Evening journal., 1894-02-03
LEA MILLS FIRE.
Believed to Be an Incen-
diary's Work.
BUT ONE MILL DESTROYED
The Loss Will Reach Fully
100000.


Railroad Tracks, sand Every Other
Available Space others Saw the Flames
From Their Bedroom wlndows-Other
Houses In the NeIghb hood We're In
Danger.
he gallant fremen of Wilmington had
another fire to fight early this morning,
and by their heroic efforts, saved great
amount of property from destruction
Notwithstanding this, the -four mill Of
the William Lea and Sons Company was
destroyed.
The fire was discovered by Edward
Turner. the night engineer, about 1 As
o'clock. He at once blew a shrill blast
from the steam whistles, aud sent man
to strike an alarm at box No. 2. at
Twentieth and Market streets, and an
alarm calling out the whole department
WAS sent In.
Flames In the Flour MIL.
When Turner first saw the fire it was
on the north side of the ground floor of
the ''A' or -four mill IL spread rapidly
and when the 6remen reached the scene
the flames were leaping out of the doors
and threatening the store house. Iu a
few minutes several streams of water
were playing on the building.
Couldn't Locate the Flames.
The north side of the building was en-
veloped in a thick black smoke, and the
firemen had great difficulty in locating
the fire Part Of this mill fronts on the
Brandywine and it was impo ssible to get
hose around to that side of the build
ing. On the other side of the mill is the
large brick storehouse, only few yards
distant from the mill that was burned
and connected by bridge.
Firemen Worked at short Range.
In this short space between the two
buildings was where the fremen were
obliged to work The heat was intense,
and several times the men were driven
from their positions Soon the flames
were dsrting out of every door and win
dow on this side, bidding defiance to the
brave men, They took Turns at reliev.
ing each other, and in this way managed
to get stream on the flames.
Fire seemed to be in every part Of the
building, which was filed with -four and
grain 1t also contained a quantity Of
new machinery. The contents Of the
mill we're totally destroyed.
Roof Fell In at 2.45.
By ? 80 the flames had eaten their way
through the roof and were shooting many
feet into the air. In a quarter Of
an hour later the greater portion
of the roof fell in sending great shower
Of sparks heavenward. Burning shingles
Il -. -F . h.
strong wind over on the houses in the
/ Ninth ward
| Sergeants Shields aud Evans, with a
| squad of twelve officers had been sent to
| tue scene and they succeeded in saving
much property. The citizens in the
vicinity of the mills were on the roofs of
their houses. and as the sparks settled on
the roofs put the out by buckets of
water handed them by people below.
The fremen played water on the sides OF
the houses.
The employees of the City Water De-
partment fearing that their building
would catch fire, had a hose already for
use. The FIRE gained rapidly despite the
efforts Of the fremen and the bridge be-
tween the second story of the burning
mill and the warehouse caught and soon
fell. taking part of the wall of the mil
with it.
Narrow Escape for Friendship Men.
A number of the Friendship men wers
standing here and they had a narrow
escape from being struck by flying
bricks. By this time the roofs of two
lower mills were smoking and one cornei
Of the first mill to the east wal
siire The roar of the flames
could be heard for severR
blocks and it looked as If all the milll
would 60. About 80 o'cl 5ck the walll
fell in with a crash sending flames
hundred feet into the air.
Destroyed In one Hour.
In one hour after the fire was frs
discovered the mill and its contents wer,
completely destroyed, besides a larg'
shed machine and boiler rooms. 1t 4
not known how much of the.mschines Il
ruined, but by others it is though
! that some Of it is not. Ha'
il not been for the sheet iron door
, that cover the store house windows, thi
, building would have burned. As IL was
the contents were damaged by smok
and water.
Hundreds of Curious Spectators.
!. IL ola IoJ take long lOf nunufeuS
1 persons to reach the scene and Marke
. street bridge, which was the best plsc
d to witness the progress of the flames
was crowded. The p ople also crowded tn
: railroad tracks TO the mills and tn
Z police were forced TO stretch rope
D around the burning mills 60 keep ther
l back. Hundreds OF other people saw th
| FIRE from the windows of their homes
For squares around it was almost as ligh
as day, and the sight of the burning mi
| was a grand one that will not be 500
forgotten by those who saw it.
other Property Aiiro.
| About an hour after the fire starte
six houses on Market street betwee
Twentieth and Twenty-frst streets wei
discoved to be a6re. The flames wei
extinguished by the Friendship compau
before much damage was done. They al
the property Of George w. Dorsey. Tw
stables Of John P. Palmer caught fiji
when the mills fell in, bnt the dsmae
done was slight