Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-07-08
A MYSTERIOUS FIRE
Alleged Attempt to Burn Business
Building Today.
THE PROPERTY is IN LITIGATION
1t is Said to Be the Third Effort to
to Destroy 1t.
THE DAMAGE ESTIMATES

Pennsylvania avenue northwest, and for a
time 1t looked as though the whole upper
portion of the building. well as that Of
the adjoining structure, would be destroy
ed. The fremen, as a whcle, were rather
slow in fighting the fire When the fire
men reached the upper portion Of the build
ing, however, their efficient work prevented
a further spread of the blaze, which was
quickly gotten under control.
The Origin n Mystery.
The origin of the fire is considerably more
of mystery the n is usually the case with
the ordinary fire. Mr.. White, the manager
of the telegraph office in the building, who
was the first one upon the scene, says he has
not the slightest idea of how the flames orig
mated. but number of persons who were
onlooke-s ventured the information that
there was a mystery about the whole af-
fair. The stories circula ted were to the ef-
feet that the building had been set on fire
twice before. and that the third attempt
had been started in the elevator shaft to
make the thing sure No reasons were ad-
yanced why any enc should want to de-
stroy the building, nor was 1t stated what
advantage would accrue If the structure
should be burned: but the fact that 1t had
been set on fire before and that this was an
attempt Of a similar nature was common
talk.
Was Frightened Away.
One of the parties interested in the house
said that a short while ago the elevator
trap on the top floor. which lad been nailed
down tightly. had been pried open and oil
poured around the place. evidently with the
intention of starting a fire, but that the
would-be incendary had been frightened
away before he finished his work.
Mrs. Goodwin, the caretaker Of the house.
said 1t had been nearly burned down sew
eral years ago. and she not only believed
that the w1rk then the result OF IN
cendiarism, but that it had been tried three
times sine Mrs Buchly's death. She was
also of the opinion that the fire had been
started not only In the cellar by the In
cendiary, but on the top floor as well. and
those who were on the scene early were, In
fact. much surprised at the quickness with
which the flames reached the roof from the
cellar.
The Occupants.
The lower portion of the building is eccu-
pied by branch office OF the Postal Tele-
graph Company. Stevenson's parcel delivery
and express and Mr. Joseph F. Donahoo,
Otto B. weik and Vernon r. Norton,
brokers' who have offices there. The
upper portion, and. In fact, the entire
building is for rent, and the former was
locked after by Mrs. Goodwin, who has
apartments on the second floor. She knew
rothirg of the origin of the fire, and her
first intiu,ation that anything was wrong
carie in the alarm made at the back gate
and the rapping on her dooc by persons to
give her notice.
Mr. Chas s. White. the manager CT the
telegraph Office, was the first to receive
news of the fire A messenger boy named
Fred Haskell had gone through the back
portion of the building tc answer q call,
but before lie reached the hack door he
saw the smoke, and immediately returned
and informed Mr. WhiTe that fire had
started in the elevator shaft. situated In
the back portion of the building against
the west wall. The occupants of The lower
floor Immediately made a rush for the
place, but their efforts against the quick
spreading OF the flames were unavailing.
An alarm quickly turned IN. and the
fire department was quick in responding.
AS stated above, however, While the fire.
men were fighting the fire on The FIRST floor
anu in the cellar. the flames had ascended
the elevator shaft and were quickly gain
iEg headway in the Upper floor. This floor
was used for storing lunber and other
infiammable material, and of course the
fire was fed with the most digestible kind
OF food.
Damage to Top Story.
The front of the house did not show the
evidences of flame at any time, but the
rear of the top story was completely burn
ed eut, and here the firemen had their
hardest fight. In this they were materially
aided by the fire escape on the rear of the
Union Veteran Legion building. The sides
OF Z street at this point are heavily lined
with wires OF all descriptions, and the fire
esca0 came in splendidly, as the truck
ladders could not be used on account Of the
overhead wires.
A pleasing diversion for the crowd oc-
CURED at this point. hose which was
being taken up the iron fire escape became
caught in some fashion, and. the stop-cock
coming loose. the hose started on its own
account to put out the blaze. The fireren
were above it and could not reach 1t to
turn off the water. but the hose could
reach them and 1t did so for the spac, of
about hEe minutes until he mo
crawled out on the ladder and shut off the
supply.
District officials There
Chief Paris was on hand early and d.
rected the work OF the force Commission
er Wight paid the scene a visit a few min
utes later, and stayed some time convers-
irg with Chief Paris as to certain meth
ods and improvements
The upper floor of the building is not as
BADLY damaged as the two floors under n
the water doing considerably more harm
than the fire.
The Damage.
The damage Is about 5000. but the loss
Is fully covered by insurance. The loss to
the building property will be about $1,000
while Mrs. Godwin's loss will amount to
about 80. Mrs. Goodwin had charge OF
Miss Buchly's private property in the house,
and good portion of this was DESTROYED.
Joseph +. Donahoo, broker; Otto b. Weik
broker. and Vernon r. Norton broker ali
OF whom had desk room in the lower floor.
fix their losses at $50. $50 and So respect
lively. The loss to the lithograph company
Will be about SO principally In fixtures
The Independent Ice Company next door
to the Buchiy building on the east, states a
loss of 500, occasioned by smoke and water.
TO the property of the knights of Malta
who have the fourth floor of the L. " L..
building
The building is owned by Miss Buchly
and the societies of the Masons and Odd
Fellows the estate was left by Mrs Hat
tie Buchly to her niece present owner. and
the two societies. and there is now a con-
test going on in the courts over the will
Messrs. Walter Brown and Walter Fowler
are tho receivers for the property until
the estate Is settled.
On cicse investigation of the cellar and
the top Of the elevator shaft there were no
evidences OF incendiarism. or, II such at
tempt had been made the fire itself had
well biotted out all clues as to how the
flames originated
AN OGicer'. Discover,
Policeman " R. Herndon had passed the
door of the building not two minutes be-
fore the fire broke out. but before he