OF THE FIRE.
| Owing to the fact that there had been
| no Ere in the mill since 4:30 D. M. Sat
urday, when the fuel was hauled from
the furnaces, and the place vet down
with a bose, a. was the custom each
evening, the origin of the fire Sunday
morning remains mystery. There was
4 white man employed to watch both
mill and factory, ID keing his duty TO
visit each place every fifteen minutes
during the night. There was also a
Chinaman employed TO clean ap the
mill every night, by removing the saw
dust from around the machinery so that
the mill would be all ready for work in
the morning. The watchman, who is
related 10 MIR. Stetson, tells the follow
| ing story, which is the most plausible
| one the writer has heard. He SAYS: AT
ten minutes past four o'clock Sunday
morning visited the mill. and marked
the register, as was my custom, at least
lace every fifteen minutes. / saw q
light under the west end of the mill.
and fearing something was wrong went
down there and found the Chinaman at
work with his open dogfish oil lamp near
| him. That was the light which had at
tracted my attention. | then went up
10 the factory, where I met the railroad
company's watchmaB. We walked up
to the railroad track, and presently
saw fire flashing on the water. Think
ing the factory was on fire / ran in
there. bat could see nothing. Coming
out | ran up the ceal incline and saw
the mill was on IRE. | then fastened
TO the mill. bnt the flames had gained
such headway | could do nothing. 90
ran up street, shouting az the top Of my
voice, till 4 policeman took up the cry
and returned 10 do what | could 70
check the flames. am sure the China
nan accidentally ses the mill on IRE
while cleaning mp that morning"
One of the Stetson brothers hunted
sp the Chinaman yesterday, who had
net ben seen since the fire was diseov-
cred, and interviewed him throagh an
| interpreter. He told tws or three con
tiicting stories. one of which was that
| be left the mill at midnight before the
IRE occurred.
FUTURE MOVEMENTS.
~wili yoa rebuild the milIS- said