St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-01-15
AGAIN The SYNDICATE
Fire Ruins $4,000 Worth
OF Minneapolis Property.
THE BLAZE HARD TO HANDLE
1t Literally Sweeps Every
thing Before 1t.
BRhDSTREETS Old PLACE GOES.
THE BLAZE HARD TO HANDLE
BRhDSTREETS Old PLACE GOES,
Fillmore & Winchester's Fur.
niture Store Burned.
THE INSURANCE IS SOS, ,O0Q

On the 9th of last June young col.
ored boy set fire to Bradstreet d Thur
Der'S handsome establishment in the
Syndicate block. Minneapolis. The re-
suit was an immense loss, and the
youth IS now serving time in the state
reformatory. Yesterday afternoon fire
broke out III the same portion of the
Dlock, this time, however. the blaze or
lginating in the rear of the basement.
Solid fire walls on either side are the
only things that saved the entire block
from being gutted. a few minutes
after o'clock a stranger, in passing
the handsome structure, noticed a gIeam
or RED through the windows, and, peer
ing IN, beheld volume of fire rushing
up toward the roof. He Immediately
turned In an alarm, and, though the fire
department responded promptly and
worked hard, before evening came ruin
TO the extent of $4,000 had
been wrought. and glimpses of
the sky could be seen through
the battered roof. That portion of the
Syndicate block embracing Nos. 513.
5l5, 517 and 519 Nicollet avenue is now
Dut a hollow hulk. All night long
streams of water gushed from the vim
dowS, ooZed out Of the intestices in ths
gray stone walls and formed
MINIATURE RIVERS
on the street below. The origin of the
ire Is unknown: some say it was spon,
taneous combustion, others that some
KIND OF an explosion occurred, and still
others claimed iucendiarism. The Own<
ers of the block, the occupants of the
stores and the officers of the fire de.
partment lay no claims to knowing the
cause. They simply know the fire raised
something that reSembled in its 1nten-
sity the genuine sbeol. At any rate. if
was not the work of the colored lad. for
the walls of the reformatory prohibit
his leaving
By the time the fire engines and other
apparatus arrived on the scene the
building resembled seething cauldron,
1t looked as though the entire block, in
GLIDING the Grand opera house, was on
fire. The flames rushed up through the
elevator shafts, and, before a single
stream was playing on the building.
smoke, fire and cinders burst out of the
windows on the Nicollet avenue side,
Everything seemed to go wrong with
the fire people; the water wouldn't
come and several hose burst. Chief
Runge sw0re and his men
HUSTLED AROUND LIKE BEAVERS.
The streams of water shooting into
the air were about the size of syringe
squirts. On the NicolIet avenue side il
was fifteen minutes after the alarm had
been turned in that the water tower
got to operating decently, though in
the alley the firemen got to work sooner.
IL was not the fire departments fault.
A low water pressure and poor hose
caused the delay. The occupants of the
ruined part of the block, and the prIu-
cipal losers, except the owners.
were Fillmore q Winchester and
Coleman, Wolff & Co. The tormer
firm occupied Nos. 5l3, SIS and 517
as furniture, croekery and tapestry
store. The other firm sold cloaKs and
furs. Both firms just finished taking
inventories OF their stock Saturday
night. The furniture company had q
stock of S21, 900, and the cloak firms as
sets figured up to $4,000. The insur-
ance on the building is SS0,600; Fillmore
& Winchester carried $4,000, and Cole
man, Wolff Il Co SIS, 900. Tie loss on
stock is total; there will not be a cents
worth Of salvage. The buildings value
Is represented by the front wall and
the tlrpnrnnT XV01lc
The rear wall is so damaged it will have
to be rebuilt. The building was val
ued at S135, 900 and the loss is about
$4,000. The Sixth street and First
avenue electric lines were made inoper-
ative for nearly six hours, the fire
department remaining on hand tnat
length of time. The smoke and steam
pouring out of the building rendered
Nicollet avenue
AS DARK AS PITCH
last night In spite of the electric lights.
1t was like cropping ones way through
London fog to attempt TO navigate
from Fifth street to Sixth. People
slipped on the walks aud found
themselves precIpitated in pools of
dirty water. Even at the best. during
pleasant weather, the avenue is in de-
plorable condition aud the sidewalks
are worse. Their condition yesterday
afternoon can be imagined. There was
an immense crowd on the streets and in
the alley at all times. The police were
obliged to rope the people in, in order
that the firemen might work without
hindrance. Several prominent men got
themselves disliked and were laughed
at by the crowd, by insisting upon
walking through the ropes and where
they listed. During the early part Of
the fire a horse broke loose from its
vehicle on Filth street, and. becoming
frightened at the sounds of Kissing
steam and the rumble of the engines,
dashed straight up Nicollet avenue az
break-neck speed. 1t was wonder no
one was hurt or killed, for the animal
TOOK HEED OF NOTHING,
galloping directly at the denseIy
packed crowd of spectators. Ina re-
markable short time, however, the
crowd parted and the horse had q clear
passage. A little later there was a roar
ing sound. and the firemen recoiled
in horror. 1t was thought for moment
that the front wall was about to fall
forward. Luckily, however, it was
only portion OF the roof.
Huge sheets of iron and tiling became
dislodged from their moorings and
crashed down through the fire-eatteu
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