The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-01-27

scene the entire rear portion of Dennett's
big restaurant vas ablaze A second alarm
was then sent i'm and a few moments later
a general alarm was sounded. Immediately
adjoining Hanscom Bros. on the west was
the five-story building occupied by Blum
Bros. manufacturers of ladies' cloaks. The
flames spread with almost lightning rapidi-
" and Blum Bros building was soon
mass of flames. The water seemed almost
10 freeze before il touched the buildings, so
bitter cold was the weather The next
buliding on the west 10 suHer was that oc-
then came the manufactory of George Il.
Wells at No. 1923. and the rear of the whole
sale grocery of ShoWell * Fryer at No. 10
While the flames were sweeping west on
Market street the umbrella mandatory
of Hirsch Bros. the largest in the world,
which adjoined the restaurant. caught fire.
The inhammable nature OF the immense
stock Of light silks added fuel TO the seeth-
ing flames and in half an hour the beauti-
full eight-story building extending from Nos.
1909 TO 1915 Market street mass of
lanes On 2Poa the nd s S p Maraf Street
the following tenants: The MiZpah restau-
rant. No; 1897; Sterner 4 Bal, wholesale
and retail confectionery. A. Nickolacky
No. 1903, and the big drug store of II. Hill
man at No. 1901, the upper story or which
was occupied by Potter Bros. as q photo
on the north side of Hirsh Bros factory
Immediately across Silver street, stood the
new seven-story building of Dunlap &
Clark. the only printing firm in the State
with a capacity for printing the big blanket
Australian ballots. This building extended
from No 1906 to 1910 Filbert street. and was
100 feet deep. The first floors were occu-
pied by the Collins Carriage Company The
flames swept through this big structure and
gutted it completely. The small buildings
on Silver street. which runs west from
Thirteenth TO Juniper, were all gutted. The
shop OF contractor Lewis Havens caught
fire from the rear of the Blum Bros. and
three tiremen were caught by the falling
wall. Frank Piper. of Engine Company 80,
Up to this time the flames had been con-
fined to the block bounded by Filbert street
on the north Thirteenth on the east, Mar
ket on the south ard Juniper on the west.
The wind was blowing from the west and
carried the flames into the rear Of the
building on Thirteenth street. The first
building TO catch fire was that of Jacob
Miller, gents furnishing goods. No. North
factory ci ry'io' of Tarbliss & Co. at No. S North
Thirteenth street; McCune Company, man.
ufacturers of picture frames, Nos. 10 and II:
drugs, No l6: Heine's bakery. No. 1S the
Cafe de Blanlberg No. 20: Budd & Kile,
jewellers. No: %; private residence and bar
ber shop, No. "a; Huber & Weber. dry
goods. No %. ]. II. Stall, jeweler. occupied
the first floor of No. 2S North Thirteenth
and William H. Stieff. wall paper manufac-
turer. the remainder of the building. Foleys
restaurant at No. 30 North Thirteenth. and
James Furlong's saloon at Nos. 30 and "a.
Filbert streets. All of these buildings were
gutted. In many instances nothing is left
standing but the bare walls.
The flames ate their way almost directly
northwest from the rear of the Blum
Brothers building, quitting the rear of
Showell & Freyer's big grocery. The rear
% North Juniper street, which buildings
are used as law Offices and private resi-
dences. were burned, leaving only the
front walls standing i'm some cases.
While the fire was at its height flames
were discovered on the window sashes on
the side of the big City Hall which was ex-
posed to the terrible heat The City Hail
fire department ran a line of hose to the
roof and in few minutes had the mas
Sive structure free from all danger.
WALLS LIKE ICEBERGS.
The walls of Hirsch Brothers factory
collapsed soon after o'clock. The other
walls left standing resemble huge icebergs,
| being covered with a heavy coating of ice
Hirsch Brothers employed $50 hands and
| occupied the top floors of the building
which extended from 1909 to 1915 inclusive
The building was owned by the estate of
Henry c. Gibson, the welI-known dstiller,
| and was valued at about s500,000.
Thrilling incidents were not wanting
| While the fire was az its height en-
| ploye of the firm OF Ivlis. Dietz & Magee.
whose building is in the block below that
| devastated by the flames on Market street,
was overcome by the excitement and sud-
denly dropped dead. James Furlong, pro-
/ prietor of the saloon at the corner of
/ Juniper and Filbert streets. is critically i'll
| of pneumonia. When the flames began TO
| eat their way TO his place squad of fire
men carried him from his sick bed into the
| bleak streets and he was hurriedly taken
| to a nearby hotel The excitement and
| shock may cost him his life.
| Shortly before noon second fireman was
| injured He is William German. aged thir-
| ty-two years, assistant foreman of COM
| pany No. /. He was struck by falling
| bricks and timbers and badly hurt about
| the head and neck.
| Had the fire occurred an hour or two
later the results would have been aDpall-
ing. The burned district is in the very
heart of the business center of the city.
across the way from the mammoth City
| Hall and around the corner from the Penn
| sylVania station. The blaze had not been
under way half hour before the thou
| sands OF employees of the destroyed busi-
ness houses began flocking to the scene to
begin their daily work. Many of the larger
| establishments. including Wanamakers s.
| employed a large majority of women and
| girls and had the disaster come during
| business hours a panic with its consequent
| loss of life would have been inevitable. The
streets were roped off for two blocks round
| and traffic on the busiest streets of the city
! was at a standstill for hours.