The Dalles times-mountaineer. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1882-1904, 1895-08-10
A CITY IS WIPED OUT
Sprague Visited by a Destruc-
tive Fire Saturday.
MANY HOMELESS
The Business Portion is Destroyed,
and Families Are Without
Food or Shelter.
Christian Missionaries AIassacred by an
Infuriated Mob In China-Horrible
Details-High officials Impli-
Gated In the Crime.
MANY HOMELESS

SPRAGUE, WASH, Aug. 3.-The
entire business portion of Sprague is
in ashes, hundreds are homeless to.
night, and the losses will aggregate
81, ,250,000 The town is almost desti-
tute of food, and Mayor Sanderson has
sent messages to the leading cities APP
plying for aid. The people are ap-
palled by their frightful losses, and it
will be several days before they will
know whether to try to rebuild the
city or not.
At noon today the fire alarm was
sounded for blaze in Bryant's chop
and feed mill, corner of Railroad ave-
nue. and d street. The department
quickly famed into roaring furnace,
and the fire boys were driven back
from the scene almost as soon as they
arrived. With lightning rapidity the
| flames leaped from one building to
another, and inside of five minutes it
was seen that the entire town was
threatened.
AS the flames reached the corner of
G street they forked. one branch going
north of the railroad track and con-
suming on its way the Northern Pacific
grain warehouse. the National hotel,
and the entire row of wooden buildings
to the corner of B street. There it
turned off to the Pacific hotel, and
the row of wooden buildings in the rear
of it. From there it jumped to the old
headquarters building, and Porak's
brewery, totally destroying the latter
and the proprietor's residence.
Meanwhile. the southern fork, with
equal rapidity, consumed the build
ings on Railroad avenue, First and
Second streets, including the Com
mercial hotel, the Herbring opera
house, the city hall, r. Newman &
Co.'s and the Masonic hall. From
there the flames leaped to the buildings
west OF the carshops, and in another
minute they burst forth in flames. 1t
was impossible to do anything to save
the railroad buildings, for the water
pipes had bursted in that part of the
city.
Five minutes later terrible ex-
plosion occurred as the oil tanks
bursted and the timbers and flames
rose high in the air.
The fire was checked on the west
side by the brick buildings of the
Frst National bank and of Jensen,
King & Co., the occupants of these
buildings placing wet blankets over
windows and fighting the flames des-
perately.
Mayor Sanderson at this time ar
rived from Medical Lake, and ordered
the building of Ben Ettleson, on the
corner of c and Frst streets, blown up
with dynamite. This was done, and
the entire row of business houses on G
hi
saved.
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 residences of r. r. Jones and E.
H. Stanton. The flames were at this
point checked by the blowing up with
dynamite of the old opera house and
the row of trees in front of II. w.
Bonnes' residence, and the deluge of
water.
The fire swept east as far as the
completely obliterating in
it's course every residence and business |
house in that part of the city. Fully |
320 acres of land were burned over,
every building thereon being COM |
pletely wiped out.
Archie Mocintosh, blacksmith, |
was knocked down by falling timbers
and before he could be rescued was |
severely burned about the face. neck |
and arms. James Montgomery broke |
his leg in jumping from one of the en-
gines on the turntable. Charles Moore,
. member of the fire department, |
stepped into hole, back of the round
house, and sprained his ankle so badly |
that he had to be carried away.
The prisoners in the county Jail were
when the fire was about one
block away, and they did excellent
work in assisting the neighboring
business houses to take their goods to
1 place of safety, but after the fire was
lnder control they disappeared.
SPRAGUE, Aug. 4. Sunday in
Sprague has been day of unceasing
abor, instead of rest. All day long
,hrongs of people have been upon the
streets viewing the scene of yesterdays
awful conhagration. No new fires
we're started today, but all over the
burned districts the embers of yester-
lay were still smoking, and in many
places the fire had not diminished to
my great extent. The coal bunkers
If the Northern Pacific railroad are
still burning at lively rate, and the
Indications are that the fire may last
or several days, for many hundreds of
,ons of coal lay in the burning heap.
The forenoon was passed in tearing
lown dangerous walls and in remov-
ng every structure which might pos
,ibly cause an accident. AT 4 o'clock
his morning a track has been laid
around the ruins and the passenger
Ind freight trains have been running
,he same as usual today. Everything
n the shape of a house belonging to
,he Northern Pacific which would burn
was burned, besides "a engines and
about SO freight cars. Very few of the
ears were loaded, the principal part of
them being cars which were under
going repairs at the shops
Every available building left stand
ng in the city is in use, and many
families are living in tents. The more
fortunate are rendering every means
hat lies in their power to their less
fortunate neighbors, and in some in
stances one roof is covering several
'amilies.
While many persons and families
ost everything they owned in the fire,
no cases of suffering have yet been re-
ported. Thanks to the good people OF
Spokane and neighboring towns, a
good supply of provisions arrived in
;he city last night, and were distri-
outed today among the people known
10 be the most needy. The mayor re-
,eived messages from Tacoma and
elsewhere today, insuring such aid as
was in their power to give, which will
be most thankfully received.
= IL 81 L i
each 81, SOC, 900, with only about $780,
100 insurance outside of the railroad
company.
The Northern Pacific Railroad Com
pany was the largest loser. Its losses
will aggregate 500, 800.
THE KU CHENG MASSACRE.