People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1894-08-10

trict of Chicago was last night visited
by one of the most disastrous fires in
its history and the loss will probably
foot up between 81, 2OO,OOO and 81, $780,
0O9, although it will be twenty-four
hours before the damage can be esti-
mated with accuracy. The following
concerns were entirely cleaned out
by the flames and everything con-
tanned in their yards has been utterly
destroyed S. X. Martin Lumber
Company; Brown & Richards Lumber
Company; Wells & French Company,
car builders; Perley, Lowe & Co,
lumber; Shoemaker & Higbee Lumber
Company; John Spry Lumber Com
pany; Edward Hines Lumber Com
pany; Conway & Co., cedar posts: w.
c. b. Palmer, cedar posts; Whitcomb
Cedar Post Company; Liemens &
HalSke, manufacturers of dynamOs.
The burned district is about six
squares from east to west, and about
three from north to south. The
greatest portion of the district
bounded by Blue Island avenue, Lin
coin street, the river and Ashland
avenue, was burned over and forty
acres of lumber yards are now moth
ing but smoking embers.
The fire was discovered by a watch
man. Hesaw blaze on the outside
of the fence on the east side of Lin
coin street near shingle shed be-
longing to S. X. Martin & Co. He
turned in an alarm, but before the
first engives arrived the single shed
was a mass of flames, which had COM
municated to the surrounding lumber
piles. The Martin yards are $500 feet
long by 300 wide, and the flames orig
mated in exactly the right spot for
the strong northwest wind. which was
blowing at the time, to carry them
through the entire length and breadth
Of the yards.
The wind drove the flames so fierce
iy that the first engines which ar
rived were utterly helpless and call
after call for additional help was
made until over fifty engines and
three tireboats were at work on the
lire. 1t is not likely that even they
would have counted for much had not
the wind died away after the fire had
been burning for an hour. The course
of the flames was east and southeast
for the first forty FIVE minutes. and
they literally picked up everything in
their path. Piles of lumber, lath.
shingles and cedar posts were swal-
lowed up with appalling rapldity and
for a time it seemed as though the
finest lumber district in the city, which
reaches mile to the south, must be
consumed. The wind, however. sud-
denly changed at $50 o'clock and
began to blow from the south and
with much less violence than before.
The flames started rapidly north
again and burned back to line level
with the starting point The sudden
charge in the direction of the flames
caught several engine companies I'M
prepared and the men were compelled
to run for their lives. No engines
were abandoned. but three of them
had close calls, horses and men mar
r0wly escaping death The freboat
Yosemite was at work in one of the
slips whea the direction of the fire
changed, and the long tongues of
flames which shot over her made it
necessary that she be removed at
once. When an effort was made to
start her up it was found that her
steam was so low that the boat could
not be moved with any rapidity, and
the flames were swoOping down upon
her at fearful rate.
The men frantically pushed her off
with poles and boards and she finally
crawled out of the slip, with no more
damage than severe scorching in
several places.
The tireboat Geyser had also close
call, but ran through the flames
which leaped cut over the slip and
escaped unframed. Two of her men,
John Mccain and Thomas Preceding,
were badly burned Willie fighting the
fire. A large SiameSe hose which
they were holding got away from
them and knocked both men over the
side of the boat upon pile of burn
ing cedar posts a few feet away.
Their injuries are not fatal.
In addition to the fremen injured
the following casualties occurred:
Otto Rafter. fell off lumb,r pile, back
broken and will die Unknown man,
struck on the head by a flying cap
from fire engine, knocked into the
river and drowned.
1t is extremely difficult to obtain
an estimate of the losses. but the fol-
lowing are believed to be about COR
rect: S. X. Martin company, 100000;
Perley, Lowe & Co., Sl45,0 900; Wells
French company. S5OO,OO Liemens e.
Halslic, $500, 900; Shoemaker & High
Sf95,0O); joan Spry Lumber company,
$4,000; total, Sl,595,0 900.
Conway & Co, $780, 900; Edwin Hines
Lumber company, 81. 500; Farnum
Foundry company, s., 500.