Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-10-29
TWENTY-FIVE BLOCKS BURNED.
Hundreds OF Acres in Milwaukee Swept b,
Flames.

Hundreds OF Acres in Milwaukee Swept by
Flames.
fire which started yesterday afternoon in
the Union Oil Company's store, on East Water
street, Milwaukee, had burned by IL o'clock
last night everything in the territory bounded
on the west by the north branch Of the Mil
waukee river on the east by the lake and on
the south by the harbor branch Of the river
twenty-five solid blocks, five of which we're
occupied by wholesale houses, factories, dis
tilleries, &C., the rest by residences. This does
not include the vast yards of the Chicago and
Northwestern road, which cover many acres
Hundreds Of cars have been burned.
For an hour the fire department struggled
bravely with the elements. which were famed
by gale that was blowing at the rate Of thirty
six miles an hour. Chief Foley kept the fire
confined to one block on East Water street
until Z o'clock, when il got away from him and
leaped across the street and began q rapid
march toward Lake Michigan, six blocks away,
cutting down in short order F. Dohmen & Co,
wholesale drugs; n. Bloch, Wholesale liquors;
Bub Il kipp's seven-story building, furniture
factory; Roundy, Peckham 4 Co., wholesale
grocers: Jacob Wellauer, Wholesale grocer;
johnson Brothers cracker factory american
Biscuit Company, National Distilling Com
pany.
At 8 o'clock the flames had crossed Broadway
between Buffalo and Detroit, taking numerous
wooden structures and then advancing to Mil
waukee street.
The entire lower part of the third ward, in
habited largely by poor Irish families, is de-
vastated. About 800 cottages have been de-
stroyed and the poor people are wandering
about the streets loudly lamenting their loss.
Alarms came in every few minutes from parts
of the city widely separated and it was thought
that firebugs were helping IN the work of de-
struction. The elegant residence of L. F.
Hodges, a member of the board of trade, at 9th
and Cedar streets, two miles from the fire dis
trict, was destroyed.
One fireman was killed and woman suffo-
Gated. The gas works caught fire and frequent
explosions occurred that shook the whole city,
The department used dynamite in an effort to
stop the advance of the flames and several
buildings were blown up. -Four men, seriously
injured by falling walls. were taken TO the
Emergency Hospital. The members of the
light horse squadron and fourth battalion were
called out to assist the police in guarding prop
erty.
Insurance men estimate that the entire loss
will aggregate 81 900 900 up toll clock, when
the fire was still spreading About a dozen
/ steamers and schooners were removed from the
Milwaukee to the kinnic Innic river, where
| they were out of harms way.
Engines from Racine and kenosha PLAYED on
the fire at points where they could do the most
good They left the trains south of the fire
and did much to confine it to the north bank
| Of the river below the turn at Walkers Point
| bridge.
At midnight Chief Foley announced that the
| fire was under control.
| Over 800 frame buildings in the third ward
are mass Of ruins. the inhabitants literally
fleeing for their lives and losing everything ex-
cepting the clothes they wore and what they
| could grab. Thousands came from various
parts of the city and thronged the downtown
streets. crowding them SO that it was almost
impossible for the coal supply wag ons to get
through.