Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-10-29
Highest of all in Leavening PowerLatest u Govt Report
Re-! RSxas'
ABSOLUTELY PURE

| or the lire department was almost futile.
! kilograms were quickly dispatched to Chi
| cago, Racine and nearer cities for aid, all
| of which responded promptly, bringing
! fire engines and men To assist in the dire
c:iaInIty. Chief Foley kept the fire con-
fined to one block ON East Water street
until O'Clock. when it got away from him
and leaped across the street and began a
rapid march toward Lake Michigan, six
! blocks away, cutting down in short order
dozens of buildings.
Three Hundred Cottages Destroyed.
The entire lower part of the third ward,
| inhabited largely by poor families, was
devastated. About 800 cottages were
destroyed. Alarms came in every few
minutes from parts of the city widely
separated. The elegant residence of l.. +.
Hodges, a member of the board of trade
at Ninth anu Cedar streets, two miles from
the place where the fire started, was
destroyed Many of the scenes of the great
fire of 1871 in Chicago were re-enacted, TIE
dynamite explosions, the leapiTg flames and
stumbling walls adding to the terror Of the
situation.
Destruction of the Gas Works.
Shortly before O'Clock the various de
partments of the gas works exploded in
quick succession with deafening reverbera-
tons. This loss alone represents 81 Co.,
GOO, which was the cost of the recently
erected plant. All the Northwestern freight
buildings and cars along the tracks are
totally destroyed. Several squads of militia
have been called out TO protect valuable
freight from robbing marauders. All the
southern section of Milwaukee is in ruins.
The dreadful conf1agration was still in
progress at p. m. Never in the history of
the city has such calamity befallen it,
Acres of land, embracing the great manu-
featuring districts of the city, have been
devastated and now lie mass of smould-
ering ruins Almost the entire southern
division from East Water street to the lake
has been consumed.
Frenzied Horses Loose in the Streets.
During the course of the fire a number OF
barns and large livery stables We're burned.
These were filled with horses, which were
liberated by the police. The horses ran
wildly about the streets and before they
could be caught number of persons were
run down and badly injured. The wires of
the electric street railways are down and
the telephone company's system is pros
trated. The electric light service is para
lyzed and the gas works have been de
stroyed- Work in the newspaper Offices
and telegraph offices was being done by |
candle light
Fatal Casualties Reported. !
At the morgue three bodies-two brave |
firemen and an elderly lady-are stretched |
cold and charred in death. At the Emer- |
gency hospital four other victims of the |
fire are FRUSTRATED. two of whom are not \
expected to survive These four are men |!
Another very seriously injured person has |
been removed To st. Mary's In the in |
tensely exciting state of affairs it is impos-
sibie TO get any names. and the dead; dy |
ing and injured remained unidentified. |
Engine house No. 10 has been burned and |
five other engines belonging to the local |
department have been literally melted in
an alley before they could be drawn out.