The Weiser signal. [volume] (Weiser, Idaho) 1890-1904, 1895-08-08
A Once FIourishing Town Nearly
Destroyed.
MANY PEOPLE LEFT HOMELESS
once Started the Destroying Element
Leaped From Roof TO Roof,
Leaving Only Ashes.

hundreds are nOmeleSS lOnlBnt, anu lne
losses will aggregate million and
quarter
The town is almost destitute of food,
and Mayor Sanderson has sent mes
sages to the leading cities appealing
for aid The people are appalled, by
their frightful losses, and it will be sew
eral days before they will know wheth-
er to try to rebuild the city or not.
At noon today the fire alarm was
sounded for blaze in Bryants chop
i and feed mill, corner of Railroad ave-
nue. and D street. The department re-
sponded promptly, but the blaze was
Il quickly famed into roaring furnace,
n and the fire boys were driven back from
II the scene almost as soon as they ar
Il rived With lightning-lilke rapidity the
4 flames leaped from one building to an
other and inside of five minutes it was
seen that the entire town was threat
ened AS the flames reached the cor
ner of c street they forked, one branch
going north of the railroad track and
consuming in it's way the Northern Pa
II cific grain warehouse, the National ho-
tel and the entire row of wooden build
ings to the corner of b street. Here 1t
turned off to the Pacific hotel and the
IA row of wooden buildings in the rear of
;# it, From there it jumped to the old
z# Headquarters building and Porak's s
7H brewery, totally destroying it and his
S1 residence.
|# SOUTHERN FORKS WORK.
d Meanwhile, the southern fork with
equal rapidity, consumed the buildings
on Railroad avenue, First and Second
streets, including the Commercial ho-
tel, the Herbring opera house, the city
hall, R. Newman & Co.'s and the Ma
sonic hall.
From here the flames leaped to the
buildings west of the car shops, and in
another minute they burst forth into
"A flames. 1t was impossible to do any
N thing to save the railroad buildings, as
the water pipes had burst in this part
of the city. Five minutes later a ter
: rife explosion occurred, as the oil tanks
( burst, and the timbers and flames rose
high in the air
The fire was checked on the west side
by the brick buildings of the First Ma
tional bank and Jensen, King & Co..
the occupants of these buildings plac-
ing wet blankets over the windows and
fighting the flames desperately.
DYNAMITE USED.
Mayor Sanderson at this time arrived
from Medical Lake and ordered the
q building of Ben Ettelson. on the corner
~ Of c and First streets, blown up with
~ dynamite. This was done and the en-
- tire row of business houses on c street
between First and Second was saved.
81 The flames here took southeasterly
direction and destroyed the drug store
of W. P. Putnam, the Masonic hall, the
county Jail, the old opera house, the
nf I
Stanton. The flames were checked here
by blowing up with dynamite the old
opera house, and the row of trees in
front of H. w. Bonne's residence were
deluged with water to such an extent
that the fire was checked in a westerly
direction.
The fire swept east as far as the stock
yards, completely obliterating in it's
course every residence and business
house in that portion of the city.
Fully 800 acres of land was burned
over, every building thereon being com
pletely wiped out.
SCENES UNDERSTANDABLE.
o. The scenes at the fire were indescrib-
able. Families rushed hither and thith-
er with household goods and wearing
a. apparel, seeking some safe place to de-
posit them. A few minutes later the
safe place had become a dangerous one,
81 and they would grasp what they could
81 and leave the rest to be destroyed by
I'd the devouring flames. Fully one-fifth
"a of the 5000 inhabitants of the city lost
not only their household goods, but
most OF their wearing apparel.
The excitement was terrific, especial
1y at the time of the burning of the ar
mory of Troop A, when the ammunition
was discharged and bullets were whiz-
zing out through the windows,
Frightening the crowd and driving them
back to the next block. Although the
fire ragged with great fury, and Travelled
with remarkable velocity, there were
very few accidents.
FEW ACCIDENTS.
Archie Mcintosh, a blacksmith, was
knocked down by falling timbers, and
before he could be rescued was severely
burned about the face, neck and arms.
James Montgomery, young brother of
Foreman Montgomery, broke his leg in
jumping from one of the engines on the
"a turn-table. Charles Moore, a member
81 of the fire department, stepped into a
n hole back of the roundhouse and
A sprained his ankle so badly that he had
to be carried away.
released when the fire was about one
block away, and they did excellent
work in assisting the neighboring bus
mess houses to get their goods to a
place of safety. But after the fire was
under control they had disappeared.
Among the first buildings to go was
the Northern Pacific railroad station.
AS many of the books and papers as
possible were taken to place of safe
ty, and Operator Young lost no time In
connecting the wire in one of the fields
east of the town, where, seated on an
IRON wheelbarrow, with a telegraph in
strument on a wooden box, he sent and
received messages as rapidly as pos
sble.
AT THE ROUNDHOUSE.
The scenes at the burning of the
Teundhouse were calculated to alarm
and excite even the coolest. Flames
rose to height of fully 100 feet. ano
seemed bursting from every portion o.
the roof at the same instant. The work
men lost many dollars worth of valu
able tools They made desperate eff
iorts to save them, but were driver
pack by the flames. 1t is estimated tina
tully $4,000 worth of tools belonging L