The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-05-08
ACRES OF FLAMES.
A Tremendous Fire Along New
YOrk'S River Front.
Five Immense Buildings and
Other Property Destroyed.

One of the biggest fires known in New Yori.-
city for many years broke out in the Wilcox
Lard Refinery, at the foot of West Fifty-ninth
street at about P. NJ. 1t destroyed the re-
dnery, RoSSiter's stores and two immense grain
elevators, with their covered wharres aud
connecting buildings and nearly half mill
ion bushels of grain, besides great quantity
of -four, rosin, ale, oil, lard and other COM
moditieS or storage. The loss was estimated
to be 81, 600. 600 partly covered by Insurance
1t was the biggest fire, measured according
to the standard of the insurance companies,
upon which will fall the whole of the loss
that New York has known Of recent years.
Far into the night the flames ragged with
fury, throwing a lurid glare over the whole
city and for miles into the surrounding coun-
Try.
A spectacle of more appalling grandeur was
never witnessed. The cries Of fright of thou
sands of animals imprisoned in the pens OF
the great Union Stock Yards added to the
horror Of the scene.
The flames started in the Wilcox Lard and
Refining Companys massive five-story brick
factory, at the foot of Fifty-ninth street
Nearly one hundred laborers and a dozen
clerks were at work in the factory at the time
In spite of their utmost exertions the
flames gained rapidly, and after ten precious
minutes had been wasted the men became
panic stricken and fed from the building.
With roar like an explosion the flames
burst up from the cellar and rushed along
the oil-soaked floor OF the first story.
The police had turned in a second and third
alarm, and the sound of engine bells was
heard on every hand. Four Truck arrived
just as the crowd discovered q man in one of
the third story windows. He screamed for
help, and the crowd screamed and shouted.
The fremen pulled ladder off the truck AID
raised it to the window.
'Come down" yelled the firerlen.
The man made feint of clambering on to
the ladder, but he was filed with fear or his
strength had left him.
''Come down. shrieked the crowd
The man threw one leg over the sill. and,
with each hand clasping the frame work,
looked down at the crowd with staring eyes.
A tongue of flame in heavy cloud of thick
smoke burst out. The man would be burnt to
death if he remained there much longer. A
fireman ran up.the ladder and grasped hisleg.
He pulled as hard rs he could. but the man
hung back and the fireman retreated slowly,
urging the man to follow him. Suddenly the
man threw his hands in the air and leaped
out. efel ON the sidewalk, and was smashed
so badly that he died in a few minutes He
was Henry Benning, a laborer employed in
the factory.
Within fifteen minutes after the fire
started the flames reached a lot of wooden
fences and shantieS between the factory and
the river and flashed across them to the New
York Central pier, at the foot of the street.
known as Dock G. It was crammed with
lard and oil awaiting shipment and the
flames swept it from end to end with rush.
At five O'clock the flames had gained full
sway in Rossiter's warehouse, and all eyes
were turned anxiously on the big elevator.
At five minutes past five little wreath Of
smoke curled up from the apex of the south
ernmost gable, and from 10, 200 throats went
up the cry: ''She's goingf'
A moment later red glow appeared with
in the topmost window beneath the gable end
and it was evident that the elevator had
caught fire in the timbers of the roof. No
spark of fame communicated with it, but it
simply became ignited under the heat Of the
raging furnace hundred feet away.
Like wildfre the flames crept along in the
timbers behind the slated walls. peeping out
here and there and breaking forth fiercely at
the upper windows.
, For three hours the fremen succeeded in
keeping the flames from spreading further,
but when the great walls Of the storage house
fell and left q mountain of burning ruins
nearly as high as the building had been, the
heat was so intense that grain elevator "A"
Of the New York Central Railroad, 200 feet
north, was so heated that it was impossible
to keep it from catching fire The building
was 225X75 feet and l25 feet high.
While Elevator A was wrapped in flames
from end to end, Chief Shay looked anxiously
at Elevator B, near by, and sadly exclaimed:
tPve done all could do, but I'm afraid she'll
haye to go too!' -
AS the words left his lips huge blazing
brand whirled through the air and fell on the
roof near a skyhght. Elevator B blazed,
if possible, more rapidly than its companion.
Within six hours after the fire broke out
the building in which it started freight pier
at the foot of Fifty-ninth street. and
smaller storage pier, two great elevators,
absolutely destroyed. involving loss in
money of over 81, ,0JO, ,000 and at least one life
was lost.
: The area Of the fire is greater than that of
any other fire that has occurred in New Y York
for many years. The space burned over
measures 800 feet along the river front from
Fifty-ninth street to SiXty-ffth street,
quarter of mile. Nothing in the course Of
the fire escaped. Piers, sheds and outhouseS
between the larger buildings were burned up
so rapidly that people who saw them dsap-
pear were aStoniShed.
All the buildings destroyed were the prop
erty Of the New York Central Railroad Com
pany. Chief of them was the huge building,
200 feet high and covering almost full block
of land, known as Grain Elevator A, but
often referred to as THE Pride of the New
York Central"
Each elevator was 125 feet high, 375 feet
long and about 50 feet wide. They were
twelve years old and stored with nearly half
q million bushels of grain as dry as powder.
The immense surface they presented to the
heat induced degree Of temperature inside
of them which made the spontaneous combus-
tion of their contents certain
Over five hundred thousand persons, ac-
cording to the estimates made by veteran
police officers visited the scene Of what is
now known as the great North River freb
tween the hours of four O'Clock in the after
noon and ten o'clock at night,