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

turer of sashes and doors, were totally de-
stroyed, and the less OF each will, 1t Is
thought be about 5000
In the ease OF each of the above all the
books and papers Of the concern were
totally destroyed.
Among the occupants Of the power house
On the fifth floor of the building. His loss
amounted to about $1,000.
SURROUNDING PROPERTY.
Heavy Losses i'm Neighborhood OF
Power House.
Soon after the firemen arrived upon the
scene 1T was evident that the streams of
water pouring on the heated bricks. stone
and iron could not save anything. and they
realized the necessity for looking to other
property, there was not heavy wind blow
threatened. Fortunately for the other
property there was not q heavy wind blow
ing. and this accounts to a large degree
for the comparatively slight damage done
to buildings other than that IN which the
fire started. The big building OF the
Southern railroad. as well as carriage
shops and livery stables AMI dwellings,
was threatened, and the work of protecting
them was engaged in by clerks and others,
as well as by the firemen. Inmates of
alleged disreputable houses on 18th. street,
as well as on 1871 and D streets, were
thoroughly alarmed, and scores of them
left their homes and went far enough
from the big power house to guard against
accident from falling walls or flames. Sew
eral of these women were so thoroughly
frightened that they became hysterical and
were unable to get their valuables to-
gether. On d street between 13th and
1312 streets several of the houses were
vacated and the furniture all moved some
distance away, but later in the morning,
when the danger was apparently over, The
goods were returned and the inmates were
able to get in their homes once more.
Furniture from many Of these houses
was stored on the sidewalk and afforded
comfortable resting places for scores of
spectators. In the work of removing val
uables and furniture from these houses
the women found hundreds of willing
hands, and men who had perhaps never
done manual labor before handled heavy
articles of furniture and really did hard
work
While all this was going on in these
houses the work of rescuing horses and
vehicles from Majors stable and that oc-
clpied by the Union Transfer Company
was going on. In these stables the utmost
excitement prevailed, for there were about
fCrty horses in each building, besides
scores OF wagons and other vehicles, and
considerable trouble was experienced in the
work OF getting out the horses. They were
all rescued, however. The work of re-
moving the animals and wagons from the
Union Transfer Company's building was
particularly exciting, for the flames from
tne power house were reaching almost
across the street, and by the time the last
small wagon was removed the heat was so
Intense that Superintendent Esslinger who
directed the movements of the men, was
PAINFULLY overheated. So intense was the
neat that the work had to he abandoned
and number of heavy wagons had To he
left in the stable. Several times the win
doW sash OF the stable caught fire but the
hremen were on the lookout and succeeded
each time in extinguishinp the flames .nd
preventing the destruction of the stable
washington Majors stable was not dam
ageu by the fire except the breaking of the
glass in the front part Of the building. and
this was done by the heat.
Suffered Loss.
The big building at the corner of 49, and
T. streets, occupied by the Washington,
Alexandria and Mount Vernon Electric
Railroad Company, suffered more loss than
did any other building off the power house
square Several times fire started in the
building and several times were the flames
extinguished, but finally the fire got under
I he roof, as well as on the lower floors, and
II was only by hard work that the firemen
succeeded in saving the building from total
destruction. Fortunately, there were a
number of railroad men about the building,
and they succeeded in saving the COM
panys most valuable property, the books,
money and tickets being removed to the
Hotel Johnson. The building was badly
wrecked. Mrs. Ellen Tourney of South
Washington is the owner of the building
and 1t is said it is fully insured. On 1872
street. adjoining the railroad office, was a
blacksmith shop owned by Mrs. Banville
and conducted by William Prockleton This
two-story structure is complete wreck
A two-story brick structure adjoining the
shop, and which was occupied
by j. F. Manning, the stonecutter, until a
few months ago, was badly damaged, while
an old landmark adjoining was burned al
most off the face of the earth. This was
a two-story frame building, and. it is said.
was one of the oldest houses in the city
The police knew it as The Capitol" This
house was owned by two sisters Mrs.
Alma Smith and Mrs. Katherine Arnett,
colored, who carried no insurance.
Warm There.
A small two-story frame building at the
corner of 13h and D streets occupied as
a grocery store by Henry Tibet, was
slightly damaged. When the fire hal been
burning but a few minutes it became SO
warm that Tiobett found it necessary to
move his family to place Of safety, and
His several small children had to be taken
from their beds and transferred to a mis-
sion building in the neighborhoo1. AdJoln-
ing the stable OF the Union Transfer Com
pany is William Walters & Sons carriage
factory, and this was damaged by fire and
water to the extent of many thousand
dollars. While the pecuniary loss is much
greater than that suffered by the Wash
lnStOn, Alexandra ana Mount vernon
road, the building itself was not quite SO
badly Quilted. In addition to these losses,
" indow glass in a number of houses was
smashed by the intense heat. During the
time that the firemen were not at work
on these buildings they were pouring wa
ter the burning power house.
The establishment of the Andrew J. Joyce
Carriage Company also came in for share
of the loss, the damage to the building
reaching, 1t is estimated, about s., 600 and
to stock between 5000 and $1,000, all, how
ever, being covered by insurance.
During almost the entire progress of the
fire Mr.. r. Edwin Joyce Of the company
carried hot coffee, sandwiches and cigars
to the hard-working firemen, and his eff
forts In behalf of the latter were greatly
appreciated by them, while at the same
time he WAS much praised by those who
witnessed his labors
The second and third stories of the build
ing at SOP 18th street were completely flood
ed by water causing great damage to car
pets and bedding. The occupants of the
rooms were forced to abandon them and
sit up the remainder of the night.
HANDLING THE CROWDS.
Good Work Rendered by the Police
Force.
One of the first persons to reach the
Cnrvrr NJ ~ Ga.