St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-08-02
MANY SQUARES BURN.
Most Disastrous Fire in the
History Of Chieago's
Lumber District.
A TNCC M pI EO0 mn
A LOSS OF $1,5o0.ooo,
With the Flames Still in
Progress, but Practically
Under Control.
FIREMEN HEMMED IN
Have a Narrow Escape From
Death--SeveraI Are Sc
riously Injured.


trict of Chicago was tonight visited by
one of the most disastrous fires III its
history, and the loss will probably foot
up between S1,2O0,000 and 81 500, 900, al
though il will be twenty-four hours be-
fore the damage can be estimated with
accuracy. The following concerns were
entirely cleaned out by the flames. and
everything contained in their yards has
been utterly destroyed:
s. K. Martin Lumber comgany. Brown
d Richards Lumber company, Wells &
French company. car builders; Perley,
Lowe & Co.. lumber; Shoemaker &
Higbee. lumber; John Spry Lumber
company, Edward Hines Lumber CON-
pany, Conway & Co., cedar posts: VIC.
B. Palmer. cedar posts; WhiLcomb
Cedar Post company. Liemens & Halske,
manufacturers or dynamos.
EIGHTEEN SQUARES BURNED.
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 ave.
nue. was burned over, and forty acres of
lumber yards are this morning nothing
but smoking embers.
The fire was discovered bv a watch
man. He saw blaze on the outside of
the fence on the east side of Lincoln
street near shingle shed belonging to
S. K. Martin Il Co. He turned i'll an
alarm, but before the first engines ar
rived the shingIe shed was mass OF
flames which had communicated to the
surrounding lumber piles.
The Martin yards are $500 feet long
by 800 wide and the flames originated
in exactly the right spot for the strong
northwest wind which WAS blowing at
the time to carry, them through the en-
tire length and breadth Of the yards.
The wiud drove the flames so fereely
that the first engines which arrived
were utterly helpless and call after call
tor additional help was made until over
fifty engines and three fire boats were
at work on the fire. 1t is not likely
that even they would have counted for
much had not the wind died away after
the fire had been burning an hour The
course of the flames was southeast and
east for the the first forty-ive minutes
and they
LITERALLY LICKED UP EVERYTHING
in their path. Piles of lumber, laths.
shingles and cedar posts were swal-
lowed up with an appalling rapidly,
and for time it seemed as though the
entire lumber district of the city,
which stretches mile to the south and
as far to the east of the burning yards.
must be consumed. The wind, how
ever, suddenly 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 a line level with
their starting point. The sudden change
In the direction of the flames caught sew
eral engine companies unpreparea, and
the men were compelled to
RUN FOR THEIR LIVES.
No engines were abandoned. but three
of them had close calls, horses and men
narrowly escaping death. The fire boat
Yosemite was at work in one of the
slips when the direction of the fire
changed. and the long tongues of flame
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
lhe 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 sew
eral places.
The fire boat Geyser had also close
call, but ran through the flames, which
leaped out over the slip, and escaped
unharmed. Two of her men. John Nc
Cairn and Thomas Preceding. were
badly burned while fighting the fire. A
large hose which they were holding got
away from them, and knocked both
men over the side of the boat upon a
pile of burning cedar posts few feet
away. Their injuries are not fatal.
In addition to the firemen injured, the
following casualties occurred:
Otto Rafter fell off lumber pile; back
broken, and will die.
Unknown Man-Struck on the head
by flying cap from fire engine,
knocking him into the river, and
drowned.
Peter Pnelan, pipeman, inhaled hot
air and badly burned.
Unknown boy. pushed into river by
crowd and drowned.
At IL o'clock the fire was still burning
fiercely, with the probability of blazing
for twelve hours more. 1t Is extremely
difficult to obtain an estimate of the
losses, but the following are believed to
be about correct:
S. K. Martin company, $780, 900; Per-
ley Lowe g. Co., s145. ZOO; Wells French
company, $500, 900; Siemens s. Halske,
$500. 900: Shoemaker & Higbee, sl25, 900; ;
John Spry Lumber company, $4,000;
total, 81, sos. 900.
Conway & Co.. $4,000; Edward Hines
Lumber company. S1,5OO; Farnum
Foundry company, s2,s0O [Note-Hines
not entirely burned as reported]; Chi
cago Stove works. S150.000; Barbour
Asphalt company, 100000: Columbia
Elevator, $1,000; Santa Fe elevator
$4,000; total. S21S,5O0; previously re-
ported, S1,659.600; grand total, S1,S73,-
100. True & True, sash, doors and
blinds, $50. .O0et SOndheimer & CO.. Ium-