New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-12-07
GEORGE. w. CHILDSS LOSS.
sTuE. PUBLIC LEDGER'S" MAGNIFICENT
OFFICE DAMAGED BY FIRE
. loss OF s25o,ooo TO $500 ooo-THE CoMroSlNG
ROOM DESTROYED AND THE BulLHN"
y1ooDED-PUBLlCAroN TO BE
INTERRUPTED.

Philadelphia, Dec. o. IiV - III
hpildinC at the southwest corner OF 'iN'n ",N
Chestnut sts. was badly damaged THIS evening y
o.n ond uater The damage by fire was confined
,,os. entirely 10 the composing g-room sl'u"'eu oh
.I'o tor floor. but torrent of water poured down
.I.ah ,bo hurdinc. flooding every floor IN the
o..Yo,ure The loss can only be approXimated TO-
night, but 1t Will proD"o'S " '''''
so5O.ooo and 100000
.rho Iodoerp building has SS feet 'front.' on
c,,o.,rut-st and 235 feet depth on SlXth-st' ana
- e,o storv brown-stone building with mansard
-. Th hnsin.ss Office is AT the corner OF
c;,..h ora Chestnut SITS. About quarter OF
Iii evening Miss Wise. one OF the cierks' oe'
tnc,ad the odor Of smoke in the room. siight
Or. had inst been extnguished in the prothonotary
of6ce on the opposite corner by the bremen, ana
oIork s+enned outside and told them he thought
that "The Ledger" building was on IRE. Inc
Gror,en started an investigation and found the
COLLAR beneath the business Office 10 be mass oil
flames.
That part of the cellar in which the IRE was
burnfnc had been used by some workmen engaged
IN repairs on the building TO store their tools IN
end was filled with rubbish of all sorts. Inc
Aremen soon saw that disastrous connagrauoh
was threatened, and they turned in another aIarh
and went TO work 70 put out the names.
,bc fire swept through to the back and burst out
into a light we'll in the centre OF the building
with leap the flames sprang up this chimney
entered the composing-room on the NTH Moor
,brough the windows. The few composors at
cork had already been warned, and they made
the;r escape to the street without difficulty. In
the meanwhile two alarms had been turned In
and n dozen steamers and hose carts
md trucks were arriving On the floor beneath
the composing room the rooms of the city depart
ment were situated. City Editor McWade was
making out the evening assig g1ments lor LIS
men. whom the noise of the tuinult ana SHOUTS
of Fire" reached him. Grasping the copy 'hat
had been turned in by the reporters during 'he
dav. he stufed il into his pocket, and then al
fer sticking the obituaries OF the men OF local
nrominence in another pocket, he took his assign
mont book under his arm and beat a retreat 70 the
street
As soon as the fire gained headway ana prom
ised to destroy the building, every one aIou""
.ba establishment. volunteers from other news
papers and the police turned in ana began 70
carry all perishable articles out of the burning
structure The files of the paper were all saved
and the many rare and costly articles In Mr.
Childs's private office all carried out In the
meantime a dozen streams Of water had been
turned on the fire in the cellar and the naInes
,bore wore soon extinguished The flames In tte
comnosinp room however had been creating great
havoc. and at O'Clock the fire burst through the
ransard roof and shot up in a great column to-
ward the sky. . -,
md his inseparable companion and friend, Anthony
T Drexel the banker. arrived at the scene Mr.
Childs posted himself in the doorway OF thc
Court House across the street from the burning
building and calmly resigned himself 10 "a'ch
his building go up in flames Nhcn lhVl'cd 10
enter neighborng Office, he declined, ald slu
,bat he liked TO watch the fire. He assumed
cbaroe Of his employees and directed them what
70 do in the way of providing for the issuing Of
a naner tomorrow. Engine after engine kept
arriving on the ground and deusc of water
hacan N fall upon the roof Of the building.
Fortunately no wind Of any account was blow
ing and the flames did not spread rapidly. \ high
cornica in The mansard roof the SiXth-st. front
acted rs wall 10 prevent the flames spreading
along fhe roof 10 the south, and on the west the
solid wall Of the Land Title and Trust Company
building stayed the progress Of the flames IN
that direction.
The frcmen had got the flames under control
by 80 o'clock, and all danger OF the total
destruction Of the building had passed Torrents
Of water however, had poured through the build
ing. and the interior was flooded The water ran
down through every floor into the press rooin anu
ten inches of water rose about the presses which
had been thoroughly wetted by the dripping from
above.
While the fire was still burning and the water
pouring through the building, Mr. DrcNc entered
il and made his way 10 the rear of the fifth floor
When he came out lie announced IN cheerful tone
10 Mr. Childs that little damage had beer done
in the rear of the building and that the annex on
'Sansom-st had escaped entirely. While the fire
men were at work they were s2nrrci TO greater
efforts still hy the announcement that Mr.. Child,
intended to di tribute $1,000 among them for tier
prevention Of the total destruction Of his buill-
ing Neither WAS NJ Clids unmindful Of the
firemen's bodily comfort for he provided thea all
with bounfifu supper at a neighboring
restaurant.
The greatest destruction bv the fire was done
to the composing room the fifth floor This
was completely burned ont. and the roof went with
it, The 10 al department beneath also suffered from
the fire. but the greatest damage WIS by water.
The third floor was taken up with the editorial
rooms, and the second floor wos occupied by
benjamin F. Teller & Bros, real estate brokers
The ground floor front was occupied by the bust
ness Office and Mr.. ChilJ's private Office
The business office was a handsome room
panelled throughout with walnut, and with
ceiling of the sane wood Mr.. Chi1s private
Office was a smil and urpreten'ious room, anu
was chiefly notable for tie many rare, curious
and costly articles with which il was crowded
The business Office suffered ba lly from wafer
Tie rear portion Of the building on SXth-st, occu-
pied principally By lawyers, was damaged only
By water. Next TO the BUSINESS Office on Chestnut
ST., one store is occupied by f. A. Hathaway as
rrite another
store Both were badly damaged both by fire
and water.
Recently Mr.. Childs has made extensive alter
ations and repairs TO the building The business
office was being enlarged to double it's previous
siza by the taking In Of the adjoining store.