St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-06-08
The Devastation in Seattle Is
Complete, Not a Business
House Remaining.
Sixty-Four Acres of Property
Fed to the Unsuitable
Fire Fiend.
The Loss Will Aggregate $10,-
100000, With Insurance
Of Only $4,000, 900.
Gov. Moore Issues q Procla-
nation Appealing for
Aid.

AxUs
SEATTLE. WASH, June THE loss
from fire yesterday will not fall short Of
S10,0O0,0O0. 1t is estimated that the
total insurance will reach all the way
from $4,000 to s., ,0OO,OOO Already in
many places the workmen have began
to grade and clean up the lots prepara-
tory to building. Many of the mer-
chants have secured quarters in the res
idence portion of the city, and are open
with the remnants Of their stock from
fire. The people have decided to re-
build the city with brick and stone.
The decision was reached quickly, and
almost unanimously, at a meeting held
this morning. All companies of the
First regiment are guarding the dam
aged property and preventing the pill
fering of the merchandise or home fur
nishings. The city is quiet and every
body hopeful. Gov. Miles G. Moore
has issued proclamation in which he
says:
The city Of Seattle is in ashes A hurri-
cane of fire swept over the queenly city and
she Is in ruins Thousands of her citizens
are without food or shelter. Nothing can
subdue the spirit Of her people. She will
rise again. In her desolation she is not
.supplicant, but there are homeless people to
pc sheltered and hungry ones to be fed.
ritory, who have recently SO generously re-
sponded to the cry of distress from Johns
town, TO heed this appeal for aid for their
own suffering fellow-cftizens.
The record of losses will include
every business man of prominence in
town. 1t is dreadful calamity, from
which few have escaped. All the citi-
Zens made common cause with the
firemen in the pOwerless fight. 1t had
been predicted by insurance nen time
and again tbat~the city would some
wind from the north and northeast,
drove the flames into the bay, saved
that part of the city north of Union
street. This leaves good wharf room
outside of the burned district, and
.sparing the homes of a large number of
the poorer people who had all their
earthly possessions within the wooden
walls Of their humble huts. Engines
were sent from Portland and Tacoma,
and Victoria reached the scene with all
possible haste. but on arrival could ac-
complish very little toward checking
the speed of the flames. Tacoma citi-
zens sent to Seattle early this morning
large quantities of bread, provisions,
blankets. tents and 100 slaughtered
beeves to supply, the immediate wants of
the
HOMELESS PEOPLE.
Portland sent several carloads of pro-
SoS0 /. 1fc
Gen. Gibbons, commanding the depart
ment of Columbia, will send seventy
tents from Vancouver barracks at once.
Aid in the way of money and neces-
saries of life will be forwarded from diff
ferent sections of the country without
delay. There is but one single large
business house left standing in the
whole business part of the city. The
first thought of many citizens was to
save their Individual possessions, and
the streets were soon crowded, and in
number of places blocked with teams
loaded with vaiuables seeking places of
safety on the hills. Hundreds of men
were at work clearing out the many
business buildings of their contents and
loading them into wagons in many in
stances procured at enormous prices
and sending them through choked
thorOughfares. No adequate descrip-
ton can be made OF a scene in which
everybody was excited and many
frenZied. At 4 o'clock the fire was
under control. Several merchants have
already ordered stocks of goods and
contracts have been let for material for
several brick blocks. The people are
confident the town will be rebuilt.
The fire spread north and south from
where it started, covering a'distance of
one mile. The flames totally destroyed
every newspaper. hotel, telegraph Of
fee, railroad depot and wharf, the en-
tire water front. including all wharqes
and docks, coal bunkers and railroad
tracks, the wholesale quarter and
everything south of Union street and
west of Second street, and reaching
around to the gas works above Fourth
street ON Jackson. Sixty-four acres
comprises the burned district.
It is not yet known whether there IS
much loss of life. Great privation is
felt among the poor classes, as nearly
every restaurant and grocery store in
Seattle was consumed by the fire. The
burned district now presents the as
poets of huge oven OF burning Goals,
and threatens even further destruction.
Crowds Of people, penniless and home
less, wandered through the streets all
night. The militia and the police are
guarding property against thieves
and vandals. Over one hundred
arrests have already been made.
What was the business part of this
city is to-day nothing but
sMOULDERING RUINS
and debris. The fire yesterday broke
out in the basement of a twO-story
frame building on the southwest corner
of Front and Madison streets owned by
Mrs. Margaret j. Pontius. The fire
originated in some turpentine which
caught fire in some way. The first
story, which was leased by the Seattle
Shoe company and the upper floor, being
occupied for Offices, was soon ablaze.
Although the volunteer fire department
responded promptly. to the alarm they
could do little or nothing to check the
flames. The building, like most of the
others of it's kind in the business CEN
ter. was not detached, but was corner
one of row of frame buildings, all
Joined together and of various heights.
They were of tinder, and proved an
easy prey to the flames. Adjoining to
the first building was Dietz & Myers
wholesale liquor store. The barrels of
LIQUOR exploded with terrific reports as
soon asthe fire reached them, scatter
ing the cinders far and near. In
a short time the entire square
composing the Denny block, in
which was confectionery store, Gil
more & Co, IS real estate Office and sew
eral other establishments, including a