St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-11-18
RICHES LOST IN FIRE.
st. Louis Visited by an Un-
conquerable Blaze That
Works Ruin.
A Million and a Half Dollars
Worth Of Property in a
Heap Of Ashes.
One Life Probably Lost in the
Flames, ana Thousands
Will Suffer.
Four Trainmen Crushed and
Killed in Collisions Of
Trains.


At about o'clock fire was discovered
in the furnace room of the large dry
goods establishment of Penny q Gen
ties, on the corner of Franklin avenue
and Broadway. The Waterman quickly
turned in an alarm, and seeing the ter
rible velocity with which the flames
speedily devoured the inflammable ma
terial in the basement sent in second,
and within ten minutes after the dis
covery of the fire general alarm was
sounded which brought Ehe who.e fire
department TO the scene.
But notwithstanding the heroic work
OF the firemen the flames quickly ate
their way to the top of the building, and
within all incredibly short space of
time the entire store was
Mass of Settling Flames,
the roar of the fire being heard two or
three blocks away. A cold. high. west
erly wind was blowing at the time. rem
dering the work of the firemen almost
useless, the water poured on the burn
ing building seeming to have the effect
more of oil than water. The flames
spread to SOnnenfield'S millinery store,
south of Penny u Gentles', OH Broad
way. This is the largest establishment
floors of the north end OF the "Fa-
nous" building.
The most strenuous efforts OF the fire.
men to quench the fearful flames seemed
like those of liliputians, and notwith-
standing their noble work the fire swept
Oh towards the south, eating its way
through thick fire-prOof walls into the
mammoth shoe and clothing house of
the Famous company. This is the larg-
est house of the kind in the West, and
here is where the most destruction was
wrought by the seemingly dnquenchable
fire fiend.
The Famous company occupy the
building oh Morgan street and Broad
way, about 1876 feet front and IS
feet deep, four stories high. AS
soon as the fire attacked the establish
meHt the flames found ready fuel, and
the firemen'S efforts were futile to stay
the spread of the dev0uring element;
they thereafter turned their attention
to saving adjoining property OH Broad
way, Franklin avenue and Morgan
street.
Too Hot for Work.
The fire was so hot, however, that no
one could remain on the street facing
the burning buildings, and ID. Craw-
ford u Co.'s immense. dry goods store,
on the southwest corner of Broadway
and Franklin avenue, was greatly dam
aged by the terrible heat, which broke
the thick window glass and started a
fire i'll that building, the whole front
part of the store at one lime being on
fire; but the firemen by almost super
human. efforts managed finally to sub
due the flames, and by this time the
heat from the other side of the street
had subsidized somewhat, enabling the
firemen to gO on Broadway and fight
the flames from better vantage
ground.
AT 5:45 the walls of the Famous and
SOnnenfeld'S building fell into the west
alley with a loud crash, and moment
later the Morgan street walls of the
Famous fell. A squad of firemen in
the alley narrowly escaped being caught
under the falling walls. Shortly after
O'Clock flame appeared at the cor
nice of the WeiDman house, which is
directly opposite the Famous, OH the
east side of Broadway. In few
moments the roof and upper story of the
large four story building were a mass
of flames. The dense smoke from the
fire on the other side of the street made
it impossible for the firemen to work
at this point for some time, but lull. or
rather chan re in the wind, swept the
smoke away and gave the fire laddieS
chance to combat the
Terribly MendacfOus Flames.
Before the department could obtain
the mastery. however, the row of retail
stores from the northwest corner of
Franklin avenue and Broadway to the
middle of the block were badly dam
aged. These were as follows: Square
Deal Clothing company; Z. B. Stowe &
~ In l..
merry. The top floors of this building
were occupied by the Welnman house.
the guests of which made their escape
in safety. c. Thai 81 Co., clothiers;
New York Millinery company, and the
kOppelman Furniture company.
The row of stores on Franklin avenue
were also badly scorched. These build
ings were occupied by the following
firms: o. w. Heyer, drugs; Ed F. Boil.
hats; Grierson & Co., hats; e. FL. Kort-
kamp IL Co., jewelers.; st. Louis Tailor
ing company. Next to the Penny IL
Gentles store, on Franklin avenue, was
the dry goods emporium of Thomas
HOdsOn. The firms occupying the Fa-
nous building outside of the Famous
Shoe and Clothing company and the
Sonnenfeld Millinery company we're
Mcdonald Bros, hats; &. II. Clements,
SaOeS; Charles Silk. gents furnishings
and clOaks, and Specht q Ritter, cloth.
ing. These were completely destroyed,
nothing but pile OF ashes marking the
place where stood three of the largest
dry goods and clothing houses in the
West.
Results of the BIaZes.
The fire throws about 1900 people out
of employment. q majority of them
being in the service of the Famous COM
pany. One life was probably lost and
four persons were injured by the fire.
The Whereabouts Of Night Waterman
Jasper, employed by the Sonnenfeld
Millinery company, have not been dis
covered and it is thought he was killed
Fireman John Lynch and AlonZo Simon
were hit on the head by falling bricks
and badly hurt-the former so seriously
that it was necessary to remove him
to his home. Mike Corners, roomer
at the Weinman house on Broadway
and Morgan streets, jumped from a
third-StOry window. and his life was
saved by the fall being broken by cleo
trio wires. However, his leg was
broken. A. S. Taylor. a newspaper
man, received a very severe shock from
an electric wire, and was hit by falling
debris.
The losses and insurance are as fol-
lows: Loss on stock and fixtures of the
Famous Shoe and Clothing company,
81, 900; OH building, S65.00O: OH stock
of Penny & Gentles, 100000; building,
$4,000; on Sonnenfeld's stock, $4,000
on building, SIS, ZOO. The insurance on
stock owned by the Famous. $750.O0O;
on building, $4,000; on stock owned by
Penny 81 Gentles, $4,000 on building,
$4,000; on Sonnenfeld's stock, $3.50, 900;
on building, $4,000. Minor losses will
appreciate $4,000.