The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1897-11-20

fNNfANAit AHAhAlb ~ llllllEslblk 70 AAlNSEt
where the conhagratlon would stop as
roof after roof caught fire aud wlndow
frames all about the scene began 60
smoke,
AS the afternoon wore on the dense
crowds We're still inereasing,unNl II was
estimated that many hundreds OF thou
sands OF people surrounded Che big tlge
These excited masses OF humanity had
TO be constantly pressed back by the
police, as the area OF the fire swept spot
Increased In Size an operation which
became more and more difficult as the
owners and employees OF the warehouses
adjacent to the scene began the work
OF saving the most valuable portion OF
the portable belongings
BY dusk the picture presented was
extremely brilliant -Four streets were
blazing on both sides, and there was
plenty to interest the gambling spirit OF
the onlookers In betting as 70 whether
the venerable tower OF the st. Giles
church could stand the hail Of sparks
and burning fragments with which It
was enveloped.
The red flames from every point
shone out against the black shV and
through the wldespreading mass OF
dull, leadeu smoke, tinged with tom
CUES Of yellow fire and here and there
where the fire had subsIded somewhat,
the street lamps stripped by the heat OF
their burners and glass frames, blased
with big lets from th' open pipes, like
monster danger torches
There was no aoatement OF tho blaze
before 1890 p. m. Then the check
came in Jewin street and in Well
street, whore the collapse of 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 a barrier
there,
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 summon the fire brigade. But here
again there was an unacoountable de-
lay OF twenty minutes before the hrst
engine appeared. Then the fearful d.
mensions OF the fire were apparent and
At was decided to circulate Il call
throughout the whole metropolitan dis
trict
LONDON, Nov. 2O.--4 a. ma very
large force OF fremen and about twen-
ty engines have been working at
high pressure all night.
The district rnvaged by the fire rs
bounded by Aidersgate street Red
Cross, Maidenhoad court and Bradford
avenue, and includes the Intermediate
streets, Jewln, Hamsell, We'll and Ed
mund and Jewin Crescent.
1t is officially reported that 100 ware
houses have been glttnd. A later est'-
mate OF the damage done, places the
amount at nearly $4,000 900 ts25, 900, OOO).
Nearly all the British fire insurance
companies are involved and fire insur-
ance shares were practically unstable
on the stock exchange yesterday after
noon (Frlday) after the fire was well un-
der way.
Nearly 300 telephone wires have been
cut. thus interrupting communication
with many of the big provincial towns.
The fire will cause mn enormous advance
in the price of ostrich feathers, which
rose thirty per cent last evening (b'rl-
day.. Two feather firms have lost alone
R15,OOo (S75,VOO).