Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-09-14
PROBABLY A TROLLEY
That Caused the Fire in the Corco-
ran Building.
ALSO THE SHOCK TO THE LINEMAN.
Investigations Have Been Made
During the Day.
WHAT THEY LOP.

whose business called for the use Of the
Western Union telegraph wires prevailed
last evening when shortly after o'clock
clouds Of black smoke were seen issuing
from the roof Of the Corcoran, in which
the company's offices are located. For a
while the entire working machinery Of the
company was in danger. and the business
would. no doubt, have been suspended for
the night had not the fire department re-
sponded 50 promptly to an alarm turned in
by Mr.. George Howe. who happened to be
in the neighborhood Of the building at the
time. 1t was shortly after 6 o'clock when
persons on the street discovered the clouds
of smoke coming from the top of the tall
building.
1t was found that the wood work Of the
cupola, In which were nearly 400 wires, was
on fire. These wires We're conducted from
the cupola to the switch-boards in the
offices. where about forty operators were at
work. They had no intimation of the dan
turned in, and then many messages over
the wires were left unfinished, and there
was rush for the lower floors
Difficulty Found by the Firemen.
When the f1remen reached the top Of the
building they found 1t difficult to work on
account Of the numerous live wires across
the roof and in the cupola. and several Of
them received slight shocks, but none were
injured. Finally the wires were cut loose
and the flames were soon extinguished, with
a loss of not more than 800 to the building.
The damage to the Western Union prop
erty, including the cupola, wires and switch
boards. will amount to less than 8. 900.
Chief Lineman Connor was at work on
the wires soon after the flames were ex-
tinguished, and all the wires will be in
working order tonight.
Last night operators were sent to the
Baltimore and Ohio depot and to Alexan-
drfa, from which places most Of the I'M
portant messages were sent to their desti-
nations.
"A Lfneman Shocked.
, Three hours after the fire, which had
not only damaged the property Of the
Western Union Company. but also wires
OF other companies. while Lineman Joseph
Ebert OF the Mutual District Messenger
Company. with several other linemen, was
az work on the high pole almost opposite
the Corcoran building Strengthening out
the wires a live wire touched him. There
were four inemen working about the pole
at the time, Joe Ebert, John Ebert Philip
A. Defer and James Dorsey.
The men had worked faithfully on the
Lineman Defer felt the CULVER of the pole
and heard the groans of Ebert.
Fell Across the Wires.
The latter had touched a live wire and his
PROSTATE form had fallen across the wires
Sparks shot out from the body Of the un-
fortunate man as he fell In the wire net
work. but his companions managed to keep
clear Of them. A cry for help" went to
the sidewalk, and in few minutes several
hundred persons had gathered about the
pole A rope called for by Defer was taken
to the top OF the pole, a message sent to
truck c. and a few minutes later the ex-
tension ladder went crashing through the
bed Of wires.
In the meanwhile the PROSTATE man had
been lashed to the pole with the rope and
when Foreman Sullivan reached the top Of
the ladder he was told that Lineman Def
fer had concluded to carry his companion
to terra frma. Foreman Sullivan held the
lantern while Lineman Defer made prepar-
atoms for carrying down his companion
The rope had been tied about Eberts body
and thrown over one OF the cross beams
being held by the crowd below to secure
the injured man In case Of any nishap to
Lineman Defer. Then the latter got his
charge securely fixed on his shoulders and
slowly and cautiously he descended the
pole.
His Injuries Determined.
When he reached the sidewalk the Elmer
gency Hospital ambulance was in waiting
and 1t took but a few seconds for the
wagon to speed to the hospital Ebert was
conscious when he reached the hospital, al
tHousu uS was intense agony, ana
he refused to be put under the influence Of
morphine
Three long scars on his legs and hips
showed where the wire had done its work.
for the flesh was badly burned. DR.. Hough
found that the muscles had not been injured
and he assured the patient that his recovery
would be complete. Ebert lives at No, 602
street southwest. His brother. John, was
working on the pole at the time OF the oc-
currence and although slightly burned he
was able to descend the pole without as
sistance.
A Trolley Wire the Cause.
Capt. A. A. Thomas. president Of the
Electric Light Company, said this morn
ing that he and his superintendent lad
made cereful Investigation Of matters
and was certain that no electric light wire
was responsible either for the fire or for
the accident to Ebert. ''In the first place. ~
said Capt. Thomas. I'VE have no arc wire
going over the Corcoran building. We have
three incandescent wires on that pole but
they are 16 or 20 feet below where the man
got hurt The incandescent wire conveys
character of current that would burn
one but would not shock him. Its poten-
tiality Is not so high as a common tele-
graph wire. Our head lineman went up
on that same pole this morning and he re-
ceived a shock which knocked him down
Now all our arc current was cut off al
daylight, so the cause must have been
from some other source It must have
been some other wire that crossed the tele-
graph wire"
'Mr. Marean. who has also been investi-
eating the cause tells me that he thinks 1t
was trolley wire somewhere between here
and Baltimore"
Mr.. A. NJ. Renshaw, the Superintendent
of the Electric Light Company, confirmed
the statements of Capt. Thomas as to the
impossibilty Of the accident being caused
by one of their wires. and referred to the
shock to their own linemen this morning
when there was no arc current on in the
city.
The Injured Man at Work.
Jos. Ebert. the man who was so badly
shocked last night and for whom SO much
anxiety was felt, had so far recovered as
to be able to work today.
Repairing the Wires.
A large force of men is still engaged to-
day in repairing the damage done by the
fire and water. Manager Marean was in
active control. He was up all night, and
had not been able to leave the work up to
o'clock this afternoon. At that hour a
Star reporter found him on the roof of the
Corcoran building, hard at work assisting
his men in disentangiing and adjusting 4
myriad Of wires lying In an apparently in.
extricable mass over the roof in all direc.
tions. He said that they had repaired
about half of the wires injured and had es
tablished telegraphic communication with
all outside points. The city wires were still
| in bad working order, but he hoped to have
thovVN oil iOh In cho