Daily Republican., 1888-10-24
fluRfh ElITlON
A oRRHT EIRn.

Ths wIimIpst0n Academy Of Auslc
LiVbsd up By the Flames IN . rev
kainatss--No. UIno TO ths Incsndlary--
koss 3 bout . 10000.
60 the l0ns list Of opera house and
theatre Ores thtob Ru1ss the 0onutsss
must now DO added that OF the Academy
Of Music In Wilmington, Delaware,
How fortunate there was not within II
"a audience ct the tine, and how for
tunate that nmidht the devOuFinR flames
and the crashing walls no lives have
been lost.
The Academy was tightly closed up
II the tins, mol 4 soul being inside Of II
unles II was the lurking, hidden inosn
diary. Evidently the IRE must have
broken out soon sitter O'Clock, 81 about
90 O'Clock Il was discovered, aud was
then 90 far uRdeF head way that actually
nothing could be done to check the up
rihiug impeiuosity Of the flames.
Tbs nrs was discovered by W. +,
AcAtaeF, who WAS coming down 10 the
city In q Delaware avenue street car.
Tbs night was dark, cloudy aud rainy,
but above the gas and electric l'ghts be
thought he saw q cloud Of smoke hover
ing over the front OF the Academy. This
attracted closer attention, and when he
found that tho smoke proceeded from
the rear Of the Academy he opened the
car door, jumped 10 the street and
shouted dFlre."
Officer johnson, Who was stand log Al
the corner Of Tenth and Orange streets,
q square distant, heard the CRY of FIRE
and immediately touched of the Are
alarm 81 that paint 10 the shoEt space
Of two minutes the Frisncship engine,
d Tenth and Bhipley streets, Was In
trent Of the burning Academy, and In q
couple Of minutes more these gallant
aremsn we're throwing n stream OF
water away up above the surrounding
smoke and flame. letting the water drop
right down into the helohinR volcano.
The Ptm-iK engine soon followed
tho Briendhhip, and then one after nn
other, according 70 distance, the other
Are engines and hook and ladder trucks
arrived and took position to eight the
flames.
By thu time the Are companies bad
arrived upon the ground the whole in
eide OF ths building was In o shoulder.
log hAma, except from the stage up,
whsrs licking tongues OF Are leAped
Som dEapery and scenes, gathering i'm
pEtuosity - they lsapsd, and burslipR
out from the ewes ana roof, making
ventilation for itself, the whole north
end Of the building WAB tnyelCpsd ~
great sheets OF Are, BY the time the
Ore engines had got into active opern
ton, Il was evident that all the gallant
eremen could do or could be expeo,ed
to 90 was 10 prevent the Gre from
spreading 20 Surrounding buildings. IL
ten minutes after the discovery OF the
are the west m Ansard roof had fallen
outWRrds and The middle roof had
fallen down into the 6ery vortex 10
side.
The soeue at this time was grand and
ludesorlbable. The dArkness of the
night for BquAtel around was illuml.
mated by foTktd danes shooting hiah
up into the dark ether, sparks OF Ore
high as tho highest Bteeple, exc cling 10
grandeur the brlllianoy OF holiday
rockets. Thousands OF people gashared
on Delaware avenue, looked on with
awe struck reveTenes. o. every build
ing in the vicinity were warohers
euATdipg their pT0pirty against n Q
falling sparks ~ fast as they fell As
tao Academy was already practically
consumed pat the fAinlest htps Ct
ewing any TnIpg but tho brick walls,
tne QaeG'i "a WAS, can the hIemen pre-
GENT the spread Of the Il IrseI to other
buildings closely oonuec,ed2
When the west side OF the mansat d
1901 fell out it came near catching the
linemen OF the Electric Light OJmpsng,
who were hdjustlE & thslr wires. The
Fams Ho4e Company was opsrRlInR At
the rear OF the building, and when ths
10 anEard there foil op.wArds several Of
the members Of that o9mpRpy we've In
great danger. An alarm was spfssd
that enc nRn was uBd-r the burning
debris, and the brave firemen rushed
Rack TO save him, but happily the police
found that no harm had been done to
human lie and tbs nTtmsn were salts
hed. A Topa had to be stretched 10
keep the psbpls away from the burning
building and away from falling eleotrio
light wires which had been cut, The
blue fiams that flushed from the wirts
lent wierd aspect to tho scene that
terrified the more tlmid Of the crowd
and oAused considerable OF rushing and
providing 10 get out OF tie wRv Of the
blue flashing liRh thing.
Having Consumed nearly everything
cor snmable In the rear Of the building
the flames oTepi A'opg TO the Iront, L
was not long bafofa the fan en- vera
6elehlnR Ont Of the front Windows, and
forced kheir way under the heavy cor
nice that hung over tie font. The fail.
Ing In Of the front roof was followed nv
AnotheI sheet OF iAma and sparks shoot
lag up h0AyenwAid. Still the Rremep
fought the 1amoB at the front with de-
termlned obatiI soy, not 80 much for ia ,
property they could save now a. for ths
sake Of testing which element WAB the
stronger. Daring men opened tbe font
doors and poured In streams Of water,
Ono bold fireman actually ran nm a
ladder 70 the balcony aud KNOCKED A
hols through the wall, and EouITtsd
through 1t with = hose while thers was
danger every moment OF the oornios
falling over and buFylnR him beneath
the ruins. An electric lInemAu olIm bsd
up pole at the corner Of the Arrest and
cus the electric wires on the pole.
At o 80 O'Clock the heavy oorniea fall
forward to the ground with 4 oFnSb
those below being foreWAFnei BY tbe
bucklinR OF the hot tiI with Uhioh Il
was covered aud got ont Of The WAy,
There was now nothing left but t6e
bare walls Of the Academy, exoopt thai
the wooden plllars in front are sill left
slanding. a look inside only disoloses
BY some holes 10 the wall where the
galleries stood. TIE red hot fnFLaoe Of
last night CONSUMED everything con.
sumAble. The heat 1t tines was SO in.
tense that II drove the firemsn fire.
qusntly from their positions. Probably
there never was . greater crowd
watched the progreIa Of q ere In VIII
mipgt0n.
Attracted by the grandeur Of the
scene, ladies' stood in tina rain and
Satobed the dFe for an hour and half.
DslGWAEe avenue, from s.45 O'Clock till
IL O'Clock, was blocked to ali trnvei
a.-n Eha .LEaaL EaHa ~ nlLh.. -. 4 -. -