The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1894-01-09

crowd of scared and frantic Jansue<e
This. like MANY exhibits, had not been re-
leased from bond. and the goods could no,
be taken from the building. bat were
earted to the doors and there guarded bv
the natives All the American exhibits
were long ago removed, bat the custom
house detained the goods Of the foreigners.
superintendent Graham, OF the Manu-
sactaTes building, sad the loss could
hardy be oyereStimated II have feared
this ever since the fair c.oSsd, . said ne,
and now il has come worse than ever
dreamed"
All through the great structure frantic
exhibitors rushed, seeking to save their
goods. The fire department, fought with
energy and skill. but the conditions were
agains. them. 4 fierce wind came over
the lake. tinging fiery embers every y here.
tanning them into life every moment.
The huge biIlow. OF DANES, which were
manfuliy coTbatted By the men on the
root, rolled northward. The firemen were
handicapped by lack of water. A heroic
effort was made to get streams IN the top
OF the giant structure. but the water sup
NY was feariully inadequate
Finding il impossible TO reach the root,
the chief ordered the engines into the
building. With changing gongs and elas-
ter of hoofs steamer after steamer ratified
through the smoke. down the :irelit aisles
until the center of the building wa,
reached. There the last struggle of the
iiremen was taken Up. Streams of water
were hurled upward. but With little effect.
From aboyes the fiery hell of embers
poured down upon the firemen, and the
hAan@ M .ha-
numerous and foot by foot the engines
were forced back to either end of the
building.
The fireman killed when the peristyls
collapsed, was William Mackey, of engine
company 6i. Capt. Frederick tietz. of
truck company Is. fell from the roof of
the Manufactures building. broke his leg
and received internal injuries. Eugene
Durand. watchmaa in the French sec
tion, was hit on the head by falling debr!.
and injured.
A; midnight President Higginbotham
'elephoned the general manager of the
Associated Press saying Ire had been in
the burning building over two hours, and
that the roof had fallen, but fortunately
few exhibits were in range of the
embers. Il should say" said he, THAT
the loss by water would be much greater
than by FIRE. The total loss to the ex-
hibits will not exceed SiO0.oo0. OF course
the loss is serious enough, bat the fire is
now fairly under control and there is no
more TO fear. All told, the contents of the
Liberal Arts building did not exceed in
value $1,000. 900. As TO the casino, peri
style and Music hall, there is no loss. We
should not regret their burning, as il Is
the cheapest way 10 remove them"
Three days ago the number of packages
awaiting shipment was: Manufactures
building. 1l.974; Midway Plaisance, 1900;
Fine Arts. $50: Woman's, 9le; Hortcul-
ture. 1000; Transportation, 600; Mining.
1850: ectriciiy. 1. 657: Agriculture, l, 500,
and 1856 scattered in other buildings;
total, 23.654. Less than 14,oOo packages
had been shipped away prior TO Decem-
Der Is,
The climax of interest was reached
shortly after midnight, when company
of fifty men could be seen edging their
way along the roof OF the Manufactures
bnilding. A cry Of horror went
up as a huge section of the roof
almost under the feet of the firemen
gave way and fell with 4 crash. The fire.
men did not waver. and by I O'Clock it
looked as if their heroism would not be in
vain. The fire is still burning, but il is
thought to be under control and II not ex-
pected to spread further.
When told of the fire last evening f. 9.
Meany, who recently returned from the
Worlds fair, said: ''If ire were to come TO
the fair grounds IN any threatening
volume, | do not know of a more fortunate
-. a
this tire, namely. the Casino and peri
style. These structures are almost
entirely surrounded by water with easy
access for the firemen and their ready
machines. However, it appears that the
fire did jump from Music hall
at one end of the peristyle to the
Manufactures aud Liberal Arts build
ing and there did great deal
of damage. That is shame,
for as Is we'll known the Liberal Arts
building is the largest building on earth,
aud ii was by no means emptied of its
wonderful collections of valuable exhibits
a. the time of the ire. Ii is hard to say to
what extent the flames may have spread
if they got beyond control In this
was a small lagoon called the North Cana,
| between the big building and the Eec-
tricity building, the next structure west
and a good clear space between its north
ern end and the Government building, but
If the heat had been sufficient to start
either of these two other buildings the
loss would have hsen almost complete.
''The Manufactures and Liberal Arts
building cost IN its construction 81 20 0a0
and the material roughly estimated can be
stated as II. .0o COO feet Of lumber, II 00o. .00o
/ pounds of steel In the trusses of the CEN
lral hall and 1000, go hounds OF iron in
the roof of the nave. The actual ground
covered by this immense building is 20. e.
acres, while the floor space, including the
galleries, amounts 10 total Of forty-four
acres.
This FIRE reminds me" concluded Mr.
| Meany, ''of a plan proposed by one Chi
eago citizen. Mr. George X. Haxlitt. that
the debris of the great buildings should be
collected together, after all the materials
possible had been saved. and over the
debris of each bniiding should be erected a
mound to stand there in the park
in cofnmemoraIion of the different build
ings and this way the park would he
beautined and ths debris be removed
at the same time. Ii this ire should
be repeated on a little larger scale it would
become q very easy matter TO carry out
MIR. Hzxlitt's plans"
The Caiifsrnis Pair.
Sax FR.SCIsco. Jan. s-Tbe delay in
the ceremonial opening Of the Midwinier
fair is going 10 result in many exhibits
| hnfrv mora c0urfete aud more uertert Z