The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-01-14
VIEWING THE DESTRUCTION.
The Crowd That G altered at the Scene of the
Great CONFEDERATION.

The Crowd That Gathered the Scene of the
Great Confagration.
Though the fire occurred st an hour when the
majority of citizens are seeking rest in sleep,
the fremeu had hardly reached the scene before
a crowd began to collect, ann in
less than twenty minutes after the
third alarm wss sent in five
hundred people viewing the conf1agration.
From this time till o'clock. people were con-
stantly arriving from all parts of the city in
squads of fives tens and twenties, until possibly
three Thousand present Ropes
stretched from east to west along Georgia
street to mark the limit beyond which the sight
seers must not so, but the eager curiosity which
appeared to characterize all classes recognized
no limit. and the boundary was transgressed
regardless of the interdctng ropes.
The crowd represented every phase of citi-
zenship-the old, the young. male and female,
black and white;, the poor from the scantily
furnished and comfortless tenement and
the affiuent whose home is a stranger to penury
and want all were there, shivering in the cold of
the winter night. but gazing if awe-strcken
by the work of destruction going around
them. Nor the to be
templated without feelings of emotion The
tall buildings. wrapped in sheets of fame,
seemed many towering masses of fire. while
the darkness of the sky above and of the night
beyond the radius of light from
make the surroundings impressive and
present to the behoder. it were,
q struggle for mastery between light and dark
ness the prolong the scene in all the
beauties of her own etfulgence. and the other to
hide all in the somber folds OF her mantle, re-
lieved only by the lustrous diamonds of the
spheres
With the gathering of the crowds. friends of
the merchants who were likely to be losers by
residences to bring them to the scene, and the
hurrying to and fro of the frem en-, the placing
of the engines, the dashing of the hose
reel carts along the streets, all added to
the confusion that marked the hour. With
every arrival the interest became more intense,
seers began to disperse the stream of people go
ing and coming continuous. the crowd
around the fire continuing much the same till
nearly o'clock Many of them
were ladies who had evidently left home with
an incomplete toilet. and not few shivered
and shook the cold night air If suddenly
to reprove his wife gently for leaving
homo without her overshoes. but when
she reminded him that ne. in
the hurry had forgotten both his collar and his
iovercoat. he quickly subsidized and managed to
find object of greater interest in the burning
building than in the subject of conversation.
hat, and the effort which she made to compel
her short wrap to do double duty.
by covering both her head and
shoulders was at times ludicrous in the
presence of so much loss of property. Many of
those standing around mere children and
it was noticed that many of them We're suffering
intensely from the cold, but they bore it like
Trojans. not a murmur escaping them.
Once, as the iremen were carrying the hose
around the corner of Meridian and Georgia
streets to play the north wall Of Mckee d
Branhams building, the crowd Georgia
street was flooded with water
gentleman appearing to be the special
object of the hoses enmity, the stream striking
him between the shoulders, and wetting him to
the skin Before he could get out of the crowd.
he was covered with sheet of ice, which.
sparkling in the light OF the burnnga building,
made him a conspicuous object.
The ENCOURAGEMENT lent the fremen they
performed their perilous duty was never more
marked, and the fire laddies" appeared to be
inspired by it. More than once whom long.
heavy hose to be moved persons In
the crowd lent helping hand and ap-
peared to be glad of the opportunity
to assist the heroic workmen. When
a stream of water reached higher than usual on
the side OF the burning buildings, cheer after
cheer rent the air. and as much enthusiasm was
manifested though by miracu-
lous power the fire had been
tirely extiuguished. From the sending
of the first alarm till o'clock in the morning
the crowd around the scene of the fire
usually large and at no time appeared to lose
interest When the flames began to smolder.
and light was visible the crowd broke up aud
slowly dispersed, seeming to regret that nothing
,nrax 70 hc