Evening star., 1897-06-03

had forestalled him. and provided . repast
direction Of Mr.. Louis Brill, q member OF
the board. The fire wardens felt grateful
Tor the assistance rendered, and were wise
IN extending this hospitality ee those gal
endria fire department In its work Of great
difficulty.
Origin Of the Fire.
AS to the origin Of the fire there seem
to be two or three opinions. Some are Of
the positive opinion that the fire started
from spontaneous combustion in the engine
room of Capt. Herbert Bryants manufac-
turing plant. spread through the building
across the bridge. and caught to the large
frame storage warehouse, which was soon
In great blaze. and caused the surround
people are Of the opinion that the fire was
OF an incendiary origin, because Of the fact
that that portion burned showed blazes ap-
parently at the same moment, though in
different sections Of the burned square.
one apparent fact in support of the incen-
diary theory appears to be based on the
fact that the Pioneer mills caught fire
some distance up the elevator shaft al
though while the burning block was burn
Ing most fiercely. the wind was blowing to-
ward the north in an entirely opposite d.
rection from the Pioneer mills, and, fur
ther. the place where the fire Is said to
have started rs several hundred feet from
the Pioneer mills.
The General Alarm.
There was some little misunderstanding
last night in regard to the response by the
fire departments to the general alarm. To
The Star representative it appeared as fol-
lows: The hose wagon of the Columbia
Steam Fire Engine Company was the first
TO arrive on the scene. They Immediately
unloaded several sections Of hose, which
they attached, without engine to a near
by plug, and commenced at once to play a
hand stream on Aitcheson & Bros planning
mills, which were just across the street
from Bryant's fiercely burning fertilizer
mill, because they knew that the mills
any moment. and 1t was by their work par
ticularly that these mills were saved. They
were quickly followed by the Hydraulion
Steam Fire Engine Company, who took the
plug at the corner Of Prince and Union
streets. and in a short while had two strong
streams thrown on the burning buildings
and succeeded in checking the flames to
a large extent. Owing to the fact that one
of the horses of the Columbia Steam Fire
Engine Company Is disabled and out of
service. this company had to await the
arrival of a pair of horses from either
the Relief Hook and Ladder Company or
the Hydrauiion company, consequently
could not respond to the alarm as prompt
delay did not amount to much. for they
soon had their steamer at the corner of
Duke and Union streets, and soon had
strong streams pouring on the south end of
the burning block. The truck. Of course,
had arrived in the meantime, and its mem
bers were doing effective service in ar
ranging for the fremen to be in the best
points of access to the burning structures.
An Explanation.
The misunderstanding in a nutshell IS
this: Some days ago the Columbia Steam
Fire Engine Company made application to
the board Of fire wardens for permission
to take the Columbia to Annapolis. Md,
where they desired to enter a contest, and,
by winning. to do the old city proud, and
they offered as a substitute engine the
William A. Smoot. which Is in every way
fitted for the service. and passed inspec-
tton to the satisfaction of the board of
fire wardens. This request was granted by
the board of fire wardens several days
ago. and the Columbia engine at that time
Smoot" being placed a substitute, and
as matter of fact, as long as the Column
bia was out of service. under permission
of the board of fire wardens. was, to all
intents and purposes, the engine of the Co
lumbia Steam Fire Engine Company. Some
people took exception to the fact that the
Columbia engine was rot on the ground
until a late hour. AS she was out of COM
to go to Maryland on the 9th of June, some
of the employees desired to put her In the
best possible shape, SO that the first prize
would be certain The engine proper was
all apart in the engine house on four Jacks
and the wheels were at the carriage fac
tory Of John w. Summers two squares off.
Early in the action, when the fire was
raging at its worst, the Columbia engine
was not asked to be brought out. and this
order was not given to them until some
time later. after the Washington engine
had arrived and gone into service. The
order, 1t is said, was given to the Colum-
bia. 1t took but an hour and a half for
everything to be COTTON together in proper
shape. and the Columbia engine had two
strong streams playing on the burning
buildings.
Claim to Have Been Second.
The Columbia company claim that in
sending the substitute engine to the fire,
and the Columbia engine itself being liter
ally torn apart for repairs, they did their
full duty In the matter. as they had their
apparatus on the grounds second only to
the Hydraulion company. 50 far as the
engines are concerned. and first. so far as
having a stream on the burning buildings.
together with the fact that their entire
company was on the ground during the
whole time of the fire. 1t appears to the
people that the Columbia engine might Just
as we'll have been left in the house, as en-
gine No. from washington was taken
OF the buildings but little while after
the Columbia went into service. For
tunately. no damage Is done to the "C.lam-
pion"-the Columbia-and many people are
proud of the record made by them last
night. for 1t Is said that during the even
ing they had five streams on the burning
building.
The entire community this morning is
every member of the fire
department on their gallant and effective
work of last night, memorable one to the
citizens of that section Of the city. who
thought that at any moment they might
be wiped out of house and home by the
blaze.
The Damage.
Summing up. the damage appears to be
as follows: Aitcheson Bros planning mill,
w. s. Moore's machine shops. Old Domin-
ion Boat Club House. several wharvcs,
Godfrey Laundry Company's plant, Pioneer
Mills. warehouse belonging to N. Lindsay
& Co.. Brocketts commission warehouse,
Virginia Beef Extract Company's ware
house. Herbert Bryants fertilizing factory,
Aitcheson's wood and coal yard, and
number OF back buildings, for the square is
thickly bdilt up. were almost totally de-
stroyed. A miraculous escape Is noted in
the fact that the warehouse used for m MI