Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1894-02-08
FLAMES MAKE FEARFUL HAVOC
All the Machinery and Stock
Destroyed.

Burning of tho Flour Mills of the
William Lea &; Sons Company, on the
Brandywine. at an Early Hour sntur-
day Mornins-A Stubborn Blaze That
Wrought Great DestructIon--work of
the Flremcn.
The big flour mill of William Lea g.
Sons, on tine Brandywine below Market
street bridge, caught fire little before .
o'clock Saturday morning and in two
hours was an recognizable mass of RUNS.
The mill that is destroyed is the big "A"
mill, the upper one OF the four strung
along the river bank. The destruction is
total, machinery and stock being COM
pletely destroyed.
The man that probably knows most as
to the origin Of the fire is George Sutor,
the night watchman in charge of the mill
that is burned
The reporter called at his residence on
Twenty-second street near Market and
found him just preparing to take some
rest. lie was shiyering from cold and ex-
posure as he had been out in the cold and
wet all night.
II have been directed not to make any
statement" Sutor replied.
1t is understood, however, that Sutor,
an oiler, and one or two others were the
only ones in the mill at the time the fire
started. This was from 10 to 10 minutes
before o'clock. lie Immediately gave
tue alarm and the mill whistles were
blown. 1t was quickly seen that the lire
was spreading beyond the ability of the
employees to tackle it and Sutor rushed out
and rung No. fire alarm at the box at
Twentieth aud Market streets. The gem
eral alarm followed this in few minutes
The whole department was on the
ground close to o'clock.
As the leading fire company passed over
the bridge towards the hire the blaze was
bursting out along the lower tier of win
dows on the rivers edge. Smoke was
already envGloping the whole massive
structure. The Friendship engine fol-
lowed close, arriving almost the same
time as the first arrival.
BY this time the whole scene was illu-
minated with the brilliant reflections from
the conllagration. The bridge was already
thronged with crowds OF citizens and pas
sage back and forth was difficult.
Meanwhile Chief Shields had taken full
churge of matters and laid his plans. The
wind was blowing from the south, and the
now doomed flour mill threatened the
safety of the big storehouse north and i'm.
mediately contiguous to IL. The flour mill
which was mass of glowing incandes-
cense, roaring with the noise of the i'll
ternal flames, had to be sacrificed. The
chief saw this and gave such orders as
eventually saved the storehouse. All the
efforts of the iiremen were now devoted
to this work.
The heat from the burning mill was in
iiremen to retreat.
All nne ,nf,iaut IL lool.e4 70 az tbo ,,,;,,
Office nj the lower and nf An nil n,,id
be Consumed, But renewed efforts of the
liremen saved il.
BY this time the picture of the great
contiagration was magnificent one. The
brightness of tho scene while the iIinmina-
tions spread north to The brid@e l;"htims
up the lines of citizens In BLACK masses an
fl,rr vraItosthe MINER and ~ SIbriat strsa
bridge. ->S' w e0'
Ole of the most noticenble featrres of
the rreat fire. was the intense heat II sbot
across with the iierceness almost of n
furnace TO the Water Department build.
inps on the onnosite side If the Rrandv.
wine' lines IF hoss e' wars yctter e ,y on, NY
the employes worried dilisentiv tn kean
the roofs from ignitino NP
The south v1nd boro hi, oh,,,,l., or
burned timber and henu,S ~, h aat;,,is 49,, ~
eraI hIocks nm Martet street All salor,, Ssn
she latter street the bouses ware M ecnrrbaaP
and momentarilv inc;nient tircs com,
,nsnced Ths ch;ef 81 TX H. iar,a :, ,,,n,lt
was At lenntb obiisej IN Sataii snnc;ai
hoses to attend. N0''- 'pe''"i
The nnlico stretched ronos .oro,s a. =
,,ain dvnnnou - ,,Sts,. .ope1 ".iosS tnG
premises to keen the crowds oT ,ie tTt Tha
hlisterino effert ~ tbe baat r,.s a., ,,.,it
that il kent the crowd mt A resnpctable dis.
tance.
Il few minutes before o'clock the roof
of the main mill fell in with a tremendous
crash. The pyrotechnic effect was magni-
ticeDt. Flames shot up hundred feet in
the air. the highly com hustble mill dust
igniting with the volatile quickness
of gas. The embers and sparks flew in
showers up Brandywine village. This
was the moment of danger to other
premises but the collapse of the structure
ended the possibility OF the greater
tha rf ~ foi iiG lre spreaulns US soon as
III anJ ~, ~, aoti ~ .ii r Sne lrelneh nau
i'i,,, .' 'iS,i thoiu pressiiiS
uatiger was Oyer, puD the hre was still
,,, ae.ise, M iue lioons Oh wafer
louIeu l,. ~ ~ tuo tu.is ~ llrsineii hau 70
a.d & ou' .i,e ioUas u .ne auIolhis n,lli
aio; aiiG V,lSa ;,.,,, Meio stnonns s ana oemahueu
'''I,u G,isi iii'' ';i @'tIIn'loi. tI
'use , 'ii,s ,i si"u VI w eo,Ie mouse VISITORS
70 sle hiu Gausmt tne slneil OF burning
oIi9eIs' ' uhu turning tue r0au: as the
ggsluEo su'S ~ VIEW PitlLui picture OIL
uesoia'leh anu run ~ seen. Inc great
nus. tnass oI W, uu,Iuing mas GisaPpeared, A
oF es''un Hollow sah occupies i's place. Clouds
oL grey slhoke rise from tno runs 10 the
SKY hidlnS the distant ~. johns Church
anu anu o.neI "uiiuihss Vi oranuyWlne village
from NieW'
ABOUT REBUILDING.
"Will you rebuild the ''A' mill?" the
reporter asked Mr. Lea.
II can't talk about that,n Mr.. Lea re-
piled. adding with smile. "the most
natural thing would be to rebuild. But
the directors must meet and discuss losses
before any question or rebuilding is con-
siaereu' i.re IA, :. ..... -.