St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-10-03
OMAHA WAS ALL ABLAzE,.
ALMOST HsLF A MILLION OF PROPER
TY GOES UP m FLAMES.
A TaEATER is INCINERATEp

1t Was Valued at $25O,OOO-The
"Waifs of New York; Company
Lose All Their Property-Com-
plete List of Other Losses
Brave Battle by the Firemen
Against the Fire Fiend.
OMAHA. Neb., Oct. 2.-From o'clock
till after the Omaha fire department
had campaign that tested it to the ut
most. At 500 p. m. an alarm brought
the downtown companies to the Far
nam Sstreet heater. Here fierce blaze
was raging on the stage. During the
next hour five alarms were sent IN.
While the opera house fire was at its
/ height, second alarm called portion
of the fighting force to Twenty-seventh
and Leayenworth streets, where huge
frame block was sending up cloud of
lurid smoke to vie with the rosy hue OF
the western sky. At the theater the
battle was notable one. The building
was huge five story shell. the audito-
rum being on the second floor. and
above the stage the fly gallery filed a
dome thirty feet higher than the roof OF
the building. 1t was almost the last
stroke of 5 O'Clock when a hundred men
simultaneously sent up the cry of fire.
The burst of smoke from the roof
sands. the theater being located
at the busiest corner in the city. The
smoke was followed by flames, and be
fore the first fireman reached the stage
the building was doomed. The fire
started on the stage i'll the fly gallery.
The stage hands were busy setting the
scenery for the evening production of
the WAITS of New York" A fly
swung against gas jet, aud in sec
Ond the whole mass of painted canvas
was blazing. Ii burned so swiftly that
there was no time for lowering the fire.
proof curtain that cut off the stage from
the auditorium. Companies 2 and 8
were first there and began the fight on
the stage. They were not permitted
TO remain long there, for soon after
they got 10 work the roof of the
DOME FELL IN.
]. H.. Scott. driver for No. 2, and
John Simpson. driver for Hose COM
pany No. 3, were caught by -the falling
roof, but were rescued by their COM
panions. Their injuries are not seEi-
Gus.
The men followed the line of hose to;
the sidewalk and escaped. On the.
outside the iremen were hampered by.
the network of wire, telegraph, tele-5
phone, electric light, etc., and found
great difficulty IN doing effective work.
Finally fore of linemen from the
Thompson Houston plant came and cut
the live wires.
In the meantime the water tower had
been gotten into service and huge
flood of water was poured into the
upper floors of the building. In front
OF the auditorium were numerous
suites of offices and the contents of
these such as were not burned were
ruined by water. Alarms kept ringing
in and Chief Galligan. who had called
his entire force to the scence, was COM
PEELED 10 send detachment after de-
tachment to answer the calls from the
outlying districts. During the first
hour alaIms from five fires were sent in.
Among the others was false alarm at
Z o'clock calling a company to the Con-.
vent of st. Mary, the report being that
the academy was burning. This
proved grOundleSs.
At o'clock the fire at the theater was
under control, and the chief other blaze,
that at Twenty-seventh and Leaven-.
worth. had been eXtinguished.
When the fire On the stage was burn
ing