The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-06-08
THE Loss Is OVER $1,000, 900.
Insurance on Property Burned will
Not Cover One Third Of Losses
A Fierce Wiad Drove The Riames
1AsssgA the Heart Of the City with
AasAs.ia& spesa-Nsashberaae Towns
sssa ksltss-Jia nnl's Generosity.

Fargo Is in ashes. The fire started a, :
O'CLOCK IN restaurant on Second street.
strong wind Was blowing, and at 4
O'Clock the fre had reached the Great
Northern tracks. ten blocks north. cutting
the entire district for three blocks east. 10
broadway. A strong fight was made %
prevent the flames from crossing Erosdwsv
bat By o'clock they had crossed in sev-
erai places The telegraph wires are all
burned 40 it is impossible to reach Grand
Forks or Hillsboro to ask for help. Prob
ably 100 people are homeless. The fire
mas Jus: crossed the river TO the Moore
mead side to the Fargo roller mill. which
viii oe burned. Among the principal
firms burned we're:
Herman Dry Goods Company. Crane rcssan.
raHs. xagiis. farm machinery; Northern Pacific
elevator buildings, Western Union Telegraph
cmcs. Norton, real estate: Red River National
bank. the Daisy Farum Office, the Merchants
state bank. tho opera house, Tyler, real estate:
ths plants of Mccormick. Walter A. Wood. Min
neso'a Caes. DscsiuS and John pcering imp,e.
nent warehouses. Coles livery stable. the Grand
hotel. fisming's drug store. L,wls grocery.
Christians drug store, the sheridan hotel.
Apple Bros. the Minneapolis Dry Goods Com
pany. Logan's studio. the American Iroa works.
shs Consinental house and Van Dsunts tmpls-
msnt house.
The strong wind made the fire travel 20
quickly that hardly anything was saved.
The flames went through brick buildings
- easily ~ wooden ones. The loss will be
over II ,0o0. 600. a. nearly the entire busi-
ness district Of the city Is gutted already.
At 10 O'Clock tonight the wind changed
to the north and drove the flames back on
the burned districtA A block in the mid
die Of the city. from Robert street and
Front street south. four blocks wide and
ten blocks long. is . blackened plain
Of ashes, with not . dozen build
ings left standing. The fierce south
wind drove il like . prairie fire. and the
brick buildings seemed to melt away into
heaps Of crumbling sand. II was impos-
sible to force enough water through the
mains to fight the fire. A conservative esti-
mate Of the loss at 10 O'Clock is $500 COO,
with not to exceed $4,000 insurance.
Plenty Of help 10 now there, Grand Forks,
Wahpeton and Casselton having sent hose
companies. Over 5000 tonight are homc-
less. and it is almost impossible 10 verify
reports of accidents.
James Flynn. an e-year-old son Of .
former alderman. 10 reported burned and
Gilbert and an unknown man were cut on
from the stairs in the third story Of the
Chaplin block in trying TO save some
property. Practically but ono hotel
is left in the town. Tho Head
quarters. The fire burned all around
it, but so Ear it has been saved. Only one
restaurant is left in the town and Moor
head IL already full. A large number Of
people will sleep in the courthouse and
schooihouses on the South Side. President
Hill wired to open the Grand Pacific hotel
at Moorhead for the firernen. Only two
grocery stores are left In the town.
The fire was started by hot ashes from
the Gem restaurant, thrown out behind il
and igniting some loose paper back Of
Hoseman's dry goods store. Somebody
left the front door open and inside Of two
minutes the wind drove tho flames
through the building and out through the
roof In the next fifteen minutes the
flames ran two blocks west. taking brick
buildings and all. and then jumped across
the street to McGilrs big machinery ware
house. North and east Of this for two
blocks each way are big machinery depots,
mostly two-story wooden buildings, and At
this time OF year they were filled 70 the
roofs with years supply Of farm machin-
cry for North Dakota. First from one
roof and then another tongues Of flame
broke out, a. the whirling fire fakes
settled on the shingles. and inside of
half an hour the whole space OF four
blocks was q whirlwind Of fame, the prop
erty consumed there being valued at
81, $50 COO. The only machinery houses
saved are those Of Walter A. Wood and
the Monitor Press Drill.
The firemen tried to confins the flames
70 the district south of Northern Pacific
avenue. but failed. The opera house
block Was soon burned. while the Grand
hotel was burning on the east. The
flames shot over Front street. burning
barns and then the Fargo Forum Office.
The printers had just time to lock the
forms while tho Office force kept back the
flames. II had been expected that the
three-s,ory brick building Of the Red
River National bank would arrest tho
danes. but IL went in fifteen minutes. The
FIRE burned rapidly up the east side Of
Broad AZ. but was confined 10 that side OF
the street II then went through the resi-
dence district north OF the Great Northern
tracks. making . clean track Eve blocks
WEue py ten ctc<AS ipHss Wust1 tScthtcu
fires could be seen over . mile north,
caused BY flying cinders.
The wind shifted again and the flames
caught the Minneapolis and Northern eIs-
va,or. containing 100 90 bushels OF wheat.
the North Side school and Great Northern
depot, but tho flames on the latter
we're exsinguished. The east side
of Broadway. containing large
number OF business houses ani the
Fargo R<publieaa osYice was. burned. The
flames being st last ACROSS Broadway.
soon made short work OF the blocks
between Mears and the Citizens Bank.
Just further west we're the shyee-ssory
brick Chapin block. the fouE-ssory Coinm-
bsa hotel and the big brick Hagen an
block. occupied by Z. u. Rathworth. a
wholesale grocer. and thsee-guarters oil
an hour from the time the Columbia
hosei caught. nothing Vas standing bu,
their walls The big brick Citizens bank
for Q long time resisted the flames.
but at last they crept vest OF il
aud burned EIliot's hotel, stopping
two blocks vest at the city hail.
which WAS gutted. The flames thsn took
. shoot north toward the Great Northern
freight depot, burning the new Methodist
church on Robert street. and large num-
Der Of residences and email stores Secret
societies suffered severely. losing their
halls and nearly ali their property
Evesy open spacs 10 fiilsd With confused
collections Of housshold eooda busgsss,