Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1886-08-13
DESTRUCTIVE FLAMES.


some parties in front of the Riverside hotel
discovered a small blaze in II pile of shavings
under the rear end of Mr.. Garrison's carpen-
ter shop, which is situated on the opposite
side of the street. The cry of fire was i'm
mediately given and it circulated around the
streets several minutes before the fire bell
Joined to spread the news. 1t was soon dis
covered where the fire was located and a
large crowd started for the scene. In a few
minutes the hose carts Joined the procession
and when they arrived the shop was
all ablazc and little hopes were en-
tertaincd of saving it. The companies
FASTENED to attach the hose to the plug but
their progress was considerably impeded by
the dense crowd of people and a number of
wagons that occupied all the neighboring ter
ritory When the water was finally turned
on it was thrown few feet from the nozzle
Of the hose manipulated by company No l.
which, rs stated by II gentleman who was
an eye witness, was caused by the hose being
''l1inked" near the plug, which would not al
low the water to pass The matter was soon
remedied when one of the sections OF the
hose bursted. This necessitated turning the
water of for moment until the plug could
be attached to the hose of company No. 2
alone, allowing the burstei section to
be replaced by another one. When
the task had been completed
and il was set in use second time it |
lasted but Il minnie when another section
gave way, whic. precpitated another very
undesirably and costly delay. Enough time
was spent, as the result of accidents, to allow
the fire time to spread to Garst Bro steam
laundry, which i situated a few feet west OF
the carpenter shop. Before it was rescued
from the flames the building was considerably
damaged In the meantime all the clothing
had been removed from it, expecting that the
entire establishment would be reduced to
ashes. The proprietors express themselves as
not being able to form, as yet, any estimate
of the damage done. The building and ma
chinery was insured for $500.
The carpenter shop was rented by Mr.. B. F.
veatch, who had chest Of tools and
many things of value which were consumed.
Mr. Frank Powe, who is working with
him, had quite an outfit of tools also in the
shop Some were in a locked chest and some
lying scattered around in the shop
The hook and ladder company from the
Fifth ward arrived on the scene before either |
Of the hose companies and Immediately broke
the shop door down and made an effort to
rescue as much from the destructive flames |
as possible. They succeeded, however, in |
recovering only small amount of the tools |
belonging to Mr.. Powe
The value of the shop and its contents is |
variously estimated. but it is generally be
heved that the loss will be near $50. Neither |
the shop nor its contents were insured. Mr. |
Garrison says it was the only property he |
had in the city which was not secured 10y in
surance
Mr.. w. W. Furrow, foreman of hose com
pauy No. 2, told an EAGLE reporter last
evening that the Beacon was wrong in stat
ing that when the hose companies arrived
upon the scene there was not sufficient pres
sure TO throw the water upon the flames. He
stated that the pressure in the mains was
sufficient when the water was first turned on,
but the delay caused by the hose Of the
think if there had been no pressure the hose
would not have burstel.
y reporter approached Col. Eggleston,
superintendent of the water works, last
evening on the subject of the pressure of the
water in the mains, and he stated that he was
at the postoifce when he heard the alarm
sounded and he Immediately stepped to Il
-.
gineer that there was a fire and then started
in the direction Of the fire He
said he went to the station as soon as the fire
was over and he found pressure of eighty
two pounds to the square inch The engineer
stated that the pressure hal been that from
of fire
Mrs. W C. Duvall. the wife OF the engineer
of tine laundry fen while assisting TO move
the clothes and broke her arm at the wrist.
The injury was very painful one and she
was soon placed under the care of physi-
clan That was the only accident of impor
tance that occurred during the prolonged
fight,
Garst Bros last week contracted with Mr.
". 2. Stem 10 erect building on first street
between Main and Water streets. Work on
it will commence today and yesterdays fire
viii nave decided tendency TO cause mat
t-srs in that line to he hurried up. They hope to
BE able 10 commence work in their new quar-
tiers in few weeks They viii no: attempt
to resume business AZ the old establishment.
and the damage is too great to he repaired
for short a time as it would be used They
say that all who want their present washing
can get it by applying tomorrow at the
Snitzler building on Market street
Captain Humphrey plotted large crowd
up the Little river last evening
The city council will make another effort