, 1889-08-08
The People Not Discouraged and
the City Will Be Rebuilt
Better Than Ever.
Notes and Incidents of the Disas-
ter and History of Many
Heroic Deeds.
A List of the Sufferers, with
Amounts of Losses So Far
as Received.

The most devastating fire that eve
occurred in the history of the world, ac
cording to population, swept over the
business portion of this city Sunday
night.
1t originated at 6;l5 p. NJ. in the roof
Of lodging house on Railroad avenue,
the third door west of Post street. A
dead calm prevailed at the time, and
spectators supposed the frcmen would
speedily bring the flames under con-
,rol. This could have been done
If proper precautions had been
taken. But the superintendent of the
water works was out of the city, and for
some reason the men in charge failed
to respond to the call for more pressure.
The heat created a current of air, and
In less than half an hour the entire
block.of frame shacks was enveloped in
flames, and burning shingles and other
debris filled the air. igniting several
adjacent blocks at the same time.
Opposite the block in which the fire
originated stood the Pacific hotel, one of
the handsomest structures in the North
west. It was soon ablaze, and by that
slime a high wind prevailed from the
southwest, and 1t was evident that the
entire business portion of the city was
In danger. Mayor Furth ordered
that buildings be blown up
with giant powder to check the
spread of the fire. This order was
speedily put into execution, and the cx-
plosives added to the reign of terror
The picture was weird, grand and awful,
as block after block yielded to the de
mon of destruction. The sky was over
cast with black clouds, and a strong
wind sprang up from the northeast,
tanning the hames furously, while an
upper current continued to carry the
burning timbers in an opposite dircc-
tion.
The Grand hotel, the Frankfurt block,
the Windsor hotel, the Washington
block, the Eagle block, the Tull block,
the new Granite block, the Cushing
building, the Falls City opera house the
Hyde block, all the banks, and in fact
every house between Railroad avenue
north to the river, and from Lincoln
street east to Washington street with
the exception of a few buildings in the
northeast corner, were totally destroyed.
Meanwhile, "A sudden change in the
direction of the wind, carried the fire
southwark across Railroad avenue, and
destroyed the Norshern Pacific passen-
ger and freight depots and several cars.
The freight depot was a mammoth
structure, and was hlled Ia the roof with
valuable merchandise, very little of
which was saved.
The terrifying shrieks of dozen loco
motives, commingled with the roar of
the flames the bursting of cartridges,
the booming of giant powder, the hoarsc
shouts of men, and the piteous shrieks
of women and children. Looking up
seemed lmned against the jet black
sky. Occasionally the two opposing
currents of wind would meet, creating a
roaring whirlwind of fire that seemed to
penetrate the clouds as Il ponderous
screw, while lesser whirlwinds danced
about its base, performing all sorts of
fantastic gyrations. In this manner
the appalling monster held high carni-
val until about 10 o'clock, when
with mighty crash the How
ard street bridge over the
Spokane river went down. A boom of
logs took fire and shimmered for hours
OH the crystal surface of the river, and
many tinos uviu,, piIIars nf II rn c,ossol