Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1894-01-18
Loss of Life and Thousands.

world TO the quick has been solved
To-day the Park Commissioners have
to deal with ruins where proud build
ings stood. Twenty thousand specta-
tors, according to Chicago dispatch,
saw the east end of the Court of Honor
vanish in smoke and flame. The fire
started in the Casino. destroyed that
building, then swept northward along
the Peristyle into Music Hall, and
from there across and into the Manu-
factures Building. For three hours
the flames ragged along the east end OF
the Court of Honor until nothing was
left but charred timbers and blackened
plaster. A shower of sparks fell upon
the ice in the lagoon until it looked
like sea of fire; they fell upon the
adjacent buildings, threatening them
with destruction. 1t was magnificent
| spectacle that drew ceaseless exclama-
tions of wonder and awe from the spec
tators that crowded the grounds in the
vicinity of the fire. 1t was the great
est pyrotechnic display of the Fair.
Manufactures Roof Catches.
But the work of destruction did not
end with the burning of these build
ings. Firebrands were carried to the
roof of Manufactures Building, and the
promenade around the crown of that
enormous structure was soon on fire.
The wind was strong and the flames soon
reached the immense wooden ventila-
tors under the caves, and they were soon
burning fiercely. The clere-story un-
der the roof was quickly in a
blaze. Erom this and through the
great holes made in the glass roof fell
continuous shower of frebrands, and
In twenty minutes there were over a
dozen small conhagrations in the Bel
gian, French, German and English
sections. Firemen and Columbian
fully that, although the facades and
exhibit structures were destroyed,
probably not more than a dozen cases
containing exhibits were burned. The
goods jeopardized represented $780,
600; the loss is not over 100000,
principally by water. How much
insurance is carried will not be
learned for some time, as many Of the
policies were written in foreign coun-
tries. There is little if any insurance
on the Manufactures Building, and
none on the Casino, Peristyle and Mu-
sic Hail.
The fire worked clear around the in
side of the dome, burning itself out at
3 o'clock Tuesday morning.
AS in the Cold Storage fire, life was
lost in fighting it. William Mackie. of
Engine Company No. 81, fell from the
Peristyle and died an hour later at
Mercy Hospital. Three other men
were injured.
The fire was discovered at $50
o'clock on the second floor in the north
west corner of the Casino. c. Mason,
a guard on duty in Music Hall, saw it
and ran to fire-alarm box and tried
TO turn in an alarm, but the key would
not work. Then he went to another
box, and again failed. He tried a
third with the same result, and then
fourth. Then he gave it up and hunt
ed up a telephone, and succeeded in
getting an alarm at last. BY this time
the flames had gained strong head
way. Marshal Malley responded with
one engine, and Immediately turned in
All alarm.
A week ago twenty engines would
have responded TO this call, but owing
to the changes that have been made in
the arrangement for fire protection at
the Fair only ten engines responded.
These found that they had more than
they could contend with, so special
OIAl was oChb III, anu llllS was SOOH
lowed by second special. 1t was too
late to attempt to save the Casino. and
the firemen devoted most of their at
tention to saving the Agricultural
Building and to checking the flames on
the Peristyle.
Tramps Suspected OF Arson.
It is more than probable that the fire
was started by tramps. They have
been fairly swarming in the Fair
grounds since the first of the month,
especially around the Casino and Music
Hall. There is no guard at all stationed
in the Casino nor in fact anywhere
nearer that point than Music Hall,
where one man Keeps watch. There is
also a guard in the Convent of La
Rabida. About 4 o'clock in the after
noon a dozen tramps walked into Music
Hall, where Guard G.. Mason was on
duty. He ordered them to leave, but
they made an insolent reply and
refused to go. Mason succeeded in
driving them out. They went in the
direction OF the Casino and in an hour
after the fire was discovered. No one
had any right to be around the Casino
and there has been no fire there for
months, but there were number of
old packing cases and a quantity of ex-
celsior in the building, and If the fire |
was not started by design it could easily |
have been started by means of cigar /
stub or the ashes of a pipe carelessly |
emptied in the innammable stuff that |
thickly covered the floor in places.
The estimates on the value of the |
goods which were jeopardized by the |
fire in Manufactures Building vary
widely, though it is probable that 3d. J
100000 is a conservative approxima-
tion of what remained on the floor |
when the fire broke out. The foreign |
ers have had hard time getting their |
exhibits shipped from Chicago. A |
statement prepared by Collector |
Clark. at the last meeting of his |
chief inspectors, showed that only one
third of the foreign goods had been |
started home. Two months have !
passed since the work began. At the I
present rate IL looked as IL the last of /
the foreign goods would not be out of |
Jackson Park before May /. The |
delay in shipment is said to be due to !
the railroads.
The Buildings Destroyed.
Manufactures and Liberal Arts /
Building was the mammoth structure |
Of the Exposition and notable for its |
symmetrical proportions. 1t was the |
largest building In area ever erected |
on the western hemisphere and the !
largest under a roof In the world.
Despite its immense proportions every