The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-07-06

CHICAGO, July 5-The Worlds Column
ban exposition is billowy sea OF fire.
The administration building, the archi-
tectural crown of the White City with its
gilded and decorated dome, its supporting
pavillions, enriched with statuary; the
majestic agricultural building with its
tinted and decorated colonuades, with its
beautiful statues of abundance, above
which once wheeled ST. Gaudens' beautiful
figure OF Diana, the chGste; the beautiful
hall Of mechanical arts with its lofty fiuted
Cornthian colonnades, its superb Cir
cular-porch entrance and its figure-tipped
spires; the light and airy elect richly build
ing with its open roof-lanterns, its curvil-
linear entrance, where erstwhile stood the
statue OF Ben iamin Franklin on the south.
and its graceful projecting bays on the
north, the attracJively inornate but sub
stantial looking mines building, the mann
moth manufacturers and liberal arts
building, with its large arches of steel en-
closing forty acre lot and its lofty tri-
umphal corner and central arches, to-
gether with "A number Of minor structures
have passed into history at the wave OF an
incendiary's blazing hand.
From south colounade to the govern
ment building aud from the lake to the
golden door Of the angel-guarded trans
portation building the worlds famous
w bite City is no more. As the evenings
sun was shedding his level rays for the
last time on the erstwhile scene of life,
movement and color, they fell upon the
familiar outlines of these flowers of hu-
man handiwork almost untouched in their
serene loneliness. Two hours later the
new moon bent her pale crescent above
alaH
In pail of smoke, save where the
yellow red of blazing timbers hared
against the blue-biack which COW
erS the site of the White
City and covers up all of the great depart
mental structures. The fire spared only
the transportation building, horticultural
building, the fisheries building aud the art
palace. The last named is now occupied
by the Field Columbian museum, and the
fisheries building Is mere steel skeleton,
having been demolished by a wrecking
company. Besides these the government
building. the woman's buil.ing, the Brit
ish buildings are all that remains of the
hundreds of structures that once filed
jackson park. Even the polygloJ glories
OF the merry Midway have departed.
Sic transit gloria mundi.
PARTICULARS OF THE FIRE.
The fire was discovered this evening by
SEVERAL DOyS III Tie SOulnWeSJcTu corner OF
the first floor of the terminal station
When first seen it was but an incipIent
blaze aud the boys tried TO stamp it out
for several minutes. They We're uusucceSs-
full, however, as the fierce gale which was
then blowing from the southwest famed
the fire. Before an alarm could be turned
in the fire had reached the second story of
the building Owing o the distance which
separated most of tie engine companies
from the scene of the fire, there was con-
siderable delay In getting a stream of
water upon the blazing structure. The
frs alarm was immediately followed by
3-lI call and this by special
call for engines. BY the time the deUach-
ment of engines was fully at work the
terminal station was mass of flames and
the fire had ieaped across TO the admins
lstration building. In twenty minutes the
dome of this beautif III structure fell with
Il terrible roar and sparks and blazing
brands were carried by the wind north aud
northeast TO the mining, electricity and
agricultural buildings. The electricity
was the st TO take fire In a few min
utes it was enveioped in flames and at 7:l0
o'cock the glass roof collapsed aud the
iron frame work of the structure fell 10.
At 1:l0 O'Clock the east end Of the min
ing building fell in and the flames became
so fierce that engine companies stationed
between the electricity and mining build
lDES naU 10 Nv LOT their lives. Engine
company No, Is WAS forced to abandon
their engine aud had scarcely time to cut
the horses from the traces. One of the
animals succeeded in getting away, but
the other WAS suffocated. Several hundred
feet of hose was also burned.
The fire was communicated almost sim
uitaEeOus To the transportation, the man
ufActurers and agricultural buildings. BY
hard work, however, the firemen
succeeded in saving the greater part
OF the transportation. but the other
TWO buildings were soon euveloped in
flames and by O'Clock the last of the
framework of each had fallen in. When
he hremen first reached the spot an en-
CINE was detailed to prevent the fire from
communicating with machinery hall. For
some time the effort was successful, but
with the four immense structures the ter
mual building, the electrical and the ad-
ministTaJion building on fire at the same
time. the heat became so Intense that ma
chlnery hall was iguited also.
The buildings were the property of the
Columbian Exposition Salvage company
aud had been purchased for about $50 co.,
An unknown man was burned to death
He ana n companion were burned
under the roof OF conduit leading from
the electrical building TO the Mac Monies
iouUtaia. One OF them was burned TO
death and the other 90 badly that be may