Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-04-13

A MILLION DOLLARS LOSS.
Disastrous Sunday Night connasration 1.
Chicago.
FIRE SrARTED IN a sTABLE-A MUSEUM AND
THEArER BURSED-PASIc AMONG THE IN
MArys-xxcIrEMENr AMONG THE TaxAxs-A
HEROIC POLICEMAN.
Fire causing fully million dollars loss
occurred in Chicago last evening. 1t was one Of
the most destructive confagrations since the
big ono in 1871. 1t was at almost the exact
geographical center Of the city that the flames
started, and, like the terrible disaster twenty
years ago, began in q stable, and it falls on .
Sunday night. In this case the stable was the
property of q well-known furniture manufac-
turer, John II. Smyth, and was located in the
| rear of his big house furnishing establishment
on West Madison street near Halstead. The
| flames speedily CO mmunicated to the furniture
establishment and . moment later to Kohl b
Middleton's Dime Museum. general alarm
to the fire department was soon followed by
special calls for extra engines, as the fire was
seen to be gaining ground with extraordinary
rapidity.
MASS OF FLAME.
40 ASSo sAoh hN0 huiuutcS biuoAc WoS pouAM6
from every window in the museum and was
enveloping the huge six-story building occu-
pied by Smyth. In marvelously short time both
structures had turned into mass Of flame,
great fiery tongues darted across the street and
lodged In the upper stories of the buildings on
the north side of Madison street. moment
later the fremen along the thoroughfare found
themselves working between two towering walls
of fire. For time it looked as though the con-
migration would get beyond control and that,
as In 1871, it would sweep toward the lake
directly across the business district of the city,
As If to add to the CONSERVATION, the wind had
suddenly arisen and was blowing a stiff gale
from the west Probably &c, 900 people gathered
IN the neighboring streets helplessly watching
the progress of the possible impending calamity.
DISCIPLINE OF THE FIRKMEN.
At this juncture the thorough discipline Of
the fremen became apparent. The men,
obeying orders, stood steadily in tho street
where the flames scorched them from either
side, and after a fierce battle at length brought
the fire in q measure under control. The inn
| mense blaze, however, continued to rage with
intense fury in the buildings already partly
destroyed. The museum was nothing but q
heap Of ruins and the walls of the Smyth build
ing were falling one after another. F0rtu-
nately they all fell into the ruins and no per-
son was injured.
THE HAYMARKET GOES
Across the street also the wall soon sue
cumbed to the furious onslaught. Here the
upper story of the three-story building on the
northwest corner Of Madison and Union streets
caught fire. Quickly the flames lodged around
the windows Of the fifth story Of the Haymar-
ket Theater building and were soon stretching
along under the mansard roof. Just west of
the Haymarket building was the fve-story
building occupied by the Peoples Clothing
Company. Here also the windows were on fire.
Despite all efforts the buildings between Union
street and the Haymarket block shared the fate
Of those across the street and were wiped out
completely. In the Haymarket Theater the
fire was confined to the upper story, but the
water. West Of the Haymarket the damage
WAS comparatively small.
FORTY ENGINES REQUIRED.
1t took forty fire engines and nearly three
hundred iremen to bring the fire under SUBJ
lection. Several times it seemed as If the men
would be compelled to abandon their engines,
so intense was the heat, but they managed to
Withstand the heat by turning the hose upon
themselves The nerve displayed by the fire.
men was heightened by the fact that all the
time they knew that at least hundred barrels
OF oil were, stored in the basement Of the Smyth
establishment, likely at any time to create a
terrific explosion.
The fire in the Haymarket Theater was dis
covered Just twenty minutes before the close
tlble when the manager stepped out on tho
stage and endeavored to persuade the audience
to file out in order. At this moment some one
in the audience shouted Fire and a panic
seemed imminent. The excitement was par
TALLY subdued by prompt work on the part Of
the ushers and other theatrical attaches. Barry
d Fays company had just begun a weeks en-
gagement. Their scenery and effects were re-
moved without damage.
THE LOSSES.
The loss is distributed as follows: John NJ.
Smyth, furniture. stock and building, $500, 600;
Kohl 4 Middleton, curiosities. fixtures and
building. Ss5Oo0; Nicely Brothers boots and
shoes, $40 900; Aldebert Kaempfer, jewelry,
$4,000; Alfred Peats, wallpaper, $50. 900; Baer
Brothers, hats. $4,000: NJ. Irrma, cigars and
tobacco, $4,000; Hannah Il Hogg, liquors;
go 900; Royal Tailoring Company, IS 900; Hay
market Theater, $1,000; board of education
property, in the rear OF the Smyth block,
$50 900; miscellaneous loss, $1,000 The insur-
ance will be very light, John NJ. Smyth carry
ing only about S125, 600, while Kohl 4 Middle
ton and Nj. lrrman carried no insurance what
ever, having allowed their policies to expire
without renewal. as they had Intended moving
within fortnight
PANIC IN THE MUSEUM
The first intimation the inmates of Kohl 4
Middleton's Museum had of the close proxi-
nifty of the fire was when some one opened
window OF the third floor, through which vol
ume Of smoke poured, filling the entire floor. A
wild panic followed among the 400 persons in
the building, most Of whom, however. were on
the first floor watching variety performance
Those on the first floor were first apprised of
their danger by the stampede on the upper
floors, and, as they rose to their feet and fed
precipitately to the front door, the fire ap-
peared at the rear windows. increasing the
terror Of the crowd.
HEROIC POLICEMAN sHEEHy.
The emergency brought out hero in the
person of Policeman Patrick Sheehy. Forcing
his way through the frightened people, who
were madly retarding each other in the jam at
the exit, he stationed himself at the head of the
stairs and. drawing his revolver declared his
intention to kill the first person who refused to
obey his orders. By GOODNESS and determine
ton he succeeded in quoting the panic, and
with one exception everybody reached the
street in safety. The exception was c.. H.
Messenger, a young man, who. before Officer
Sheehy reached the stair landing, made rush
for the front Of the building, and, throwing
open the window, jumped out into the street.
He fell with awful force on the stone pave
ment and was unconscious when picked mn.
Several persons following him stopped, horror
stricken, long enough to be corralied by Sheehy
and his revolver. One old lady who was in this
crowd fell when near the bottom Of the stairs
and broke her arm.
TRYING TO SAVE THE MONKEYS.
As soon as Officer Sheehy had caused an
abatament of the manic au,on1 thu l..