St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-05-16
Over a Million Dollars Goes
Up in Smoke.
THE work OF AN McENDiARY
Two Thousand People Are
Homeless and Destitute.
MANY PATHETIC SCENE
A Space Of Twenty Acres
Covered by the Fire.
WHERE THE SPARK STARTED.

BosToN. May 15.-By the torch of all
incendary tonight over million dol
lars worth of property is i'll ashes. over
500 families of the medium and poorer
classes, consisting CT over 1000 people,
are homeless. and many of them who
had time to save a portion Of their
household furniture are tonight Sleep
ing in the open air. Women with little
babes in their arms and little children
huddled close together have only the
| sky for a roof and the few mattreSset
saved from the burned tenements for
| bed. and no prospects for breakfast
| in the morning. After 6 o'clock. the
time for the workshops and business
places to close. many pathetic scenes
were witnessed. fathers returning ta
find their homes burned to the ground,
| and no trace of their wives and little
ones. Children who had been at WORT
in the big dry goods and other store:
| barred out from the streets where they
| resided, aud could find no traces OF
their parents.
The fire covered a space OF twenty
acres. and, as far as can be learned,
! only six persons have been injured, and
! none fatally.
The FIRE started in the Boston league
park in pile of lumber which was
| lying under the right field bleachers.
| In a moment it had leaped out to the
| seats. and. famed by brisk breeze,
swept towards the grand stand. So
rapidly did the flames spread that be.
fore the OCCUPANTS of the grand stand
realized it the fire was upon them. 1t
was several minutes before the firemen
| were at work. The left field bleachers
were next ignited. Meanwhile, the
sparks had fallen upon the houses on
| Berlin street, and
THE FLAMES SURGED
| on towards fremont street, reaching
| out to the right and left until the entire
square between the ball grounds and
| fremont street. and extending north
from Walpole street to Burke street,
was a mass of burning buildings. The
| Shorwin kindergarten school house, a
brick structure. checked the progress of
the fire for only moment, and that,
| too. was quickly numbered among the
| structures consumed.
| The buildings on the south side OF
Walpole street were soon burned. The
flames shot down towards Coventry
street on that side of the fremont near
est the ball grounds. They swept on in
this direction for three squares as far as
| Burke street, devouring the homes, and
| women who were working with frantic
| energy to get out their household goods,
even before they could remove them to
| safe place the walls burned down.
At 5 o'clock the entire block along
| the west side of fremont street from
Walpole to Burke was mass of flames,
which swept across to the opposite side
| and soon engulfed the buildings for
four blocks. BY this time the residents
of the tenements for nearly half mile
| around had become alarmed, ahd were
moving all their property into the
streets and seeking for places of safety.
| So rapidly did the fire eat its way, how
| ever, that those in the blocks adjoining
| fremont street did not have time to
| save their household effects, and barely
| escaped
WITH THEIR LIVES.
| The streets were filled with fright
| ened women and children, poor people
who were trying to save part of their
small property, and hurrying fremen
and policemen.
Furniture of all kinds Uttered tho
| sidewalks, and the tiremen were greatly
hampered by these distractions. By 4
o'clock the contiagratlon had crossed
fremont to Cabot street.
Shortly after o'clock several steam
| ers arrived from Lynn, Salem, Beverly
and Brookline, and every effort was
made to stop the fire at Cabot street.
But it could not be checked, and not
until it had burned Cabot street half
way through to Weirick street and
north to Burke street was the limit OF
the burned district on the southeast
side of the ball grounds reached.
While the fremen were fighting or
this side, the fire was spreading from
Walpole toward Milford Place. on thu
southwest side of the ball grounds, ant
in half an hour all the buildings IN thi
block were in ruins. The fire burnet
Oh until 1T reached Ruggles street a.
one point, and consumed the houses OF
both sides of Chapel street, and laid low
the structures on Sudbury street. Al
Ruggles street on the west and Cabot
street on the southeast. the fire was
practically stopped, and at $50 the fire
was under control and in no danger of
spreading further.
It is estimated that about 100 build
lngs have been burned and about 500
families
REN DERED HOMELESS.
The new house of Ladder IL and
Hose z, on fremont street. was de-
stroyed. Aid. Bryaut's residence. on
Walpole street, and his store. on
fremont street, were also destroyed.
Among the other business places
leveled we're: j. j. Mcnamara, wines
and liquors. Cabot street; Daniel Bern
hardt Il Co.. fremont street, liquors;
Sterling Provision store, Sterling street;
Martin Regan. undertaken. fremont
street. Councilman Connors lost his
house on fremont street and many of
his effects.
Insurance men place the loss at
milo sn dollars and the insurance at
about twO-thirdS of the loss.