Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1892-04-20
A BIG COAL FIRE.
The Scene ON san Francisco wharf
That Suggested tho Inferno.

.
That Suggested tho Inferno.
For nearly two weeks the buukers of
the Pacific Rolling mills at the Pctrcrc
have been like the hell which Milton
describes in Paradise Lost" Thou.
sands and thousands of tons Of foreign
coal had been heapei in these twenty
year-old, seventy feet high buildings for
a time that is forgotten by even the
workmen there. Three months ayo the
men began to talk ominouSly Of 'steam"
that was creeping out of the hugo piles.
and old men who had been on tramp
colliers at sea shook their heads with a
dubious wag Twelve days ago the
flames burst out in the northern bunker
These bunkerS are only huge sheds,
with rails hnilt along Just under the
roof, over which cars are wheeled To
convey the coal 20 the dumps. In the
northern bunker the coal was piled forty
and fifty feet high, till it reached 70 the
car rails and she top StriugorS
/ \ hundred carts were put on when
/ the fight began 70 remove the coal 10
. safer places The hreboat Governor lr-
I win was set close 90 the wharf 10 play
/ streams OF water night and day. Ii was
a hard and long fight, but the fire was
finally driven into the northwestern
corner of the bunker
wednesday night was an exciting time
for the worm our men who had carried
away 5000 toms of coal in their carts
and were Threatened with death on the
eve Of victory. The gaunt pillars that
support the structure were weakened bv
burning, and the dISplated rNot Sagyvd
IN q dozen different spots. ready 70 fall
wlthouta moments warning. The cleo
trio lights hung like faint stars shining
through fog. The roa-iuE ot the mills.
the shouts of the bosses who were driving
the gangs Of Shovelers at the glowing
masses of coal, the cries Of the men
struggling with the writhinr Of hose
above. were all a picture for the PAINTER
Of the hideous
Every one was in a hurry, for there
was a dull, omiuouS roar in the middle
Of all the smoke and min-liug Of stjted
lights. There was little use in irving 10
see the fire from the ground; the heavy
vapor was too thick. But on top Of the
adjoining loft there were things TO see. .
1t took a perilous climb up a rickerv lad
der, withits first four steps burned away,
to get there, but a reporter made the
trip under the guidance of Fireman
Michael Barry.
There were holes burned through the .
floor Of the loft and through these holes
six men dropped during ten days. The
last who went fell to break two ribs on
Monday night. He fell on the red hot
coal, too, and three men were brave
enough to jump for him. The shoes
were burned off of them. D
Creeping along through the nauseat-
ing gas and cloud, there was only safety
in clutching the guides hand, for every
few feet were the holes, and only col
umns Of fog whittier than the rest showed
danger to the practiced eye.
At last one Of the tramways was
and threading a narrow
Btringer over a chasm of fire and vile
yapor, the men could be seen tearing
away the fiery Goals far below.
Its been tough pull, said Barry,
"and Saturday night | didn't see how
they'd save anything. You can see how
this building has gone in. Look at that
5tringer over there! Why, was stand {
ing on it at 3 o'clock in the morning
With two men behind me- had the
nozzle and two fellows were holding
Up the hose to help me guide it. All of
sudden the stringer went smash, but
Just slow enough to let the two men I
packing me drag hard and pull MP to
he track.
Some say it was foolish to play water
N lot of coal like this, and perhaps it
vas. When a heavy stream of water
irives into pile of coal it sends all the
inc siftings down to the bottom, so that {
he heavy Jumps get good draft
through them that keeps the fire going.
For awhile the gas up here was aw-
ui. AT first they wouldn't let us make
loles in the roof so that we could reach
he top Of the fire, but when we had to
limb up and look for two men that were
ylng almost smothered from the gas !
hey thought it was time to smash in the Z
oof, so now you can see and breathe {
)etter than we did some of those nights
asst week. Then men left this roof in {
ne morning SO sick they couldn't eat till
light, just from the poison they got in
he gas" {
No fire engine could be taken to the
Gene advantageously, and the fireboat :
irwin had to furnish nearly all the water I
Ised in the battle.-San Francisco Elk
.miner. I
when the Funeral Occurred.