The Russellville Democrat., 1890-07-24
 DISASTROUS FIRE

 The Entire Operating Portion of the West
 ern Union Telegraph company's Busid-
 ing in New York City Gutted by Fire
 Providen&lal Esctpe of All the Em-
 pioyes on Duty Some Irreparabie
 Losses Gallant Work by Bremen In the
 Rescue of Imperiled Employes-Com-
 mercial Business Badly Wiped Up.
 NEW YORK, July 19, Tho Western Union Telegraph building was badly damaged by fire yesterday morning.
 A few minutes before seven o'clock the operators began to arrive Fifty men and young women had reached the operating room. A messenger boy named Mathews first saw a ,s:s ,,ss:.ssii II oi smoke under a table in tho checking department on the floor below the operating room. He had scarcely time to investigate the cause when wooden table was in flames and the fire was spreading with lightning-like rapidity He rushed up stairs to notify the new arrivals that
 the building was on fire. They were compeled to go through the checking department to get down stairs. A panic was the result of the messengers warn ing; the young women screamed and
 the men rushed pell nell down stairs to escape the rushing flames which in less than two minutes had spread through the entire checking depart ment burning up wires, instruments and tables as f they were so much finder. The entire room where the panie-striclSen crowd passed through was filled with dense, stifiing smoke.
 The messenger boy rushed down stairs and out of the building and sent out an alarm.
 At the start of the fire six women, employed in the restaurant at the top of the building, finding their egress to the street cut off, made their way to the balcony that runs around the roof, and there, huddling up and down it's narrow confines, frantically wrung their hands and, between the puffs of smoke and flames that came from the windows of the battery room below them, made ap- peals for help. Chief of Battalion Lally with Hook and Ladder No. 10, under the command of Foreman Binns, with the lines of engine companies Nos. 29 and 1, entered through the Dcy street side and dragging the heavy lines to the eighth floor found their way into the battery-room floor and, driving the powerful. streams of water right and left, made their way to the stairway leading to the operating room. It was through this opening that the fire had made it's way to the upper DOT tion of the building.
 For five minutes the fight was ter rible one to sufficiently subdue the flames to getupon the floor above, from which the windows opened on to tho balcony, where the women were. At last the water gained the victory, and when the way was sufficiently clear the men of No. 10 hook and ladder, with Chief Lally dashed up an quickly talk ing up the thoroughly demoralized women, carried them down through the smoke to a place of safety.
 About the same time five men were taken from the windows on the north side of the building that overlooked the roof of No. POI Broadway. This rescue was effected by Lieutenant McCant, of the Murray-street Insurance Patrol.
 It was accomplished just in time, for flames burst up through the cornice and soon enveloped the roof Tho tower Of tho building was caught by the flames. It was beautiful, and at the same time terrifying sight to see the fire shoot out from the windows around the entire building fully fifty feet and blown back like great fiery tongues to lick the roof of the building.
 Had the fire broke ont an hour later the loss of life might have been enormous. Fully TOO girls and men were employed on these two floors.
 All above the sixth floor is destroyed. Carpets, papers, etc, on the fifth and other floors below are soaked with water. The battery and storage room occupied the sixth floor. The operat- ing room and the gallery, devoted to the work of the Gold and Stock Com pany occupied the entire seventh floor, and the Associated Press and part of the bookkeeping the entire eighth floor. On the ninth floor were the Western Union files.
 The loss is very large and it will re- quire long time to replace the mate rial. The switchb board in the operating room cost $50 900. The Associated Press losos instruments, type-writers, fur niture and all of its books, papers and records, dating from 1s45, and valua- ble reference library. This loss is IT, reparable. All of the material for a history of the Growth of the Press in America" contained in letter books, etc, was destroyed and can never be replaced The money value is SI500 There is no insurance. William Henry Smith is heavy loser by destruction of books and papers, many of which can not be duplicated. Among them were hundreds of pamphlets from Europe which Mir. Smith supposed were still in the hre-proof building. An extensive correspondence of great value was also The telegraph company has divided it's operating force among sub-ofiices at Twenty-third street, New York; Jersey City, Brooklyn and Weehawken, from which business will be done temporarily.
 In the Cotton Exchange the absence of reports from the South was severely felt, and the business was less than half it's usual volume. The grain deal CTS made strenuous efforts to keep posted by private messages over Postal wires and to gather quotations by mes sengers, but the results were meager and the loss in commissions was so large they feared even to estimate them.
 Effect of the Fire on Commerce.
 NEW YoRK, July 19.--The effect of the fire in the Western Union Telegraph