The Weiser signal. [volume] (Weiser, Idaho) 1890-1904, 1895-07-04
Great Fire in San Francisco Left
Acres Of Smoking Ruins.
IT RACED FOR FOUR HOURS
Warehouses. Lumber Yards and Factories
Melted Before the Element Which
Dcfied the Firemen.

rapidly ana IN a rev minutes the 11lln
Street Furniture Company was a mass
of flames. AS soon as the fire chief ar
rived and the alarm was sounded, and
despite the work of the firemen it was
not long before the whole block bound
ed by Fourth. Fifth, Bryant and Bran
nan was a mass of flames. A third
alarm, calling all the fire apparatus of
the city into use. was sounded, but still
the fire spread.
At 7:30 p. m. the fire was beyond con-
troll and the prospect was that it would
sweep to the water front, half a mile
away. No estimate of the loss could be
made, but it was believed to be al
ready $1,000, 900. The buildings In that
section of the town are mostly wooden,
devoted to manufacturing interests.
There are a large number of brick win
cries and If the fire reaches them the
loss will be enormous. The fire has
already reached Fourth street.
The yards OF the Spring Valley Water
Company and the furniture factory Of
H. Euler were destroyed. The box fac
tory Of Korbell Bros. at 1913 Bryant
street, also the stable of Fl. Washburn
at 657 Bryant street. and the carriage
factory OF @. w. Phelan and the soda
factory of ]. Horstman were all de-
stroyed in short order
The high wind which famed the
flames and swept them on their mad
career drove the firemen back by de-
grees and the situation became critical
in the extreme. Long tongues of flame
shot out from the burning mass clear
across the street and from time to time
the hose had to be turned on buildings
which threatened to involve a still lars-
err territory in the conflagration.
ONE BLOCK GONE.
The firemen, reinforced by the full
department by this time fought man
fully to confine the fire within the
block where it originated. The block
bounded by Fourth. Fifth, Brannan and
Bryant streets was destroyed with the
exception of the machine shops on the
corner of Fourth and Bryant.
Within a short time the fire had
reached the huge brick building on the
corner of Fourth and Townsend streets.
formerly occupied by the Southern Pa
cifc company as general offices. The
Arctic Oil Works are also in that vi
cinity and lumber yards are numerous
The docks are close by and huge coal
yards are scattered through the sec
ton. The wind has shifted and the fire
is now sweeping in two directions. 1t
has spread across Sixth street and also
across Fourth and to the southeast.
FLAMES GROW FIERCER.
While the fire department was strug-
Cling with the flames, which grew
fiercer and fercer every moment, every
available resource at the command of
the Southern Pacific company was
drawn upon to check the advance of the
fire fiend in a southerly direction. The
intense heat made it difficult to utilize
to its fun capacity the water supply
which was anything but sufficient. ow-
ing to the unusual number of hydrants
called into play all over the district
The water tower rendered the most
efficient service, furnishing let of wa
ter which could be rendered servicea BILE
where the other streams thrown upon
the flames were turned into steam be-
fore they had barely left the nozzle.
The Wright, Carrick & Williams box
factory is entirely destroyed.
Main Il Winchester's harness factory
on Fifth and Bryant streets Is COM
plete loss. The houses along the lines
of cross streets surrounding the block
bounded by Fourth, Fifth, Bryant and
Brannan all are more or less in flames,
with the fire working to the northward
across Bryant street.
WAREHOUSES CAUGHT
The entire block bounded by Fourth
Fifth, Bluxome and Brannan streets
Is mass or ruins. The fire has reached
the Overland Transfer COMPANIES brick
freight warehouse. and hardware store
house of Baker e Hamilton. Their
brick buildings are temporarily with
standing the flames, but they are work.
ing around their yards. A number of
immense warehouses have been de-
stroyed. The enormous brick winery of
Lacham & Co., which contains several
millions of gallons of wine has Just
caught fire at one corner. 1t Is thought
however, that this valuable property
can be saved. The wind is blowing
half u gale and the fire is increasing.
The winery of Lachem & jacob, which
is even bigger than the Lachem winery
at the corner of Third and Brannan
streets, has not yet been reached by
the fire and the firemen are devoting all
their energies to keep 1t from spreading
been raging for three hours and is burn