St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-11-08
BURNED OUT AGAIN.
Another Disastrous Fire Wis
it's the Firm OF Smith &
FarWell.
The Handsome Hale Block
Is Damaged About Ten
Thousand Dollars,
While the Loss Of the Firm
Will Be Twice That
Sum.
Splendid Work Of the Fire De-
partment Against Great
Odds.


$4,000. The former fire, by which the
firm lost about $4,000, nearly covered
by insurance, occurred April "a last,
when the firm was Oh Seventh street.
They then moved into the Hale block
and took three years lease OF the pres
ent premises.
1t was about 7:45 last evening that
Mr.. Smith and the statesmen were seat
ed about the office on the lower floor,
when a man stuck his head in at the
front door and shouted the information
that the building was on fire. They
could
Scarcely Believe the Man
for it was but few minutes before
that one of the statesmen had come
been showing goods to customer. Mr..
Smith went up in the elevator to the
sixth. or top floor, and found that the
report was true, and that that floor was
all ablaZe. a few glances showed him
that he could do nothing there, and he
came down to find that an alarm had
been turned, followed quickly by a
second. and that the department
was gathering. 1t seemed to everybody
that the department was slow i'll getting
to the scene, but this was probably ow-
ing to the condition Of the streets. How
ever, when the tiremen did get to work.
they worked like Trojans and took some
terrible risks. The fire originated in
the top story of the building and in the
workshop, but just how nobody is able
to say. The top floor is used as work
shop and general Storeroom for bur
laps or furniture before it is put to-
gether and finished up. There was fire
i'm no in
during the day. but it was supposed to
have been eXtinguiShed at 6 O'clock,
when the men quit work. Mr.. Smith
says that there was nothing up there
liable to spontaneous combustion, and
he cannot account. for the fire in any
way. The fire seems to have obtained
Good. Strong Roadway
before it was discovered. and when the
tiremen reached the scene it was burst
ing from all the front windows, and was
lighting up the city for many blocks III
all directions. IL had devoured the cor
nice, and pieces of iG, all ablaze, were
dropping to the walk below in regular
shower of fire. Despite this, the fire
men raised the big extension ladder as
rapidly as possible through the network
Of wire to the windows of the top story
from which the flames were pouring.
Then up mounted the firemen, amid the
showers of falling tirebrands which
they needed not, dragging heavy lines
Of hose. In the meantime other firemen
were dragging long lines or hose up the
StairWayS of the store to get at the fire
from the rear Of the room in which it
was raging, and still another detach
ment were climbing the stairWayS OF
the adjoining store, No. 413, which is
vacant. Soon torrents of water were
being
Poured Into the Windows
and up from the stairways, and its effect
was at once noticed in diminution of
the blaze and the pouring forth of i'm
mense volumes of thick, black and
binding smoke. A few moments later.
and the brave tremen began to Chamber
in through the front windows from
the tall ladder as they slowly and
inch by inch fought back the devouring
element. By $50 it was evident that,
owing to the fre-proof nature of the
building, the firemen would confine the
blaze, practically, to the room in which
it originated. The building is owned
by the estate of the late Henry Hale,
and IS in charge of Clark q Fletcher,
agents of the estate. 1t is Solidly built,
and all the floors and the roof are OF
cement, with iron girderS aud joists.
1t also has good fire walls, and so no
damage was done by fire to the stock of
J. II. Roach, the confectioner, next
north, though his stock suffered little
from the dampneSS.
Mr.. Smith said that as near as he can
estimate, their stock was worth from
$45,0 900 to $4,000, as they had just put ia
two carloads of rich goods. He would
not make an estimate Oh the damage.
but will wait until he can look around.
The damage by water to the fine goods
below the sixth floor will be greater
than that by the fire, as the immense
volumes of water poured In at the top
ran all the way TO the ground. 1t was
confined to the Stairways and elevator
shaft for time, but soon the quantity
was too great to be carried down that
way and it began to find its way
Through the Cement
of the floors in all directions. soaking
the rich uphOlstering of the fine parior
furniture, and damaging more or less
nearly everything in the building.
About the worst thing the firemen had
to contend with, and what caused the
greatest delay Ill getting apparatus and
lines of hose into position, was the
electricity from the Edison and street
railway wires. In trying to raise the
water tower an electric wire was broken,
and fell into the mass of telephone
wires, many of which had been broken,
and was thus communicated to the
ground and the metal of the tower.
and the big extension ladder
truck. Many of the iremen received
light shocks from the wires which they
oh TO- ,.Iv l.
were seriously injured. Several were
thrown to the ground, however, butn0ne
hurt so as to be obliged to quit work.
One had just started up the ladder when
the end of wire hit him and threw him
to the ground, where he rolled over and
over until pulled to one side by COM
panion. John Johnson, of the fire
alarm telephone and telegraph service,
known to the department as stFire
Alarm jack" went up the ladder to cut
the small wires, that
Had Become Charged,
as we'll as the regular Edison wires. He
had cut the greater portion of them. a
shower of electric sparks following
every clip of his big shears, when he
was struck on the top of his head by
piece of brick which fell from the top
of the building He was up about fifty
feet, and but for the fact that he had
twisted his legs in and out around the
rungs of The ladder, would have fallen
to the pavement and been instantly
killed. AS it was his grip held him
there until couple Of tiremen reached
him and carried him down and into a
saloon opposite, where Dr.. j. Il.