The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1897-03-04

lishment Totally Destroyed-Their Lss.
Between $50, o and oAO,OOO-Mr. =.
Behrends' Building, Valued ut ol5.oOo
In Ruins-A Second Fire, With Loesss
Footing Up Several thousand Dollars
1t Was the Work Of . Fire Bug-A Third
Fire Started by . Fire ftend.
Wilmington was visited last night
by two OF the m disastrous fires hat
have occurred here since the great con-
~fiagration Of February. 1856. The loss
by the two will aggregate about $50. 600.
The first fire was in the dry goods
establishment OF c. w. Polvogt & Co.
in Mr.. S. Behrend's two-story brick
building. at No. 9 North Front street.
The building was quilted, and Messrs.
Polvogt & Co.'S large stock Of goods
went up in the flames.
The fire is supposed to have orig
mated in the cellar. but its origin is
unknown. The store was closed at Z
p. m, and in ten minutes people on
Front street noticed he flames and
smoke pouring up in the inside OF
the store at the rear end. The alarm
was sent in from all the boxes in the
vicinity, but the big bell failed to re-
spond. The little bell, however. rang
out the numbers, and all the gongs in
the engine houses rang out promptly,
~ ii lIie III utldi lllSll oh tiit
scene in a few minutes. Thousands of
people flocked to the scene. and the
streets were a perfect jam with men.
women and children. With the engines
at work and the firemen working like
TrojanS, the scene was one OF the Wild
. est excitement.
With the firemen making herculean
efforts, the whole inside of the store
was a mass of furious flames in twenty
minutes. The fire soon burst through
l. n~1 -1Af I'D tho nor n
were filled with smoke and myriads of
sparks INK flying Goals that endan-
gered property for squares around. The
wind was blowing lightly from the
s~outhweSt and carried the sparks
northward n eastward, dropping live
Goals four squares away. AT one time
it ook as If the whole of the business
center Of the city was doomed.
Nothing Of the building was left but
the walls. and Messrs. Polvogt & Co.'S
stock of goods was totally destroyed,
without as much as the saving of a
collar button.
THE MESSENGERS NARROW ES-
CAPE.
The Messenger office. a short dis
lance north of the burning building,
was covered with falling fire and its
destruction seemed inevitable. The
danger was SO imminent at one time
that a large quantity Of newspaper n
| Jop IudlCl ldl, LIN NhC uCohS, civ
valuable papers, etc, were removed
from the office to a place OF safety. A
large number of volunteers, both white
and colored men, helped us with a will.
and placed us under lasting obligations
for the cheerful manner and quick and
excellent work the did. The phoenix
Hose Reel Company. an organization
of veteran colored firemen, and also
some of the Cape Fear Steam Fire En-
CINE Company, another of our excel
the breech, however, and by heroic eff
forts and effective work. saved The
Messenger building. The Woodworking
colored firemen surely won and have
The Messengers thanks for their gall
ant work.
When the fire broke out The Messen-
gers force had come on duty and the
type-setting machines had just started
up to get out the paper. In a few min
utes, however, the electric lights
left in until several lamps
were brought into requisition. The
outlook was so ominous that the tele-
phone men Of both companies came
over and took out their phones, and a
force came up from the power house OF
pany and took out the trans
former and were getting ready to re-
move the dynamo that furnishes cleo
trio power for running our establish
ment. In three-quarters Of an hour,
however, the firemen got the fire under
control, and in a short while Messrs.
Gouverneur and Shedding, Of the Street
Railway Company, had a force OF
hands in the office and restored our
electric power. The Wilmington Gas
Light Company also very promptly re-
stored our electric lights, our office
fixtures and material were moved back
into the office and our force of editors
and printers got down to work as
quietly and as assiduously as If moth
ing unusual had happened.
The office SuStains some damage by
water in the job office and by removal
Of material, but the loss will be small
and is covered by insurance.
HEAVY LOSS BY POLVOGT . 90.
lIessrs. Polvogt & Co. estimate that
they a in stock between 1876. O0n --d
$1,000 worth Of dry goods, notions. car
pets, etc. They carried insurance on
this stick with the following under
writer's: With Willard & Giles, 5000;
with F. H. Stedman, 1000; with Colo
mel Walker Taylor, $4,000; with w. w.
Hodges, 81, 500, with J.. II. Boatwright
& Son, $1,000; with Atkinson & Son,
$4,000. There may possibly be some
other policies, but it was impossible
last night to ascertain definitely.
Mr.. BEHRENDS' LOSS.
MI. 8. Behrends carried insurance on
his building in the following agencies:
With Colonel Walker Taylor, $500;
with w. w. Hodges, 81, 500; with j. II.
Boatwright & Son, $500. There may
be a few more policies besides these.
FINE WORK BY THE FIREMEN.
Chief of the Fire Department Martin
Newman was confined to his room
with sickness, and the management OF
the fire devolved on Assistant Chief
Charles Schnibben. His management
Of the fire was superb and our citizens
highly complimented him for his ef-
forts and skill. The fire department
did one of the best pieces of work in
its history in combining the fire to One
building, n the citizens who watched
them are lou in their praise of them
for their systematic and successful
work. All praise to u noble iremen
All the plate glass fronts and The
glass in the upper windows of the Pur-
cell house. the stores of w. f. Spring