The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-02-03
FIERCE and STUBBORN.
Was a Big Quaker City Fire
Sunday.
THE LOSS WILL EXCEED
MILLION.

Handsome Buildings on Chestnut Street
Destroyed-Hotel Lafayette Damaged
Guests Observation-Disclosures Reap
Harvest-Insurance Mostly Covers All
Loss.
| Philadelphia, February 2.-The fiercest,
most stubborn and destructive fire that
has visited Philadelphia in years broke
out at s. 80 this morning in the cellar of
the Hazeltine building, 1416 and 1441
i Chestnut street, and before it was sue.
dued the Hazeltine building and the
American Baptist Publication Soo1ety's
| building, 1920 and 1929 Chestnut street,
were destroyed and the dry goods store
OF Homer, Lebontilier & Co., 14l3 and
1414 Chestnut street, was badly damaged.
The rear of the Hotel Lafayette. which
faced on Broad street, was damaged $75, =
600 The approximate total loss by the fire
is S1,075, 600, the greater part Of W hioh is
covered by insurance. The cause of the
fire is not definitely known.
| When the firemen arrived, the Halle
ltine building was already
A MASS OF FLAMES
in the interior. The building was seven
stories high with an ornate front OF brick
and terra Gotta. 1t was very substantial
ly built. AT first the fremen thought
they could oonfine the fire within its
walls. The flames spread through the
building with great fury, and the fire
soon got beyond the control of the firemen
on the ground. Several alarms brought
nearly every company in the city to the
scene.
The flames leaped high into the air and
burst out and in the rear OF the build
| ing on Sansom street threatened the
handsome club house of the Union
League Club with destruction. Fortu-
nately the wind blew the flames in an
other direction. The great stories OF the
Lafayette hotel lowered high above the
HaZeltine building and the flames leaped
over the wall toward the hotel. By this
time most of the guests in the hotel had
| been awakened, and as the building
seemed
IN IMMINENT DANGER.
they wanted to leave, aud scantily
clothed men and women poured out into
| Broad street, dragging with them their
trunks and bags, and the night oabmen
gathered a harvest Of dollars in convey
/ ing the guests to other ho5eis. The police
patrol wagons were also pressed into
/ service for this duty.
| The fire spread from the Hazeltine
building to the four story marble build
| ing of the Baptist Publication Society,
| and this was soon a mass Of HameS.
Like the Hazeltine building it extended
800 feet back from Chestnut street to
SAMSON streets. The Lafayette hotel had
only been recently re-opened after being
| altered and refurnishsd at a cost of
4 $500, 900, and the firemen directed most
of their attention toward saving this
building. 1t was on fire at least so
times.
The department did splendid work and
confined the flames to the rooms on the
eighth and ninth hoors facing the fire.
The parting wall of the Hazeltine building
| TOWERING THREE STORIES
ABOVE
the dry goods store of Homer Lebontilier
& Co., fell in upon the latter place and
crushed through the skylight in the CEN
tire of the store into the cellar. The fire.
men poured great volume of water
upon the smoking mass of bricks, and
saved The store from destruction.
1t was not until the Hazeltine build
ing and the Baptist building were en-
tirely destroyed and after five hours
hard work that the fire was subdued.
The Hazeltine building was owned by
Charles +. Hazeltine, an art dealer. The
ground floors were occupied by the
Stetson Piano Company, the second story
l-by Mr.. Hazeltine as an art store and the
rest Of the building was taken up with
studios and officers. Only the front wall
of the building remains standing.
THE LOSS ON THE BUILDING
is probably $25o,ooo. MI. Hazeltine
claims his stock of pictures was worth
$150,0 The building is fully insured
and there is partial insurance on the
pictures J. B. Woodford, the manager
OF the Stetson Company, could not es-
innate the loss, but it is probably about
SIS, 900 and fully insured.
The loss to the tenants of the building
will probably foot up $2b, 900 or more.
The loss to the American Baptist Pub
location Society is $3.50, 900 on stock and
machinery, and S115,000 on building. The
stock is insured for 100000 and the
building $115. 600. In the cellar of the
Baptist Publication Society in the vaults
is 100000 worth of plates of publica
tions, and it is not know whether these
are destroyed. The most serious loss to
the Publication Society is the destruc
tion of the valuable library Of the Bap-
tist Historical Society.
In Financial Trouble.
Minneapolis, January 2.-The district
court issued orders yesterday restraining