The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1889-02-08
GREAT Ere m euFFALo.


GREAT FIRE IN BUFFALO.
seven or Eight Acres ..urnsd Over-A Fire
man Killed.
BUFFALO. N. Y. Feb a-At Gas yes.
tsrday morning Gre was discovered In
the fourth floor Of the hve-story building
owned and in great part occupied by Root
& Heating, Wholesale leather dealers, 1t
the corner Of Carroll and Wells streets.
The ferocity Of the wind made 1t certain
that the fire IL it got hold would be q dis.
astrous one. The building, with frontages
Of l34 feet on Carroll street and III on
Wells street, was situated in the heart OF
the business blocks. 1twas separated only
BY the breadth of Carroll street from the
fireproof Jewett building fronting on
Seneca and directly in line with the new
six-story block Of Sibley & HOLLYWOOD,
candy manufacturers. On the opposite
side Of Wells street, . little further north.
10 the Broesel House, massive six story
structure, whose occupants were up ana
dressed few minutes after the alarm.
The flames had a good hold on the Root
& Heating building and at three O'Clock
they entirely filed that part OF Carroll
street directly in front of the doomed
building. A few minutes after three
O'Clock the heat was SO intense as to be al
most unbearable even at Seneca street
The sky was Illuminated for many miles
and crowds from all parts Of the city kept
the police busy. Within twenty minutes
the rear Of the six-story brick building OF
Sibley & HOLLYWOOD had caught and por-
tions of the back of the Broesel House
were smoking. There were nearly nifty
tons of starch stored on the top floors OF
the Sibley & HOLLYWOOD building and the
material burned like finder, carrying
the flames through from the rear to
the front of the building in q few
minutes. A few minutes later the rear Of
Swift & Stambach's and 7. C. Reynolds
stores on Seneca street, were in full b ase.
The fire ran along the roof as though the
material that composed it was paper.
At 1885 the southwest corner of the
Broesel House was burning fast. The &C.
cupants were moving out their baggage
and q large number of firemen went to
their aid. The wind had shifted to the
northwest and the sleet was coming down
in torrents, which added to the difficulties
under which the firemen labored. At $40
the roof of s. F. Eagan's whisky store,
just east of the Broesel House. was on fire.
The firemen on Seneca directed their efforts
to the buildings on the other side of the
street. The front of the Broesel House
had become a mass of flames.
Shortly before four O'Clock the sixth
floor of the Sibley e. Holmwood's store
fell with a tremendous crash, sending q
storm of debris and embers in all direc.
tions. At this time the top floor of the
Jewett building appeared like roaring
oven. The scene on Carroll street was APP
palling. On the north side of the street
the Sibley & HOLLYWOOD building was in
ruins and the Jewett building was blazing
from base ment to roof. The large six
story building occupied by Moffatt Bros,
Hoofeld & Co. and other firms on the op-
posite side, next to the Root & Heating
ruins, was yet untouched, but at 4:l0 the
corners of the top story began to blaze,
though the fremen held them in check for
a time.
The walls of the Jewett block now began
to bulge, and the crowd gave a howl of
warning to the firemen. At 4:15 the walls
fell with a shock that shook the surround
ing walls, and before the cloud of dust
cleared away a terrible panic took place.
A frantic struggle was made in getting
out horses from a stable next to the Jewett
block. The Broesel House was soon aban-
doned to the flames, and its front fell in
with a laundering crash and the firemen
in front narrowly escaped. One fireman
was felled to the ground, but a heroic fell
low worker rushed to his assistance and
carried him out Despite the efforts Of the
firemen, Eagan's whisky store was in full
blaze
There was nothing to do but leave the
fire to run its course. At 4:4O fire burst
through the fronts of Seneca street stores
of August Fills and an empty store adjoin-
ing. Fowler & Sons place was flied with
seasoned wood for carriages Adjoining
was a small fruit store and then came Sid
ney, Shepard & Co.'s mammoth stamping
works. At five O'Clock Seneca street stores
up to Shepard's had been well Quilted.
The wind by this time had died out.
The fire extended from A. T. Kerr &
Coz down Seneca to Sidney, Shepard &
Co. >; all Wells street is burned through to
Exchange street and Carroll is burned out
completely to the Arlington House.
The losses can not be exactly estimated
as yet, but as far as known they are as
follows:
Sibey & HOLLYWOOD, confectionery,
$125, 200; insured.
T. W. Reynolds & Co., boots and shoes,
100000.
Swift & Stambach, stoves and ranges,
$50, 600; insured.
Jewett building, total wreck, 500, 900;
insured.
Broesel House, $4,000; insurance on
building $4,000, on furniture about &c.,.
600.
August Fills, sample room, $4,000.
s. +. Eagan, wholesale liquors, $50, 600
Fowler & Sons, hardware, $50, 900.
Edward Struber, household goods and
fruit, $4,000.
Sydney Shepard 6 Co., hardware, $780,
900; insured.
Root & Keating's block total wreck,
$500, 600: fully insured.
r. Hoffeld & Co.'S. building, $4,000.
Arlington Hotel, $4,000.
At nooI the rear walls of the Arlington
Hotel fell, killing one fireman and injuring
another.
The official records show that between
three and five O'Clock yesterday morning
the wind maintained velocity of thirty.
five miles an hour. The fire beginning in
the big Root & Heating building, spread
by contact or the force of the wind, and
Wells street is q complete desert from
Seneca to Exchange street, and appalling
chaos of brick and twisted iron and an
tangle of wires The total
area included in the burned district is
roughly estimated at seven or eight acres
and the total number of buildings de.
stroyed at forty. The loss was "a, OOO, 600.
Nat. c. Claiborne Dead.
ST. LOUIS. Feb. 3.-Colonel Nathaniel C. |
Claiborne died Friday night at his resi-. |
dence, No. 1925 Pine street. after lingar.
ing illness. He was born in Franklin |
County, Va, February 10, 1922.