The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-02-03
LOSS WAS OVER A MILLION
MOST DESTRUCTIVE FIRE IN PHIL
 ADELPHII IN MANY YEARS.

Alarms Brought Nearly Every Fire Com
 rany In the City to the Scene-Eight or
 Nine Bremen Injured, But None Fatally.
 Philadelphia, Feb. 2.-The most stub born and most destructive fire that has visited Philadelphia in years broke out at 3:20 this morning in the cellar of the Hazeltine building, Nos. 1416 and 141S Chestnut street, and before it had been subdued the Hazeltine building and the American Baptist Publication society," building, 142O and 1422 Chestnut street, were destroyed, the dry goods store of Homer I.eBoutillier & Co.,, 1412 and 14l4 Chestnut street, was badly damaged, and rear of the Hotel Lafayette, which faces on Broad street, was damaged to the extent of S75,00O. The approximate loss is about $1,075,OOO, the greater part of which is covered by insurance. The cause of the fire is not known definitely.
 When the firemen arrived the Hazel tine building was already a mass of flames in the interior. The building was seven stories in height with an or nate front of brick and terra cotta. It was very substantially built, and at first the firemen thought they could confine the fire within it's walls. The flames, however, spread through the building with great fury, and the fire was soon beyond the control of the fire men Several alarms brought nearly every fire company to the scene. The flames leaped high into the air and burst out in the rear of the building on Sansom street and threatened the handsome club house of the Union League club with destruction.
 Fortunately the wind blew the flames and sparks in another direction. The rear stories of the Lafayette hotel tow cred high above the Hazletine building, and the flames leaped over the wall to- ward the hotel. By this time most of tke guests had been awakened and as the building semed in imminent danger they were warned to leave. Scantily clothed men and women poured into the street, dragging with them their trunks and bags. All the night cabmen in the neighborhood had been attracted totte scene and they garnered a harvest in conveying the guests to other hotels. Police patrol wagons were also pressed into service for this duty, and among those who availed themselves of ve- hicle was Mayor Porter King of At lanta, Ga, and the other Atlantans, who came on here with the Liberty Bell. They passed the remainder of the night in the Continental.
 There is a story that one of the Atlan- tans slept all through the excitement and descended for breakfast this morn ing unconscious that he had been in peril of cremation. The story, however, is improbable.
 The fire in the meanwhile had spread from the Hazeltine building to the four story building of the Baptist Publica- tion company, and this was soon a mass of flames Like the Hazeltine building, if extended 230 feet back from Chestnut street to Sansom street. The Lafayette hotel was only recently reopened after alteration and refurnishing at a cost of S500,000 The firemen directed most of their attention toward saving this building. It was on fire at least fifty times, but the department did splendid ly efficient work and confined the flames to the rooms on the eighth and ninth floors facing the fire. The party wall of the Hazeltine building, towering three stories above the dry goods store of Homer, Le Boutillier & Co, fell in upon the latter place and crashed through a skylight in the center of the store into the cellar. The firemen, how ever, poured great volume of water upon the smoking mass of bricks and saved the store from destruction. It was not until the Hazeltine building and Baptist building had been entirely destroyed and after five hours hard work that the fire was subdued. The Hazeltine building was owned by Chas. F. Fazeltine, an art dealer. The ground floors were occupied by the Stetson Pi- ano company and the second floor by MT. Hazeltine as an art gallery. The rest of the building was taken up with studios and offices. Only the front wall remains standing. The loss on the building is probably $250,000, and MT. Hazeltine claims that his stock of pie lures was worth $150,OO0. The building was fully insured The Stetson compa- ny's loss is probably about $75O0O; fully insured.
 The loss to the tenants of the build ing will foot up $25,0O0 or more.
 The loss to the American Baptist Pub lication society is S250,OOO on stock and machinery and $15O,O0O on the building On the stock there is an insurance of $200 900. In the cellar of the Baptist building in vaults is $900,000 worth of plates of publications and it is not known whether these have been de- stroSed The most serious loss to the society is the destruction of the valu- able library of the Baptist Historical society and several hundred historical papers of the denomination that cannot be replaced. The tenants of the society lose about s25, ,000 Homer Le Boutillier & Co.'S loss is s75OOO; fully insured. The loss on the Lafayette hotel is s75,0O0 by fire and water The loss is covered by insurance. The hotel is owned by the Moro Phillips estate and is leased by H. c. Smith, a we'll known western ho- tel man. The hotel was rsopened to- night.
 Eight or nine firemen were injured by falling brickz but none of them was dangerously hurt. Frank Hines of Pittsburg, a guest at the Lafayette, 'n descending the stairs ripped and fell
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