Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-09-04
THREE FIRES.
The Masonic Temple En-
tirely Destroyed.
A HOTLY CONTESTED BLAZE.
List of, the LOsses-A Horse Burned
in a Stable-A Shanty
Burned.

A few moments after o'clock yester-
day morning w. r. Hemmet and Officer
Fitch observed smoke issuing from the
upper floors of the Los Angeles Bank
Building, on the corner of First and
Spring streets, and Fastening up the
stairway they broke open the door lead
ing to the upper story, which was occu-
pied by the Masons, and discovered that
the entire interior of the temple was in
flames. The officer glanced around and
observed that large pile of rags on the
floor was in blaze and nearly con-
sumed, and the drapery and woodwork
was ablaze. A portion of the ceiling fell
just then and he ran down stairs
just as an alarm was turned in.
The fire department arrived on
the scene at 7:15 O'Clock, and after at
tempting to gain an entrance by the
stairway, the men sent up the ladders by
means of which an entrance was gained
for water through the windows through
which the smoke was pouring. For half
an hour the men battled with the smoke
and then came the flames which spranp
from every window. The heat was so
intense at this time that the fremen
were forced to give way the ladders and
play on the flames from other places,
Five streams were played on the fire, the
efforts of the Department being directed
to the saving of the story beneath. This
Chief Moriarty succeeded in doing, al
though when the roof gave way it looked
as if he would be unsuccessful.
At half past nine O'Clock the
last spark had been put out and it was
observed that the Masonic Temple had
been entirely destroyed with all of it's
contents. The only damage to the bal
ance of the building was by the water
which dripped through the ceiling of the
second story into the offices OF the occu-
pants and into the bank and the stores
of d. Desmond and Pohlhaus & Vollmer
on the first floor.
The Masonic Temple was magnifcently
furnished and was the most conveniently
arranged meeting place for an order in
this part OF the State. The frescoes and
other fittings of the rooms were designed
especially for the Masonic order and
were admired by everybody who saw
them. The cost of fitting up these lodge
rooms was about $4,000 and the loss
The following lodges held their meet
ings in the Masonic Temple: Pentalpha
Lodge No. 202, Southern California,
Los Angeles Council No. II, Cnur DE-
Lion Commandery No. 8, Hugues des
Payens Council No. 5 knights of Ka-
dosh, Robert Bruce Chapter No. 6 of
Rose Croix, King Solomon Lodge of Per-
fection No. IA, Acacia Chapter No. 21.
Semi Tropic Lodge No. 341, B'na Birth.
Los Angeles Assembly 24O5 Knights Of
Labor.
The second floor was occupied by DR..
Salisbury, Drs. Cochran and MAYNARD.
Crawford and McGreery, real estate
agents; w. G. Hughes, of the RAYMOND
Improvement Company; Porter Land
and Water Company (San Fernando VAL
ley lands) T. Weisendanger and w. II.
Bonsall, real estate; D. Mcfarland, capi-
talist, and DIR. w. G. Parker. The loss
by water on this floor was considerable.
much of the furniture, books and papers
being injured.
The water reached the lower floor in
large quantities, and deluged the bank
and the crockery and hat stores adjoin-
ing. The artistically frescoed ceiling of
the bank, the only thing not insured
about the building, was streaked with
water stains, and while pIops were
being placed under it to prevent it's fall
ing it was thought that the fine work was
ruined. The balance of the damage in
the bank was not considerable. The
damage to the crockery store of Pohlhaus
q Vollmer was not very great, but
almost the entire stock of the hat
store adjoining was damaped
The losses were estimated as follows.
Building $4,000, insured for $40 900:
Masonic Temple, SIS, 900, insured for $6,.
900: Pohlhaus u Volmer, $4,000, insured
for $l4 600; D. Desmond, SIC, 1000, insured
for $4,000. Other losses aggregating
about $4,000.
No one knew how the fire started, and
at the p olice Station it was thought that
it was incendiary. Officer Fitch SAYS that
the doors were locked and that there was
no one in the Temple when he entered.
The pile of rags was ablaze in the mid
die of the floor, and the fall of the ceiling
convinced him that the fire had not start
ed from that point.
OTHER FIRES.
Yesterday morning, about 3 80 O'Clock,
the fire alarm sounded to call the men
W tuo NlCllilty VI Iuc ClSLeTS t1OSDltal.
A barn, owned by. man by the name
of Pinney, an omnibus driver, was en-
tirely destroyed. The loss is estimated
at $500, not insured. A horse and wagon
was also burned. Pinney, who was
sleeping in the stable, came very near
being caught by the flames.
shanty near Stearn's mill, on the
river bottom, was consumed by fire yes
terday morning about 10 O'Clock. The
loss was trifling. The house was occu-
pied by family named Jones. The fire
originated by the explosion of gasoline
stove. The Fire Department failed to
get on the ground in time to be of any
service, owing to the failure of the Rich
mond fire alarm system to give the right
number.
| False Report.
A report came into the Station yester-
day evening that woman had been
shot at the Somerset House on Fifth
street. The officers who went there
found P. A. Thompson considerably in
toxicated and smashing the furniture of