The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1891-11-21
One Person Probably Killed and Two
Badly Hurt by the Falling
Debris.
One of the Biggest Fires Experienced
by st. Louis i'm "A Long
Time.
II. Pau! Visited by the Fire Fiend-
1t Is Still Burning Furi-
OuSly.
a Il. rribIe Five.

ST.. Louis, Nov. 1.-THE cold wave
which reached this city last evening was
the cause of one of the most disastrous
fires that has visited st. Louis in many
years. Early this morning one person
was probably killed, two badly hurt and
one and one-half million dollars worth of
property went up i'll smoke. At about
/ o'clock Il fire was discovered in the fur
mace rooIn of the large dry goods estab-
lishmcnt of Penny IL Gentles, on the
corner of Franklin avenue and Broad
way. \ Waterman quickly turned
in an alarm and seeing the
terrible velocity with which the flames
speedily devourcd the inllamimabie mater
iai in the basement sent IN a second and
within ten minutes after the discovery Of
the fire Il general alarm sounded which
brought the whole fire department to the
scene. But Notwithstanding the heroic
work of the iiremen the flames quickly
ate their way to the top of the building,
and within an incredibly short space of
time the entire store was a mass Of seeth-
ing flames, the roar of the fire being
heard two or three blocks ways. a cold
high westerly wind was blowing at the
time, rendering the work of the fircmen
almost useless. as the water poured on
the burning building seeming to have
effect no more than oil on the water.
The flames spread to Sonncn-
fields millinery store south of
Penny n Gcntlcs on Broadway.
This is the largest establishment of its
kind in st. Louis. occupying four floors
81 tln month ,,l .f tb, iI.n,,,n, hnillin,r
The most strenuous efforts of he iireiucn
TO quench the fearful flames seemed like
those of the Liliputians, and notwith-
standing their noble work the fire swept
on towards the south. eating its way
through the thick fire proof walls into
the mammoth shoe and clothing house
of the Famous company. This is the
largest house Of its kind in the west and
here is where most of the destruction
was wrought by the seemingly unqucnch.
able fire tiend. The Famous company
occupy Il building on Morgan street and
Broadway with about l25 feet front and
70 feet deep and four stories
high. AS o o as the fire at
tackled the Famous establishment
the flames here found ready fuel and the
tircmen's efforts were futile to stay the
spread of the %devouring element they
therefore turned their attention to saw
ing the adjoining property on Broadway,
Franklin avenue and Morgan street.
The fire was SO hot however that no one
could remain on the street facing the
burning buildings and D. Crawford &
Co.'S. immense dry goods store on the
southwest corner of Broadway and
Franklin avenue was greatly damaged
by the terrible heat which broke the
thick window glass and started a fire in
that building, the whole front part of
the store at one time being on fire.
but the tiremen 10y almost
superhuman efforts managed finally
to subdue the flames and by this time
the heat from the other side of the street
had subsidized somewhat, enabling the
iiremen to go on broadway and fight the
flames from better vantage-ground. AT
ODD p. m. the walls of the Famous and
Sonnenfeld's building fell into the west
alley with a loud crash and a moment
later the Morgan street walls of the Fa-
nous building fell. a squad Of tiremen
III the alley narrowly escaped being
caught under the falling walls. Shortly
after 5 o'clock the flames appeared at the
cornice of the Weinman house, which is
directly opposite the Famous building
on the east side of Broadway. In a few
moments the roof and upper story of
the large fOur-StOry building
were a mass of flames. Dense
smoke from the fire from the other side
of the street made it impossible for the
tiremen to work at this point for some
time, but Il lull or rather a change in the
wind swept the smoke away and gave
the fire laddies a chance to combat the
terribly mendacious flames. Before the
department could obtain the mastery,
however, the row of retail stores from the
northeast corner of Franklin avenu and
Broadway to the middle of the block
were badly damaged.
This fire throws about 1,J00 people out
of employment, the 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 Co., have not been discovered
and it is thought he was killed. Firemen
John Lynch and Alonzo Simon were hit
on the head by falling bricks and badly
hurt, the former SO seriously it was
necessary to remove him to his home. Mike
ConnOrs, a roomer at the Weinman
house on Broadway and Morgan streets
jumped from the third story window and
his life was saved by the fall being
broken by the electric wires. However
his leg was broken. A. S. Taylor, a
newspaper man, received a severe shock
from an electric wire and was hid by
some falling debris. The losses and in
surance are as follows: Loss on the
stock and fixtures of the Famous Shoe
and Clothing Co., 81, 100000; on building,
$4,000; on the stock of Penny g. Gentles.
100000; building $4,000; on Sonnen-
feld'e stock, Sl9O,OO0; on building S55,-
600. The insurance on the stock owned
by the Famous company is S750,OOO; on
building $4,000; on the stock owned by
Penny a. Gentles, 5l50,0OO; on building
$4,000; on Sonnenfield's stock, 100000;
on building $4,000. Minor losses will
aggregate $4,000.
Horses, Wagons and Harness for sale.
Dyas & Jones.
The Manhattan has Just received a Sc
l..t limo nf thn L,1t L..:,L G,.:A.-u.