The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-10-17
REMARKABLE FIRE IN ENGLAND.
COnnagration in BInckpOOI Tower
Makes a Strange Sight.
From the London Telegraph.

Makes a Strange Sight.
From the London Telegraph.
Absolutely the most remarkable fire
England has ever known was that which
broke out at the top of the Blackpool tow
er about IL O'Clock on Thursday night
There can be little doubt that it arose
from some fault in the electric light cables
which run to the top of the tower, 500 feet
high, and provide the brilliant illumination
which has hitherto been one of the spectac-
ular features of the town by night Only
few weeks ago there was a slight outbreak
Of fire about IL o'clock at night, but then
the flames were got under control without
difficulty. Thursday nights fire, however,
was of different order altogether. 1t had
got good hold before it was discovered,
and the bright red light from the arrival
platform, 400 feet above the ground, which
was observed a few minutes past q, show
ed only too plainly that something was
wrong Several of the employees at
once assembled to the platform by means
OF the iron staircase, and for some time
they were seen to be endeavoring to beat
down the flames. BY a quarter past Ii,
however, it was obvious that nothing
could save the arrival platform from being
burnt out. Commencing on the west side
the flames rapidly Travelled eastward, the
wooden casing and the dozen or more ba-
zaar stalls, laden with light articles, prov
Ing irresistible food for the fire. Bv 1850
the flames were shooting out from every
part of the structure and the fairly strong
westerly breeze which was blowing show
cred sparks in tremendous volume a hun
dred yards or more away. Large pieces
Of blazing wood dropped away from the
burning mass and flew through the air
like so many rockets.
AS the flames got a better hold of the
woodwork the heat naturally increased
considerably, and long before midnight it
was seen that the whole of the ironwork
on the east side of the platform was red
hot. What has become of the men up
there?' was now the anxious query heard
on all hands, for escape from the plat
form was impossible and the heat even
on the west side, with the wind blowing
the flames and smoke the other way, must
have been intense Great relief was there
fore felt when 1T was dicovered that they
had descended the long iron ladder just
in the nick of time. The most terrifying
incidents in the course of the fire were
the falling of the two immense balance
weights which steady the two cars in
connection with the hydrant apparatus.
About twenty minutes past seven there
was the sound of the two cars moving,
but when it was seen that the cables sup
porting them were white hot 1.-THE work
men quickly abandoned them and a Sc
rious catastrophe was averted, for a few
minutes afterwards there was a Whizzing
sound, a terrible whirr through the air,
and then mighty crash, as the weight
dashed through the tower building itself
This tremendous noise may be said to have
practically awakened the whole town.
Crowds had been rapidly collecting in
the streets surrounding the tower build
ings and on the promenade prior to this,
but after that terrible crash residents and
visitors came pouring out in hundreds
and thousands, and the streets in the
neighborhood We're almost as congested as
though 1t were midday. The second bal
ance weight dropped a quarter of an hour
before midnight and the blood-curdling
whirr as it hurried through the air was
accompanied by the shrieking of terrified
females and involuntary ordinations OF
the men. Later there was further cause
for serious alarms, for portions of iron
work, or may be the concrete flooring,
gave way and dropped on to the building
below, colliding as they came down with
intervening grders and increasing the ter
rifle din. At this there was a general
clearance from the neighborhood of the
Tower building.
About midnight the blaze was at its
hight, and fearsone spectacle 1t must
have presented when seen from dis
lance Thousands of people tall over
Lancashire were probably wondering what
had happened. Soon after midnight the
flames began to lessen and it was obvious
that all the infiammable material had been
burned out, but it was not until o'clock
that there was a decided Improvement
manifest. 1t is impossible to give any,
thing like a reliable statement of the
loss that will fall upon the Tower COM
pany in consequence of this most deplora-
BILE affair There were those who off
will A.
monetary damages the company would
sustain Nothing could have been more
unfortunate than this happening at prac-
tically the commencement of the season.
The tower itself-the iron structure-is
practically useless at present, for it will
be impossible to get the elevators at work
before the end of SEPTEMBER. Then the
structural damage is very great indeed
The injury done to the buildings below
by two weights Of eleven tons each fall
ing from a hight of 400 feet is also very
serious, and the loss to the Tower com.
pany must inevitably be many thousands
of pounds.
The fire brigade had the utmost diff
Guilty in preventing sparks and other
burning material falling from the tower
from setting fire to the surrounding build
ings upon which they fell, and the men
We're hard at work all night. The news
of the fire to the tower excited the ut
most interest through Lancashire and
Yorkshire
------S--e-S--
AFRAID OF THE GLASS EYE.