Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-09-30

til about 1l:2o O'Clock, when some OF the
falling iron rafters GO In the machinery
and then every car on the line between th,.
navy yard and Georgetown and from,
Mount Pleasant TO the baltimore and Ohio
uepot came TO a sudden stop.
Narrow Escapes.
chief Paris, Assistant Chief Belt and
flre Marshal Drew were on the ground
soon after the first alarm was sounded. and
while the chief had fun charge of all COM
palies the assistant and marshal wer. of
great assistance directing the men who
were saving other property When tho roof
began falling al hope OF saving anytbinr
was abandoned. and chief PARIS had to -
careful about handling his men i'm order 20
prevent Inc Falling of the walls uno,t
them. While the men Ne-e cnrst,n,i,.
warned against going too aear tba o,,,c,.
walls sone of th"m Vcuturei close in ana
We're exposed TO danger l'nin some of tb,,
hedNy sections Of the outer Wall had fallen
the hiemeE kept some distance away tur
after~ard they were more yenrursson,..
ana several of them came near heinz
caught under falling bricks and stone
several times early ia the night the CHIEF
ana some Of his men atte:npted 10 s-s- in
the building by way OF the main en1rancs
but each time they were forced TO retire
" men the fire reached the boiler and .n
glhe room ana then the oil room the fire
men poured all the water they could I'm
this part of the building to prevent eN
pioSlons, but several occurred. although
There was no damage that could be dome
because the fire had already completely
wrecked the structure. hen tn. flames
lirst spread they went along ID street on
the south side OF The building and then
made thelr way north 10 l. street.
The central part of the rear wall was
hrst to give way. and The falling of stone
brick and mortar on ID street made. an
opening in the big structure through which
the fiames car1e and drove the firemen.
spectators and the persons engaged I'm the
rescue work at the stables and houses
around the corner. llCm time to time other
sections of the wall fen and finally the big
nag STAN on the top OF the building took
hre and W mt down. Trees and telegraph
poles caught fire, and tho charrei wood
ara pieces Of tin were showered upon the
streets for squares away. The overhead
wires, and there Were Perfect i.etworks of
them. got In the way of the fremen many
tines and caused considerable uneasiness
for fear of death from live wires" When
the building had been burning less than
two hours there was not much of the wall
left with the exception of the four corners
and they lowered up high above the burn
ing mass. did tn" hg sn'oke-stack near
the middle of the building
With those four tall columns IF brick
ana stone standing. the danger seemed
even greater than ii did before. so fa- Us
the spectators We're concerned. for they
were kept from passing near these corners.
while the frem' felt comparatively safe
daybrcak Assistant chief Belt left the
scene Of The fire To get "A little rest. He re-
turned about breakfast time a1i relieved
the chef. Many Of the pliVates had to re
main later. but when several of the COM
panies haG returned home some reliaf work
was done, and in tilis way the mea man
age - get some f,st
Dynamite Needed.
All this forenoon several streams of wa
ter were kept on the sroldering and at
times blazing ruins, bat still the firemen
realized TO the fullest extent the danger
in which they were working because of the
conditIon of the walls. That something
must be done TO throw these walls they
fully realized. and so did Building Inspec-
tor Brady, who called to view the RUNS A
conference was held. and IL was deter
mined to use dynamite, the southwest cor
ner of Tie wall being selected for the first
attack. Contractor %. II. Allen, who has
had considerable experience an quarry
work, sent for. and he soon had a
force of laborers drilling holes I'm the stone
base. These laboIers worked for fully two
hours. drilling thirteen holes, and while
they were engaged ilremen We're pour
ing water about the standing column TO
prevent the blazing of the debris and TO
keep down the smoke.
1t was intended that the blast should be
made at noon, hut it was slow work max
ing the preparations because of the per
ilous position in " hich the men had TO
work. The holes were finally drilled and
tne electric wire attachment put In posi-
tion. Then the laborers piled heavy tim
bers against the base of the wall TO pre-
veI.. the possibility Of pieces of stone flying
in all directions and perhaps doing some
harm. When the preparations were all
completed persons about all sides CT the
ruins were warned TO get on; of the way.
This was done because II was feared that
the shock might weaken other parts of the
wall and cause more than the one corner
to fan.
Fall Of the Walls.
when everything vas in readiness, and
the police had moved the crowd dogn lIth
street almost to the corner of Ohio avenue
John Collins, who is Contractor Aliens su-
perintendent and electrician, made a con-
nection with the underground wire Of the
Alexandra and Mount Yer
non electric road
Get back" shouted the police and the
workmen. There was a rusii FOR a place or
safety. Heels over head son OF them
went. and. as IL turned out, the dead line
marked by the police proved to be the
proper distance from the wal, for follow
ing the last explosion the wall fell, and the
bricks and mortar went across 14th street
some of the debris landing at the feet II
those who were in the front line Of the
crowd. Several cartridges were exploded
which caused the taking of bricks from, the
top of the wall. but the last one had the
intended effect. and there was n graceful
Continued on Fifteenth Page.)