The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1897-10-15
DETROIT'S BIG FIRE.
100000 DAMAGE DONE BY
THE DEVoURING FLAMES.
Blaze started i'm the Detroit Opera House
From n Calcium Light Explosion
Nearly Dozen Buildings Burned
Boy Killed by Falling Walls.


shortly after midnight; Julia Arthur's
splendid theatrical company had given
their fourth rendition OF "A Lady of
Quality" in the Detroit opera house;
the large audience had dispersed; the
actors had gone to their hotels, and
the lights had all been extinguished
by Janitor VIM. Moore and he and his
wife had just retired in their rooms on
the fifth floor of the opera house build
ing, when there was a loud explosion
and Moore heard the rear wall back of
the stage fall. Instantly there was
flashing of flames through the struc-
ture and Moore and his wife hurriedly
fed by way of an outside fire escape,
but even then the flames were shoot
ing through the windows.
Roundsman Springer and Patrolman
Rutledge were standing on the corner
of Woodward and Gratiot avenues
when they heard an explosion and saw
burst of flame in the direction of the
rear of the opera house. Rutledge
turned in "a quick alarm and both then
ran down an alley toward the fire.
They hardly arrived before second
explosion was heard, followed at inter-
walls of a minute or two with half
dozen others. The explosions were
caused by the calcium tanks used for
the stage lights. There were eight of
them on the stage, and at each eXplo-
sion a~section of the walls would fall
and the sparks would fly in every di-
rection.
Within 10 minutes from the time of
the first alarm all the available fire APP
paratus or the down town district was
at hand and in service and that from
the outlying precincts was hurrying
toward the center of town. by that
time the whole rear of the Detroit
opera house was one solid mass of
flames, the sparks from the burning
scenery and light furniture spreading
over blocks of the down town buildings.
As the fire grew hotter the efforts of
the firemen were directed toward saw
ing the surrounding buildings, but to
little avail Constant streams of water
were kept on the rear of the Leonard
g. Carter building, but in short time
the windows had gone in and fire was
sweeping through every floor, driving
the opera house square, which faces
the Campus Martins and the city hall,
the flames were giving the firemen
even a harder battle. The wind was
blowing brislIly from the west and as
the roof of the opera house began to
crumble and fall in showers of sparks
and burning brands rose high in the
air and sailed away in perfect clouds
TO the east. The smoke and flames be-
gan TO roll from the upper windows of
the Michel Table Supply Co.'S store next
TO the opera house and it was soon
plain that that building was beyond
help and that the fire department had
on hand job that was almost too big.
From the tall Leonard e. Carter build
ing the fire soon worked down into the
upper story of the next building to the
east, the five-story structure occupied
by the Central Storage Co., Vaughan
g. Tanner and the Central Music Co.,
and several other tenants. Gradually
il forced its way from floor to floor,
and portion of the falling walls car
ried The fire into the Partisan laundry,
which was soon mass of debris. On
dNcnut, DdCh VI Jllc
Co. S stores the big Schmidt and Wer-
ner buildings had been holding out
against the devouring flames, but they
finally gave way and were soon roar
ing furnaces inside. An explosion evil
IDENTIFY Of chemicals, in the Schmidt
building threw down the walls crush
the two-story Boston shoe store like an
egg shell. Probably this fact more
than all others saved the Valpey build
ing, on the corner of Monroe avenue
and Farmer street. A change of the
wind then turned the flames back upon
the charred ruins of the burned build
ings and in short time the fremen
had the fire under control, after having
worked on it steadily for six hours.
The heaviest losses fall upon the
Michel Table Supply Co. and the
owners of the principal buildings. The
principal losses are as follows: Detroit
opera house, sos, 900; Julia Arthur Co.,
$4,000; Michel Table Supply Co.,
$50, 900; Traugott Schmidt estate,
building, 100000, Schmidt estate,
stored wool, $50, 600; Werner, building
and stock, 500, 900; Leonard e. Carter
unl bJOChs RJOsOOO,
Partisan steam laundry, $4,000; Gen.
trail Storage Co., building and stored
goods, $50, 900; other tenants of stor-
age building, SCI, 900; Michel building,
owned by G.. II. Barbour, $50, 900; Hugh
Connolly, jeweler, $4,000; Grand I'm
ion Tea Co., $1,000; p. j. Kinnucan,
tailor, $4,000; Wright, Kay 81 Co.,
So 900: Brossy dye works, 80, 500; D., G..
ii. & NJ. railroad, repair shops set on
fire by flying embers, $4,000. About
20 smaller losses TO Woodward avenue
stores and minor teuants of the burned
buildings would probably total $50, 900.
The parents of Robt Pennington,
aged 10, reported their boy missing
two days after the fire and this led 70
a search of the ruins of the Detroit
opera house in the alley where two or
three people claimed to have seen
boy crushed under the walls. 1t only
required half an hour of work on the