St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-09-24
PORTLAND ABLAzE,
Fire Damages the Oregon
Metropolis a Million and
a Half Dollars.
A WHOLE TRAIN OF CARS
Loaded With New Machinery
Was Among the Prop
erty Destroyed.
$4,000 CASES OF SALMON,
Docks, Elevators and Half a
Million Bushels of Wheat
Burned.

PORTLAND, Ore, Sept. 23.-The most
disastrous fire in the history of this city
broke out at 4:30 this afternoon in the
dock of the Pacific Coast Elevator COM
pany, and ragged for three hours, de-
stroylng property valued at nearly
Sl.5OO.0OO. All day long heavy wind
has been blowing. and nine alarms have
been turned in. The fire department
was scattered about the city looking
after the small fires when the alarm
from the elevator was rung In. The
scene Of the fire is across the river from
the main part of the city. and it was
at least fifteen minutes before more
than one engine could respond to the
general alarm. When the engines ar
rived the fire was beyond control, and
in half an hour from the time 1t started
the docks for half mile were on fire.
Nothing could be done but let the fire
Burn Itself Out.
The fire started in the dock below the
Pacific Coast Elevator compa ny's main
building, and the wind soon drove the
flames to the elevator itself. The
flames shot into the air 200 feet. making
beautiful sight in the twilight. The
coal bunkerj of the Northern Pacific
Terminal company on the west were
next attacked, and soon were a seeth-
ing mass of flames. On the East was
the Oregon Railway and Navigation
company's wharf, 400 feet in length. and
this, too, was soon on fire. There was
no means of getting water on the fire
except from the river, and the fire boat
is an lmprovised old scow and of very
little service. The elevator contained
nearly half a million bushels of wheat.
The new plant of the Portland Gen eral
Electric company, which had just ar
rived from Lynn. Mass, was standing
in the yards of the Terminal com pany
on the cars, not having been unload ed.
The plant occupied
An Entire Train,
and the machinery was of the most ex-
pensive kind, the most of which was
destroyed and the remainder badly
damaged. Two hundred freight cars,
eighty of which were loaded, were de-
stroyed. The Oregon Railway & Navi-
cation docks held 1.5O0 tons of freight,
consisting of wool, salmon, general
merchandise and cement, all of which
was destroyed with the dock. There
were stored OH the dock about Il, OOO
cases of salmon from the lower Columbia
river and Puget Sound, awaiting ship
nent for the East. 1t was valued at
about 10000, and was partly insured.
Every available locomotive at the termi-
nal works was set to work moving
freight cars out of danger, but the fire
burned SO rapidly that all could not be
moved away. Sparks from the fire
went across tine river and set fire to the
boneyard, but it was extinguished
before any serious damage to the yard
was done. The large steamboat
Willamette Chief, moored at the yard,
took fire and was burned. She was
used as towboat and was valued at
about $4,000 Three men are supposed
to have perished in the elevator.
Charles Anderson, man named Brown.
and one named Murray were seen
at an upper story window OF the ele-
vator and it is thought they were all
burned.
The Losses,
as near as can be ascertained at this
time, are as follows: North Pacific
Elevator company. S5O0,OOO; Portland
General Electric company. machinery.
$4,000; coal bunkers of the North Pa
cific terminal company, $4,000; Oregon
Railway and Navigation company. OH
dock. freight cars and steamer Villa
mette Chief. S250,000; merchandise on
docks, 100000. The insurance carried
will reach more than S5O0,uOO. The
Liverpool and London. and the Globe
Insurance company, have large share
of this.