Evening journal., 1891-03-16
BIG FIRE IN A FACTORY.
THE 2. 7. cLYMEa CoMPANYis
WORKS SUFFER SEVERE LOSS.

10 started IN inc TOOL OF the western /
Hotel stables. close to the wall OF
Clymer's coach factory, at Fourth and
Orange streets, and was discovered BY
Waterman Pardee at 2 o'clock. who sent
in al alarm from box 81, Third and King /
streets a few minutes later The first
round registered correctly, but the last
two registered together, thus causing a
bogus alarm. which bafflsd the firemen
for several minutes. Meantime a few /
people had collected at the scene Of the |
/ fire, and seeing the horses in the hotel |
stables were In danger, the animals were
cut loose The horses were afterward /
taken TO the stables of the Delaware |
House. One of Mr. Clymers horses was |
also saved.
When the fremen did STRIVE the
I flames were shooting out from the |
stable and factory roofs IN several places
The Washington and Reliance engines |
were the first on the scene. and they |
took up their positions at Fourth and |
| Orange streets. The Friendship stopped
at Fourth aud Shipley streets, the Phm
nix at Fourth and Market streets, the
Fame Hose At Third and Orange streets,
the Weccacoe at Third aud Tatnall
streets, and the Liberty. which did not
arrive until 30 o'clock took up its
Ice Coated Firemen.
The Washington men played on the
| flames on the stable roof adjoining the
Gawthrop Building aud after long and
stubborn fight the FIRE in that quarter
was subdued Soon after the arrival of the |
engines the flames bad spread over the |
roof Of Ulymer's factory, and for a time
it looked as If the whole block was
/ Il. m
| danger q brisk wind was blowing, aud
the air was SO bitterly cold that the fire.
men looked like a moving mass of ice
II froze so raridly that often when the
engines shut down to change their posi-
tion, they had great difficulty in starting
again. The fight with the flames lasted
m hour before any perceptible advantage
was gained by the hremen Then the
objec became TO confine the flames to the
| frame portion of the factory.
| The Fame Hose which had been at
| tending to the fire on the Third street
Size aud trying to prevent the spread of
the Il ames in that direction was unsuc
cessful, for despite their Efforts the fire
caught the office building in portion of
which piles of wood had bsen stored
and few minutes later the flames were
| leaping sky ward as If from a furnace. As
the Office adjoined TIE kirkwood House,
there was great danger OF the hotel catch
ing FIRE. Once or twice the flames spread
TO the roof Of the hotel only to be extin-
guished in a second. Four lines OF hose
were brought to play on the burning
Office, and by 8 so O'clock the fire was com
/ pletely under subsection.
The guests Of the Western Hotel were
in state OF the widest alarm. When
1t was announced that the building was
threatened, those in the house rapidly
collected their personal effects and hur-
ried out. They were sheltered in the
house Of F, W. He'll aud Browns Hotel
across Fourth street The guests Of the
| kirkwood House were also much alarmed,
and we're Gained only when IL became
known that the building was safe
While the fire was in progress f. T.
Clymer entered the otiee and secured bis
books and papers in the safe. Several Of
the workmen also entered the building
and took posse sion OF, their tools. A
number of tool chests wers also got
safely out. Many Of those who had col
lected to see the fire aided the workmen
in the moving Of the hose and ladder.
Origin of the Fire
The origin OF the FIRE is shrouded Ia
mystery One theory Is that it started in
the roof of Clymer's factory and was due
to spontaneous combustion, another is
that it may have been caused by soma
matches having been left in the place.
and third that it is the work Of an in
cendiary. The last theory was started by
Sergeant Steizsr, who saw msa leave
the vicinity of the Gre about 2 o'clock
and pass down the street. few min.
utes later the fire vas discovered The
-. III .1 L. 49,.
wearing q black mustaehe and having on
a black derby hat, and a long black
overcoat Another theory is that the FIRE
may have been caused BY SPARKS from a
neighboring chimney, as sparks have
often been seen flying around in that
locality.
Great credit is due to the Fire Depart
ment or account of the way in which
they managed the fire Nothing hut
words of praise is heard on every side. At
one time it looked 20 everybody as if it
would be impossible to save the block
bounded by Shipley, Fourth, Orange and
| Third streets, from destruction. "No
other volunteer fire company in the coun-
try" said Philadelphian who saw the
FIRE, "would have been able to save the
block"
Where the Damage Was.
The damage done to the building Is
confined chiefly to the upper story along
which the fire ran until it reached the
storeroom over the office. This part OF
the building is totally destroyed. The
large tin roof came down with a crash
Luckily the roof Of the factory was lower
than that Of the building fronting on
Shipley street. Had IL been otherwise.
the fire woui1 probably have
spread TO hem and the
safety Of the block, made impossible.
As it was the flames merely licked the
brick walls without doing further
damage to the buildings This same
fact also saved the southwest wing Of the
factory which had been built OF brick
walls and was a story higher than the
other portions of the building Consid-
cradle property had been stored in this
wing, which has been saved.
The damage done to the Western
Hotel, owned by Phillip Plunkett and
occupied by Matthew Macklem, was
principally by water, except hole which
has been burned in the roof The loss
| will not exceed 800.
The loss to the Clymer factory is due
not so much TO what was entirely burned
out, as to what was partly burned. snd
which has thereby been rendered almost
entirely useless. There were nearly
500 bodies of all kinds of
vehicles on the premises. many
ready for shipment, nearly all
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