St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-11-14
A CATHEDRAL DESTROYED,
Details of the Destruction of st.
Peters Yesterday by Ere.


PITTsBURG, Nov. 13.-The Cathedral of
ST. Peter, the pride of the Roman Catholics
of the twin cities, is mass of smoking
ruins. A half hour after midnight Arthur
Higgins, district messenger boy, while
passing the corner of Sherman avenue and
Ohio street, Allegheny City, saw flames
in the interior of the massive structure
The boy gave the alarm and ten minutes
later three districts of the fire department
were at work. The fire, however. had
made great headway before it was dis
covered, and while the iremen were fight
ing it i'll the basement to which it was at
first supposed to be confined, and had
gotten it under control, the flames were dis
covered in the great auditorium. where they
had eaten their way through fues and ven-
tilatOrS, and were creeping in and out
among the rafters just beneath the vaulted
roof, licking up in their furious greed the
beautiful frescoes and magnificent oil paint
ingS with which the walls were lined. and
were bursting through the costly and ex-
QuiSite stained glass windows. Mean while
great crowd had gathered and looked Oh
appalled,, while the magnificent structure
slowly crumbleG before the relentless prog
reSS of the flames, faithful churchmen
mourning as it became apparent that their
religious refuge was doomed to destruction;
Protestant neighbOrs mourning with them
in the loss to the city of so costly and mag
niicent church edifice. The fire pro-
gressed from the front to the back, the roof
being consumed and falling with its ad-
vance, In interior furnishing the paint and
varnishes supplied fuel and the ceiling
beams and the peWS Missed and beckOned
to each other as the progress OF the
confiagration showed that but little
of anything other than the movable articles
would be saved. In the rear of the church
Bishop Phelan and number of friends
who were early on the ground, were busily
engaged in saving the gold and silver YES
sells of the altar service. The majority Of
them, with the chalice and many of the
vestments, were gotten out the workers
being urged on by the cracking of beams,
the falling of timberS and the near ap-
proach Of the fire on the floor. Even then,
a few efforts were again made to again
REACH THE ALTAR,
in an attempt to save some of the many orna-
ments which had made it one of the most
beautiful and costly in this state. but in vain.
The fire refused to be governed by the fire.
men, who now were delivering theiI
streams of water from every availa-
BILE point, including the rear of Sap
sons stable on an adjoining prop
erty. Steadily and without apparent
diminution of it's force, it progressed to-
ward the rear, and the constant stream Of
water rose in clouds of steam One squad
of firemen with stream made their way
inside the small apartment in the rear, and
from that vantage ground tried to save the
altar. Although from the first the herceSt
fire had been at the front of the church, the
tower, having but little inhammable mater
ial in it's make up, was almost uninjured.
The edihce is of stone, and cost, when
ready for it's interior furnishings, S125, 900.
The cost of the finishngs and furnishings
added to the cost of the building at least
$50, 900. The frescoing was the finest, as
indeed was every particle of the furniture.
On the walls were fourteen oil paintings
descriptive of the life of the SaVor, which
were imported for the church.
THE ORGAN,
which was one Of the best in the two
cities, cost S35, 900, and the altar, with its
furnishings, about $1,000. The stained
glass windows were all memorials. In the
altar were number of valuable relics from
Rome and also the archives Of the church,
which were saved. When the fire burned
itself out nothing but walls were standing,
and over $50. 600 had gone up in smoke.
The strong easterly wind which prevailed
at the time carried the embers and sparks
in cloud to the surrounding buildings, but
the dampness of the roofs saved them. The
fire was caused by the register becoming
overheated from natural gas, which was
only put in the building last Saturday. The
loss will not exceed the first estimate of
$13O, OOO The sp!re is uninjured, and the
stone walls. which were lined with brick
ana cemented, are intact. The building
was for $40. 900 in Eastern compa-
nies, bu the list is not now obtainable. The
church will be rebuilt at once.