The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1889-04-25
iFIERCESTI FLAMES.
THAT NEW YORK HAS HADIN A
-. GENERATION. zs.I,

-asgf az-
Workmen Forced to Jump fl ON VIM
dows.-Millions of Dollars Worth of
Property Destroyed.
New YoRK, April 19.-rhe big
gest and fercest fire g New Yorkers
have witnessed in this generation
swept the east bank of the North river
clear to-day from Fifty ninth street to
what would be Sixty fifth street if the
street ran to che rivertthere. 1t des-
troyed more than a million and a half
OF property belonging to the New
Central railroad aud at least half a
millioned dollars werthof stores of hard,
flour, and the like belopgipg to, .oti,ar
persons, notably n, x. FaiEbanks,f fhe
great Chicago 1aSfsd merchant, destroy
edaitwo big elevators, A3and b of tie
Vanderbilt system, big brick building
stretching from; Fifty. ninth street to
Sixtieth street and occupied Jointly by
the Fairbank lard refinery and Ros-'
sitter stores, and wiped out the dock
property of the New York .Ce"tral
system from Fifth ninth to past Sixty
fifth street Az least one man was
killed in his headlosg, flight from the
FIRE at the first outbreak. A number.
were injured jumping from windows
of the burning building, but III the
wild terror Of. the, tremendous confia
grafton; ne account was kept fof, them.
| At least q quarter of million, peo-
| pie turned oft to watch the brilliant
sight from bsyond the police lines on
Twelfth avenue. All Is VEST streets
were blocked and the elevated trains
carried crowds up and dow. town to
swell the crow 1sg 1.-The police RESERVES
we're called put TO- zpreserveiorder.
Every fire engine aboyer Fourteenth
street was called out In the work of
extinsuishing the flames, ibuf the FIRE.
men worked against. IT. eanendousi odds,
partly, owing to the nature LOT, Hhe
ground, and their efforts were. wasted.
They made absolutely no 'hhnp}rrsssion.
A MYSTERY.
The fire broke out in the southeast
corner of Fairbanks refinery, where
workmen were busy at the time put.
ting in new lard cooling apparatus
how no one knows and probably no
one ever will know. Soaked in grease
as the old building was. it was fame
in an instant. From the gronnd floor
the fire swept upwards to the roof with
the speed of race horse. the men
at work in every story dropped their
tools and ran for life. The stair hole
was glowing chimney of fire. The
windows were the only way out Men
flung themselves out by scores head
long, and behind them burst out the
flames. How many were there no cne
could tell. Those who came out were
picked up and carried away by their
friends, shuidering to think that some
| might have been left. Crying wives
and mothers crowded the police lines,
shouting for their husbands and sons
or begging for news of them. They
were turned back and hidden to look
in throngs for those they sought. The
fire swept on through Fairbanks's re-
finery to the old establishment of
w. j. Wilcox & Co, and then on to
elevs tor A, one of two immense grain
elevators owned by the Central r. r.
ELEVATOR ON FIRE.
The elevator was on fire and nothing
could save it. The huge building Of
200 feet long and over 125 feet high
was ablaze from enc to end and from
ground to top of its tall ~mansard roof
| It was a grand but awful sight. The
refinery and Rossiter store still burned
fercely and wickedly. The heat was
SO fierce even at distance of 200 feet
that it was thought provident to clear
the stock yards altogether. The same
pYecaution was taken with the sheep
house, a long three story building that
presented its gable end to the burning
refinery. It would not have stood for
half an hour had not the wind blown
from it. Thus it was saved. At the
first intimation Of danger to the eleva-
tor Captain Killdea had sent a police
man into it to warn the fremen cute
harms way. .They.fed leaving their
i apparatus, and were none too early.
/ A Numbered casks of ale that had been
rescned from the;iron sheldon the river
behind the refinery before it went to
| the bottom with the pier upon which
il stood id the tcommuh' wreck and
i rolled urder the caves ofithe elevator,
as it was thought, far out OF. harms
way, were burned where they lay. No
1 one longer cared for any thing but
light, asa complete demoratizatioii had
seized upon everybody, neat the 8 iie.
There was nolhing ~ be done. 5seh,,;
.fH PoWERLEsS. .Iaas,tI, 'sfiu
Ia The firemen themselves were power
less. The streams of their boats and
their couple of engines persisted in
tthrowing against the threatened eie-
yator, NO longer A but B, the next
building in line, were worse than use
less. It was Z o'clock when the second
elevator caught-Rres--Itwent like the
hrst. In fifteen minutes from the first
Pickering about one of the upper
4 windows the whole big mapsard roof
Was roaring mass Of flames, From
that time on it was the same story
over again. ssIsass -
Elevator A contained 100000 bush
i els Of grain, chiefly oats, worth proba-
bly, forty cents per busheI. The
greater part OF the small quantity IN
Elevator B was barley. Thetwo ele-
vatofs, with capacity of 100000
busheIs, had barley 150, 600 in them,
worth Les than 800, 600. Elevator
j A was worth $3.50, 900, It was built
thirteen years ego. Elevator B is
| worth $500 900. They were Of brick
] 70 tho third story. B was built three