The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-11-23
SAVED BY SMITH.
He Pounded the Door Just
in Time.
EIGHT PEOPLE IN A TRAP.
Fire in a Rickety Wooden Building
Almost Smothers the Sanders
Family.

About quarter TO o'clock on Monday
morning fire broke out in a two-story
dwelling on the southwest corner of O'Far-
rell and Jones streets. Had il not been for
one man eight lives would have been sacri-
feed.
James Smith, barkeeper in Charles
Busloch's saloon, on the southeast corner
OF Jones and O'Farrell, was just closing up
when he noticed smoke issuing from a house
al 50l OFarrell street, just across the way.
lie soon saw it was a case of fire. and i'm
mediaiely rang In an alarm.
After turning in the alarm he went bach
to the house, which is a rickety structure,
and saw that the fire had broken cut in a
stationery-store, which was flied with books
and papers at one end of the building.
This combastible material caught fire like
underwood, and made vast mass of smoke
and flame. In two min utes the whole side
OF the house was in flames.
Ga the second floor of the house eight
people slept, consisting Of the family Of
John Sanders, carpenter. who also occu-
pied portion Of the lower part of the
building as carpenter shop.
Tie structure was very poorly constructed.
and the smoke crept up inTo the upper part
OF the house where the women and children
were sleeping. So dense was the smoke
that 1t was only the question OF a short
while before Sanders and his young children
would be suffocated.
James Smith was the only one on the
scene. the Fire Department not yet
having arrived He perceived the danger
of Sanders family, and after shouting In
vain burst open the front door. passing
through a dense smoke and awoke The
sleeping women and Children. who would
have shortly been suffocated. The
Sanders family had just time to get
out and were choking and gasping
when they reached the sidewalk. They had
not time to put on their clothes. and they
had to stand on the cold street in their
nightclothes until helped by neighbors.
Shortly after this the chemical engine
arrived and battled with the flames. Ia
about half an hour the FIRE was extingushed
and the greater portion of the building was
saved. The stationery store and all its
contents were completely destroyed.
The manner in which the fire broke out is
regarded as very peculiar. Nobody slept in
the 'atiOnery-stOre. and there was no occa-
sion TO have any 6re there. The fire broke
out behind the counter, and low it could
have taken place at 3 o'clock in the MORE.
ing cannot be explained. The stationery
store has changed hands several times of
late. Its proprietor was in the country
when the fire broke out. The contents were
insured IN the Home Insurance Company.
The man who was running the store for the
absent proprietor appeared on the scene
YESTERDAY morning, and when questioned
refused to say anything about tie fire.
The talk was very free in the neig Dor
hood regarding the origin of the fire, and
all vi Sanders neighbors congratulated him
on the lucky escape of himself and family.
The estimated loss on the building was
S100 and on the contents $500. Had il not
been Tor the prompt and energetic action of
James Smith the fire would have swept half
a block of old buildings and number of
lives might have been lost.