The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-10-27
rONFLAGRATIoN AT CHICAGO.
"a GRAIN ELEVATORS AND 9TH
Err PROPERTY BURNED.

losses Estimated to Aggregate
:, 900. 900, With Insurance Cover
Tbem in FuII-NO More Dam
ans spot For Big Fire to BE
nd in the City and Widespread
ENC at One Time Imminent.
Firemen Narrowly Escape
Death
en- .+ noon to-day, fire destroyed $780,
loD .,r-b of property on the north branch
w W. chicago river. in dilapidated To-
... known as Goose Island.
'a-'. pacific grain elevators A and B,
i bv the Chicago and Pacific Ele-
0'D. company, were completely destroy
Wv" and several frame dwellings adjoining
swept away in the avalanche of
n@ m-.r. we're more than 100000 bushels of
-. stored in the two great elevators.
oss on the wheat is estimated at
~. M on the corn at $4,000, and small
los. on oats
A MI. ioss on the buildings and machlne-
,laced at nearly $9OO,O0O Insurance
.,ng covers the losses.
sn,orintendent Perry said the fire start
il s.qyator B, in the south part, and
el a,aves it was caHsed by sparks from
s.ossing Tug in the river. No employee
. p, ,5e company knows anything more
anita about the origin of the destruc-
l1 VI, more dangerous spot for a big fire
N,,rt could be found in the city. 1t is
" .-nri+ahle fuel house for flames. Close
re burned structures are the Armour
.Io,stors the biggest in the world; the
T.,oDsa mailing house of Hale & Curtis,
UNA The extensive docks and sheds of the
e,.a Coal Company. Burning brands
(ro,, the cataract of flaming grain and
t,Iiirr roofs and walls ignited the roof of
iSn malt house every few minutes and a
sozan lines of hose were needed to save
ne building from destruction.
when the first of the twenty-five engine
oornanies arrived on the scene a water
ottock was at once made on the boiler
rom where the fire was reported to nave
atartsd Int in a few minutes the tiremen
we're forced by binding steam and herce
boat IN heat a hasty retreat, leaving be-
ind
rive firemen of another company, VINO
we're fighting the blaze from the roof Of
tbe elevator office, a one-story orlck
brildiug. had a narrow escape from death.
Tbe roof they were on fell in, the ouiid-
ing catching fire underneath them, ana
|tbev fell with it before word of warn
inc could be given Fortunately, the fire.
men seized the hose and the walls pro-
letting a little above the collapsed roof,
they hung over the fiery furnace until
rescued by their comrades.
A hundred or more freight cars of the
Milwaukee and st. Paul road were rescued
from the flaming pillars at the peril of the
railroad men, who coupled the cars, and
some had to be left.
huge pyramid Of black smoke was
rolled by the wind, and in its wake every
preparation was made to remove valuable
and portable property if the flames jump
I'd across the river. The heat was intense
anough to blister buildings a block dis
ant. Thousands of spectators gathered
md cheered in wonder and admiration at
ne grand sight, unique in the annals of
ire history. Great bins containing thous-
nds of bushels Of dry grain, one above an
,ther, were eaten gradually away by the
lanes. One bin withstood the destroyer
onger than the rest, and hung suspended
n the fiery air. One side caught fire near
he bottom, and the heap of grain released
rom its confinement poured to the ground,
! hundred feet below to be met by flames
n its descent, the whole forming a pic
ure of a flaming Niagara.