The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1897-11-20
OYER FIFTEEN MILLIONS LOSS
london SEIpt by One Of the Greatest
Fires In Its History.
The FIRE BRIGADE'O LONG DELAY
Gives the Flames Time to Get Beyond Con-
trol--Mauy Narrow Escapes and Thrill
inc ,ncidents--Under Control but
still Burning.

agtTOus fires in LOnuoA hiato.s s'"~N ''-N
great fire Of I6o5 broke out in Il large
block Of buildings lying eastward OF Al
dersgate street. and beyond that thor
ouchfare and Red cross street just after
! o'clock this afternoon
The flames were famed by strong
wind and we're fed by highly miamma0le
stocks OF Cnustmas fancy soJds ana
,itusv dress materials Of All descriptions
,ust uued every moor OF the siA-stoty
puIdng I'D Tie old street. consequently
the conuagrauOn gained head"dy VII"
surprising raWdlty. ana Nd9 SUN i"' D'
vond the possibility OF being checked by
.o. fo,v engines winch were carly ON the
spot. ..,s .-. d..
,.t tb,ir OWN way. ana 10 Was only altet
more tuan "a hundred engines had WORKED
,r bo.r that the cnief OIL the nle brigade
s,nt out the signal that the nie was un-
,tII O'Clock tonight the FIRE is still the
scene OF great excitement. fiiiy engines
are pl3vinc upon the ruins, wagons are
hurrving up coal, and tons or water are
pour,ua into the merry debris.
MILLIONS LOST.
rho ecene must occupy the fire brigade
for several days. and especially in view
~ the grave danger Of the collapse o.
soils OF buildings which fall now ahd
again with a loud report.
,rl,c later accounts say that nearly
,rpdred warehouses have been destroyed
while the loss viii probably exceed @o'-
OWU0y ,.,.. t.e
49,, hadlv damaged. the principal dam
,,a beng to the roof the old WINDOWS
mo baptfsmal font. and Miltons statue.
usrnsells street was the scene oI lhe
o,,thresk Of the fire. which was stsTleu
by, an explosion Of gas engine on u'I
.,o,1teoe ~ Walter Brown q Coz mahlei
n,onufacturers. No. 80. ON thal street
rbeir third factory was cIo"'en VIZ"
eirls when the FIRE broke ont. Ihe Irlei ~
ed oneratives rushed 10 the ROOF ol W.
building and thence crosslnB -.
h1ildiugs. and so effecting iher e0c't''
While The flames were pouring ont OF the
Ia less than a 1uarter Of am hour the
o,,,oe mad envclOped the adjoining war;
rou.e and thence they leaped across 'ue
80, "a am enormous paper Warehou7'
which was gully alight In less IMAM w."
minutes .t, fro
NV this time g. was evident to me ii'e-
mon that they were face 10 race WIZ "
not disaster. and a general alarm Wa
,bo nciehborhood in great NUMBERS Jus
dig,lav of strength on the part or ',,e
,.olf.o ,.9s required. as the crowd S"eH-
I'D, ip size every moment. soon amount H.
ed to tens of thousands or p'onr e-.,,' o
the dremcn required every posslple
dom of action. <,,.,o
rrbofr FIGHT was one Of the EIcdl' IA
ii ~ ll.i,,e, to the uarrOWncss of the olo
CulII od streets-the feature of that part
of I,ondon-cOmbined win lhr NrC-
tho warehouses. which cut u.t WY -,
ment from all iair cha.iir,S -, ,r,ona- ne
fhe outbreak. The eNcit, ,menl ai,,o. ,,,,lo.s-eibia
.r,ootators who crowded every posslp.e
uoint of view. was very sIcat, 90 ia to
judged from the fact that ilreIhel i.".i os
ia Teneatedlv rescued by their com a4i,y57'
H.. .be AID Of the fire escapes from oull"
inqs which had caught nre allci .ll' ffll,'i,t
men had mounted 20 theif Iool- ~ '7''-
the flames I'm adjoining Dun Dunui,,7 Tho fire.
irhe rescue OF operatives Dy l.t ~ n,S
49,, +ba hurrving of hosts or clerks "lp
we're irving to save books anu Nal"",,., &
paDers from the fire ana lhe Iusllsl7 .-'
and there of many cmplol 't9 "D,t.,,.
attempting 10 carry 10 places "l S'-I,'
costly merchandise OF othei '"'"'D'
added 10 the confusion
Then again the heat was so intense lhd.
several fremcn were ophstu 10, ul
their operations under sho"tIS vi tbe
poured upon them. But in spite on '@lie @
il,.crtiors -of the fremcn. the fire crcpl on
vorv steadily until Nicholl square, Whlcn
Is Situated at the far end or HamseH
iittie after o'clock dozen hose
rircs each with "a tWelve-fool spietu'
poured water into the blaze OF aH o..'o-
Site roof from the street below ana from
The burning premises themselves. nHl Dc
IA r,nt seem 30 have any effect. The Wa
ter rushed ont Of the windows on thf
ground floor ike a wateriall, "Alle 'no
flames leaped higher and hlsheI. anu, az
eHr Nf Is Cd
gigantic display OF fire and smoke uli
The building was completely gutted ana
the walls keeled over ...,,-.
MANY NARROW ESCAPES.
The confusion i'm the streets increased
as the fire spread Suddenly there was an
explosion of gas meters, sounding IKE lne
reports OF field guns io.oMen ~ " TN,
inc here and there was resumed with in-
creasing energy.
Men risked their lives in desperate eI-
forts 20 save cay books. ledsers, iedlhels'
iewelrV valuable chlnaWare. etc. one
man actually haZarded his life 10 ietch
his hat ana cane. two hundred feet or
stoneWOrk and glass iaihng az MS heeIs
as he emerked from the building
Several Mremen We're almost buried IN
burning ruins as front after front OF the
flaming warehouses fell in. hurting tons
OF bricks. and masonry INTO the streets.
bursting and cutting the Ire hose 10 an
directions while tons Of fiery matter was
falling I'm every direction making ~ I'M
poSs.bl 10 f0resce where the coniiagratloh
would stop as roof after ROOF cdught hIe
and window frames all about the scene
began 10 smoke.
A. the afternoon wore on the dense
crowds were sti further enlarged unill
il was estimated that many hundreas
of thousands Of people SURROUNDED tnt
big fire This excited mass OF humanity
had 10 be constantly pressed back oy the
police as the fire increased IN SIZE, an
operation which became more ana more
difficult one as the owners ana employe7
OF the warehouses adjacent 10 w. stel1
began the work OF saving the most Val
uakle portions OF their portable belong
~ dusk the picture presented was eN-
tromey brilliant. Four streets were
hIax.ul on both sides ana tAtrc was
plenty 10 interest the gambling spirit or
the onlookers. i'm betting as 20 whether
on moi the venerable tower of St Giles
church could stand the hail OF sparks
and burning fragments with which II Va.
enVeloDed.
There was no abatement of the blaze
before $3.50 O'Clock then the width of Red
Cross street. comparatively broad
thoroughfarc formed barrier.
LEISURELY DEPARTMENT
The constable who first detected the
flames blew his whistle loudly for assist
ance but several minutes elapsed before
the alarm was heard by any OF his com
rades So soon as assistance reached
him the officer was dispatched TO sum.
mon the fire brigade. but here again there
minutes lsfore the first engine apeared
Then the fearful dimensions OF the tire
were apparent and u was decided 20 cir
culate a call throughout the whole me-
troDolitan district.
Al o'clock \. NJ a very large force OF