Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1893-11-03
Caused By whisky.


PIrTsBURG, Oct. 27.-Soon after one
o'clock this afternoon the fire depart
ment OF the city was summoned to
Eleventh and Pike streets. BY the
time the fire engines were on the scene
were in service, flames we're bursting
from almoet every window and door of
the immense building owned and oc-
cupied by the Chautauqua Lake Ice
Company and the Pittsburg Storage
Company. The building occupied a
space of 300x100 feet, was of brick and
stone, seven stories, or 80 feet in height.
Edward Spies, an employe discovered
the fire and gave the alarm. He was
working on the fourth floor. Almost in
stantlY he was enveloped in the flames,
and although he attempted to fight the
fire, he was driven back to a window 80
feet from the ground through which he
made his escape, He crept out upon
the narrow sill and hung by his hands
until rescued by the fromen. His
hands, arms and face were literally
roasted. 1t was scarcely five minutes
after the discovery OF the fire until the
great structure was ablaze on every
floor. A soaking rainfall aided greatly
in preventing the spread of fire, which
! a.. IL.
to the many valuable properties in the
vicinity, At 2 o'clock the occupants of
the surrounding buildings we're notified
to move out. Between Mulberry alley
and Pennsylvania avenue, on the south
east side of the burning building, were
cheap class of tenements, crowded to
suffocation with Polish Jews and Slavs,
who were thrown into panic. Fifteen
minutes later the side of the building
fell with terrible crash, burying long
row of tenements just vacated. Flames
burst from the buried buildings, adding
danger to the surrounding property.
At 2:30 o'clock, the four upper stories
of the Thirteenth-st wall fell out
ward, burying the street to depth of
ten feet and crushing the house Of John
G. Glenn on the opposite side of the
street. On the ground floor of the ware
house were five loaded cars. inst be-
fore the crash they were drawn, all burn
ing, to a place of safety. OF all the
hundreds of thousands of dollars worth
of property stored in the building, these
five carloads were all that was saved,
The leading warehouse of the Haveler
Storage Company, on the opposite side
of Pike street, caught fire several times,
but was not seriously damaged. The
rear of a number OF Pennsylvania avenue
buildings were also severely scorched.
The most serious damage, however, was
to Hiber's drug store, which with its
contents was almost destroyed.
A number of people were knocked
down and tramped upon when the crowd
of spectators surged back at the time
the walls fell. President William Scott
stated that the loss of the Chautauque
Lake Ice Company and the Pittsburg
Storage Company will reach almost ST.
100000. He could give no estimate of
amount Of insurance, as the papers are
all locked in the safe, now in the midst
of the flames. The storage apartments
he stated, were filed with all kind of
goods, some OF which we're very valuable.
These goods are owned by probably
several hundred different people, and
are mostly insured by the owners, as
well as by the storage company. At
ten o'clock tonight the fire was burning
furiously, confined within the tottering
walls, which are white with the intensity
of the heat. The fire was started by
the explosion of barrel of whisky.
Washington Crops.