Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1888-07-04
A BIG FIRE.
Forty-Five Thousand Dollars Wortl, Of Property Reduced to Ashes.

m SE
 Forty Five Thousand Dollars Wortl
 Of Property Reduced to Ashes. . A disastrous confagration occurred Sunday morning, in which the entire
 block on the east side of the plaza, witf
 two exceptions, was reduced to ashes
 The buildings saved are the two-story
 brick of the Bank of Arizona and the
 frame building occupied by Dr. Pent.
 land as an office and residence.
 l The fire was first discovered, about
 three o'clock, in the rear of T. w. Otis
 store, and had already made great
 headway, although it had not yet bro-
 ken out on the outside. An immense
 volume of smoke was pouring forth
 from every crack and crevice of the
 building, as well as from the one ad- joining it The fire department re- sponded promptly to the alarm, and
 THE ToUGHs SOON HAD A STREAM ON IT, But owing to section of their hose bursting. it caused considerable delay, and by the time the two companies were ready for action again the fire had gained such headway that it was be- yOnd their control. Chief Sines des- patched messenger to Whipple Bar 1 racks for aid, and 1t was not long until brave boys from the post were sent up i and were heroicalIy fighting the flames. It was evident from the fr-t that the entire block was doomed, unless des- small building in the rear Of Otis store Was first blown up, by Chief DOdson, but 1t did not prevent the flames from spreading to the two residences adjOin- ing it, which were both destroyed. While the fire was
 LICKING UP EVERYTHING INFLAMMABLE East of where it started on Union street, it was also making rapid headway to the north along Cortez street, and the bank building seemed to be doomed To save this the two-stOry building owned by Nathan Ellis was blown up with giant powder, twenty-five pounds being placed in 1t, and when exploded the uilding seemed to rise for second and then collapsed. Notwithstanding this and the more than HEROIC EFFORTS OF THE FIRE DEPART
 MENT, The heat Was intense, and 1t seemed as though all efforts to stay the pro- gress of the fiery elene,. would prove unavailing, and at one time it seemed as though nothing could prevent it from crossing Gurley street 10 the 1 buildings opposite. The small build- 1 ing in the rear of the hank was next 1 blown up with giant powder and a stream of water turned on, and at last 1 it was seen that the fire was under con- trOl. In the meantime the building | fronting on Marina street, jlst south of 1 Dr. Pentland's res iGence, had taken fire | also, and was completely de,il oyed, ard the efforts of a portion of the fremen were directed to saving the residence 1 and office of Dr. Pentland, in which they were successful. The bank build ing had narrow escape, a.
 THE IRON DOORS WERE KED-HoT, And with the playing of th- water ou them were badly warped au' twisted, allowing the flames to enter ,,ie ouild- ing Mr. Nazel;inc, howev, was sta toned on the in-'d" of ;le building and b,yon AShe ereaking oi se glass in the doors, the burning c, flfe door r castings anti c;.ii1rring of the woodwork of the doors iittle d&msea rns dope
 THE ORIGIN OF THE FIRE Is supposed to have been attempt at burglary oi T. W. Otis st te, as the door oi his safe was blowe from i;s hinges, and vas lying ohoI; dist,ucs i'll front of it. Several plrt,'9 heard en explosion between I2 ans. ocio; k, and the most plausi.lc theory .s that the safe Iisd beer covered wth guuny sacks ior the purpose of jer ning the sound, hu5 that the expip- III being nncii louder than was expected lhe burglars were afraid to ', lrn to the l store, and that the sacks tu, X ire and until two hours ,.ter when ] the flames were discovered
 Fifteen buildi4gs Were destroyed, az , follows: Double store build uG, oNned ( by T. ". Otis; store T. c. Br.y; doub'e store Of Osenburg brothers; iwo-story occupied as store anI residence . of Geo. W. Porter; barbers..pp, owned |, Dy Mrs. Foster; store, owned by John Raible, formerly occupied " Geo. II. Curry; building owned by John rdible, occupied by Hugo Richard. asa resi- 7 fence; two-story building, owned by Nathan Ellis three building owned hy he Bank Of Arizona-one rn COrtez treet, unoccunied, and two on G..r.ey treet, one occupied a. lodging rooms " the Bellevue hotel, anG enc occu- ,ied by Thomas McCorm ck three buildings on Union street, oGe owned y T. W. Otis, one by Mrs. Poster, and | me by the est.t.' of ". /. Wilson, and building on Marina street owned by he estate of ". /. Wilson. .he loss is stimated at between /, ORTY AND FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS, With insurance not io exceed Si. 800, he only parties insured being Geo. $. 'orter for $70O, and the Bank oi Ari- ona $500. The losses, as far as ascer- aimed, are as follows
 T. W. Otis, $S,O00
 T. c. Bray, $l2,O00
 Osenburg Brothers, $5,Oo0.
 Geo s. Porter, $7,000. T. Mrs. Foster, S2, 100.
 John Raible, S1, 300. |. Nathan Ellis, $l 300.
 Bank of Arizona, $2,000.