The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-04-13
MULTANE IN ASHES.
TWO BUSINESS BLOCKS SWEPT
AWAY BY A DISAS-
TR0US FIRE.
Thirteen Business Houses Burned
to Ashes and Others Seri-
ously Damaged.
The Fire Famed by Strong Wiad From
tie Ncrt1wtst. With Nothing to
Fight it With But Buckets.

The city of Mulvane, situated on the
line which divides this county from Sum
her, WAS visited yesterday by the most
disastrous fire that has occurred in its
history.
No man who saw it at o'clock yester-
day would give thousand dollars
for what would be left of it
from the railroad yards east. Nothing to
equal such n disaster in so far as the
destruction of property is concerned has
| happened since the Wellington cyclone
disaster year ago.
The cyclone reduced two blocks of Well
ington TO splinters; the fire has reduced
| two blocks of Mulvane to ashes OF course
there is no comparison between the loss
sustained by Mulvane and Wellington,
but considering the size OF the respective
towns the Mulvane loss is the heaviest.
The EAGLE very much regrets Null
vane's loss. 1t was Que Of the
country towns in the south
west. 1t is situated in a fine agricul-
tural country, is an important railway
town and enjoys healthy and substantial
commercial trade. It will rise from its
ashes. PhHniX-like, at no distant day and
be more solidly built than ever before.
! The people are by no means disheartened
at their loss, for they are kansans, and TO
Kansans nothing is impossible Cities
may be reduced TO ashes or to splinters,
but they can't be kept down. The more
! they are affected by misfortunes
the more determined they are to laugh at
them and demonstrate TO the world that
they can easily overcome them without
whining.
Yesterday fire caught in the ice house a
few feet in the rear of the Union hotel,
owned and occupied by Daniel Lane. 1t
seems to be the general opinion that the
fire caught from spark from one of the
engines of the Santa Fe An EAGLE reporter
made diligent Investigations aud found no
substantial grounds for the prevailing
opinion. 1t is more reasonable TO think
that it was the result Of spontaneous com
bustion. The ice house was packed with
saw dust and on top of about 75-tons
of ice there was good deal Of straw. The
fire was first discovered by smoke issuing
from the ventilator on top of the building.
and shortly afterwards, small tongues of
fire were seen creeping out through the
shingles. These two circumstances
certainly indicate that the fire orgi-
mated in the interior of the ice house
and as there was no probable means of a
spark falling in the interior, the idea OF
spontaneous combustion is the most reas-
enable. Besides, railroad men say that no
train passed the building for some time
before the fire
Al first the fire was not considered seri-
Gus, aud those who saw 1t say that it could
have been eXliugulshed with "A garden hose,
1t was treated rather inditf-reutly until it
got too far advanced. A strong gale of
wind was blowing from the west, and as
the flames extended the wind tanned it
into blaz: of considerable pro-
portions. The gale became stronger
and llshed the fumes across
a small space thing the sample room on
fire. From this the flames spread to the
servants sleeping room and bounded on
to the main hotel building. The gale
blew more fast and furious ana for the |
first time the citizens realized that they !
had II monster 10 fight. The engines OF
the Santa Fe tracks commenced TO alarm |
the town and in a short time two or three /
hundred men were on the scene They re-
moved the furniture as rapidly rs possible, |
but before they could get all of it suf-
ficiently distant, the heat became 50 in |
tense that they were compelled to !
drop a part of it in the middle |
of the street where it soon caught fire aud |
was consumed. The heat became so in
tense that it actually melted the silver |
ware which was dropped in the street |
fifteen feet away from the hotel. As the |
heat increased so did the wind, and inside |
of twenty minutes after the first tongue |
of fire was seen issuing through the roof |
of the ice house the hotel and all the cut
buildings were reduced to ashes. One |
hundred men with buckets commenced on
the adjoining buildings but the fire was /
too severe and it jumped before the wind
to Alexander Fuckers frame building
and licked it up rs rapidly as ii |
it was built of cotton. In the mean
time il swept across the 100 foot street and
licked up the building directly opposite
he Santa Fe depot. The bucket brigade
every inch Of ground with the
fiery monster but they were at dlsad-
for there were only lew pumps
to draw water from and it took time to fill
the buckets. From the Rucker building
the flames spread east and carried every
thing before them to small building
next to the postoffice. At this point every
Effort was concentrated, for if this little
went the entire business block
east of it would go also and nothing
could prevent the entire destruction of the
city north Of Main street. The shingles
were stripped off the east side OF the roof
IF this little building in order that men
might get foot hold on the skeleton roof
and at the same time make 4 b:eastworks
If it from the heat. Salt was thrown over
he ridge and water followed ii. but to no
purpose. Every time bucket OF water
treamed down the west side Of the roof it
had evaporated before il could reach the
ground and for five minutes no power on
arth seemed adequate TO save
be building. The heat was in
ense but the men on top of
be roof who were fighting so heroically
we're encouraged to hold out minute
onger while a man with a hatchet was !
utting hole in the floor for the purpose '
{ blowing the building up with dynamite.
Nhel the men were about 10 fall off the y
oof. almost suffocated with heat aud {
rnoke. the wind whipped around, shifting
nore to the north with the rapidly OF Il /
bought, aud carried with it the current y
t heat and smoke, thus encouraging the {
rave fellows TO continue their work. /
hen the bucket brigade saw this fortu
ate change they doubled their efforts in a
recurring water and in short b
'ne the building was safe. Ii
aught fire seven different times but every 7
ule IL was extiucuished This little j:
Uldins adjoined the postoflics ana the C
osjofflce Is attached 10 the large two
ory frame house known as the Devore a