Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1895-07-06
THE SAN FRANCISCO FIRE.
A Tank OF Claret Used When the Water
Failed.

n rank OF tItret tscu III w ""'''
Failed.
San Francisco. Cal, June 2S.-Tht
most disastrous fire in many years
broke out here about 6 o'clock last even
ing in a box factory at the corner OF
Fifth and Bryant streets. a strong
south wind vas blowing and the flames
spread rapidly. The entire fire depart
ment was Immediately called out and
for -four hours fremen had such a bat
tie with fire as seldom falls to their LOT
They could do nothing to stop the
progress of the co~nfiagration n only
timely change in the wind, which swept
the flames back over the burned dis
trict, saved the entire district south OF
Market street from destruction. Many
squares of buildings were burned and
the monetary loss is large. II was the
worst fire scare that San Francisco has
had In many a day and the most alarm
ing reports of the progress and magni-
tude of the fire were current through
out the city. Probably 100 poor fam
flies have been made homeless, besides,
losing all their possessions. Another
hundred or more Of small manufacture
ing establishments, such as furnitur"
factories, machine shops, etc, have
been destroyed. Three big Wineries,
containing millions of gallons of wine,
warehouses. freight railroad yards,
docks. lumber and coal yards had mar.
row -ooepaS
One fatality has been reported. Miss
Gilroy was covered with burning oil and
persisted.
Late estimates place the losses at
81, 900. 900, with a probability that 1t will
amount to 81, 500, 900. The greater part
OF four blocks was consumed.
Turned Win on the Blaze
San Francisco. Cal. June 2S.-Last
nights fire destroyed property valued
at 81 900, 600 according to the estimates
of insurance companies. They have
given out no exact figures. but the
risks amounting to about $3.50. 900.
The ruins include 200 dwellings and
mills. factories, hotels and
Several thousand people
were homeless an hour after the fire
started. but whether all the residents
of the burned district escaped remains
to be seen. The fire will not be entirely
extinauished for another day, although
gotten under control by 1910 last night.
All night long people nave been in
curing at the different police stations
for relatives or friends who lived in
the locality wiped out. The district
burned covers an area of -four full
blocks in a wooden portion Of the city,
though many of the mills and factories
were brick structures. Ii was not a
section of the city in which insurance
companies were anxious to take risks.
The greatest loss to any one company
Will not reach $50, 600, but what COM
pany has anything near hat amount
on its books the agents decline to say.
During the progress of the fire a steam
boiler exploded in a French laundry.
The force OF the explosion sent about
half a ton of boiler iron through the
building. A piece lodged in Shirley's
hotel. So great was the shock that all
the windows not destroyed by the heat
were blown into the streets.
There was a thrilling scene while the
convent and parochial school attached
to st. Roses church were i'm flames.
A few moments before the roof fell In
q boy was seen at one of the upper win
A cry of horror went up from
the crowd and the firemen yelled to the
wy W iii ~ pidllhtl was nt1Q out,
but just then the flames and smoke en-
veloped the building and the next mo-
ment h roof fell in with a crash.
Everybody thought the boy was lost,
but he jumped into a blanket held by
the firemen and escaped uninjured.
Two police officers had their hair and
clothes singed while attempting to pre-
vent a man entering a burning building
In which he thought his mother had
remained. She had already escaped.
however. When the water supply gave
out the employees of the Lachman
winery attached a long two inch hose
to a tank of claret wine that is perched
upon a shed that Is outside the winery.
For nearly an hour this supply Of costly
liquid held out and over an acre Of
lumber and dry roofs was drenched
with wine. Search will begin today
II possible for any bodies which nay
be in the ruins.