The morning call., 1893-12-26
IT WAS VERY UGLY
Printers Row Rudely
Visited.
A HALF MILLION LOSS
Big Business Houses in
Dire Peril.
THREE FIREMEN INJURED.
Francis & Valentine Were the
Heaviest Losers.
1.-THE CALLS NARROW ESCAPE.
Fire Raids the Bulletin Rooms-FulI
Details of Its Progress and
Extinction.

While thousands of people were listen
Ing yesterday morning to the beautiful
Christmas services tongue of red fame
shot upwards in the heart of one of San
Francisco's business blocks. 1t licked the
woodwork, it sprang to a quantity of in
hsmmaGle material and before the few
who were on the streets caught sight OF
that destructive element there was fiery
furnace roaring in the midst of the many
buildings and angry. destroying arms were
being thrown twenty feet into air.
i Then there was the rush of engines,
hose carts and hook and ladder trucks,
the hoarse shouts of firemen the dragging
= hither and thither of ladders. axes, buckets
and hose. Quickly as possible the men
who are always on the alert to save lives
and property threw themselves at the
danger and fought the rapidly spreading
flames.
For some time it seemed as if THE CALL
composing and editorial rooms were
doomed to destruction but the energetic
,. efforts Of the fire fighters and aprovdeutlal
ments and left the former in such shape
that it was possible to do work therein.
: The Bulletin quarters were also visited
by flames but the wreck there is not so bad
rs in The CALL S apartments
The large printing establishment Of
Francis, Valentine & Co.. the largest Of
the kind on the coast. was completely
wiped out. as was Bosqui's well-known
lithographing establishment. There were
many other losses, and the total will foot
up about half million of dollars. Il is q
sad story of destruction that will be found
in the following columns, but it is all
there.
THE CALL appears as usual this morn
ing. its columns filed with news To be
snre the compositors had to work in room
in: which smoke still fingers and In which
the walls are blackened and parts of the
.ceilinggone They had to step gingerly
around the floor because of the many holes
that had been cut in it. The windows
were all gone, but pieces OF canvas kept
cut: the air. To be sure the partition at
; the rear of the room was badly scorched
and a grewsome sight was the view. for
: within stones throw were the smolder-
: ing ruins Of a large printing house, the
.,.pEesses torn and twisted. And there in
this min all night lights were Pickering to
and fro as fremen continued to pour water
upon the smoking mass; but all the while
type was being lifted into forms and forms
sent to the smoky half-destroyed stero-
type-room in order that THE CALL might
salute its readers as usual this morning.
A l O'Clock yesterday afternoon water
was standing four feet deep in the base
ment and the giant 0uadruplex press was
almost submerged. But as ssoon as the
fire was extinguished the pumping engine
belonging TO the insurance underwriters
was called to the spot. and the steady chud
chud OF the machine was heard late into
the night as thousands of gallons of fluid
were thrown into the sewers It was not
all out when the time cams to "go to press,''
and the men padded around In water
while the rapid revolving cylinder threw
spray high Ia air. But copies of The CALL
came out all right. The folding and mail-
ing room was wet dismal place. but in it
the employees did their work emerge lily,
as usual.
Through these columns. as well as By
word of mouth, THE CALL desires to ex-
press its thanks to its morning con tempo
rares. Early in the day the proprietors
Of the Examiner and of the Chronicle ex-
tended offers of the use of their compos-
ing and press rooms. Among other kindly
messages w. E. Dargie of the Oakland
Tribune telegraphed sincere regret and
placed his Office and pressroom at THE
GALL disposal, while Hugh Hume wire1
from his residence at Belvedere that the
entlre outfit of the Post was at
this papers service. With the spirit Of
Kindness In which the assistance was prof
fered 1t would have been accepted had it
been necessary, but The CALLS force
managed to make some sort of order out
OF chaos and is able to say to-day, with its
own tools shaping the words, GOOD morn
ing"