The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1897-11-25

fetch his hat and cane. 200 feet of stone
work and glass falling at his heels as
he emerged from the building. Several
firemen were almost buried In the burn
ing ruins, as front after front of the fall
ing warehouses fell in, hurting tons Of
bursting and cutting the FIRE hose in ali
directions, while tons Of fiery matter
were falling in every direction, making
1t impossible to foresee where the confia-
grafton would stop, as roof after roof
caught fire and window frames all about
the scene began to smoke. sts...
As the afternoon wore on the dense
crowds were still further enlarged until
i was estimated that many hundreds of
thousands of people surrounded the big
fire. These masses of humanity had to
be constantly pressed back by the police,
as the area of the fire-swept spot in
creased in size and operations, which be-
came more and more difficult as the
owners and employees of the warehouses
adjacent to the scene began the work of
saving. the most valuable portions Of the
portable belongings.
BY dusk the picture presented was ex-
tremely brilliant. -Four streets were
blazing on both sides. and there was
plenty to interest the gambling spirit of
the on-l9okers in betting as to whether
or not the venerable tower of st, Giles
church could stand the hail Of sparks and
burning fragments when 1t was envel-
oped. s
The red flames from every point shone
out against the black sky and through
the wide spreading mass Of dull leaden
smoke, tinged with tongues Of yellow FIRE,
and here and there where the fire had
subsidized somewhat. the street lamps,
stripped by the heat Of their burners and
glass frames. blazed with big jets from
the open pipes like monster danger
torches.
There was no abatement of the blaze
before $3.50 p. M, then the check came in
Wells street, where the collapse of a wall
on the right-hand side of that thorough
fare was the means of saving the last
building in the street. The width Of
Red Cross street, comparatively broad
thoroughfare, also formed barrier to
the fire.
The constable. who first detected the
flames. blew his whistle loudly for as
sistance. but several minutes elapsed
before the alarm was heard by any Of his
comrades. So soon as assistance reached
him the officer was dispatched to sum-
mon the fire brigade. But here again
was an unaccountable delay of twenty
minutes before the first engine appeared.
Then the fearful dimensions of the fire
were apparent. and II was decided to cir
cuiate. call throughout the whole me-
tTOpoilb ulstrlCt.
At 4 a. m. November 20) a very large
force and fremen and about twenty en-
gines have been working at high pres
sure all night.
The district rayaged by the FIRE is
bounded by Aldersgate. street, Red
Cross street, Maidenhead court and
Bradford avenue and includes the inter-
mediate streets Jewin. Hamsell, Wells,
Edmund and Jamin Crescent 1t also
included part Of Australian avenue.
Pauls alley, Cripple Gate church yard.
Wood Street square. Monkall street,
Nichols square and Forest street. :.
1t Is officially reported that 100 ware
houses have been Quilted. A later esti-
mate of the damage places the amount at
nearly f5O0O.000 1926, 000,00 Nearly
all the British fire insurance companies
are involved, and fire insurance shares
were practically unsuitable on the stock
exchange yesterday afternoon friday
after the fire was well under way.
Nearly 5000 telephone wires have been
cut. thus interrupting communication
with many of the big provincial towns.
The fire will cause an enormous ad-
vance in the price of ostrich feathers,
which rose 30 per cent last evening. Two
feather firms alone have lost $4,000.