The San Francisco call., 1897-03-24

for the value of the lumber that was used
in its construction. The case never went
to trial, but it was the subject of great re-
mark at the time. One of the stories of
the origin of the supply of lumber was
that the firm of Meiggs IL Goriey made an
agreement with Mr.. Cohen to furnish him
with lum Der enough to build ga house" if
be would use his influence TO procure for
them contract 10 supply the railroad
company with lumber for bridges and
snowsheus.
Cohen obtained the contract and then
demanded the lumber. But instead of
the simple "house" that the dealers had
expected they were called upon to supply
the material for great mansion. II was
all of the best and heaviest. too, and they
sought to evade their agreement, but were
unable to. 1t is said that there was a
large surplus after the mansion was COM
pieted and that this went into the Palace
Hotel in San Francisco.
The house was stored with valuables. 1t
was three-story structure which origi-
nally cost $125 600, exclusive OF the luxri-
Gus decorations. Every wall was frescoed
and all the woodwork was of the finest OBJ
tainable. There were between iorty and
fifty rooms, including music hall, pic
ture gallery. library, billiard parlors and
extensive drawing The main hall
ran directly through from east to west
and pillars of solid onyx supported
bronzes and statuary on either side, while
the delicately iniaid floor was marvellous
work OF art.
In the picture gallery was the original
marguerite, which was tinishes, in Paris
in 1878 and which is valued at $4,000. 1t
is so badly burned as to be beyond repair.
Ramsey's famous death Bed Scene" was
carried out, and is not injured.
As soon as the FIRE was discovered most
OF the furniture was carried out from the
ground floor. but on the second and third
floors, where the most valuable goods
were placed. little could be removed. With
very few exceptions all the valua bic works
of art gathered from the salons and gal
leries of Europe were destroyed.
The decorations of the interior of the
house were done by European artists, who
spent a whole year at the work, and for
long time these frescoes were separately
insured. OF fifty paintings in the gallery
only ten were saved.
AO hdAuC VI Oil ludb Was Ia keH ITOm lQo
house by those who tried in vain to save
the furniture will not amount to more
than $50G0.
The origin of the fire is my stery, and
there are some peculiar circums tances
connected with it. 1t is said that neigh
bors living near saw the flames an hour
or SO before the alarm was given, but
would not take the trouble themselves to
turn in an alarm, as they hold the owners
OF the property in great detestation. The
gardener says he saw the fire about
o'clock, but it was more than half an hour
before an alarm was given. The watch
man made his rounds an hour before the
fire broke out, and says he saw nothing
out Of the way. It is reported that men,
bers of the family allege incendiarism as
the origin and again it is ascribed to a
defective flue. 1t was customary to build
fires in the house at intervals in order to
prevent damage from dampness, and this
had been done quite recently. tits thought
that in some way this may have been the
origin of the fire. 1t is understood that
the underwriters will make thorough
investigation of all the circumstances and
reports.
estate there was in the house large
quantity of valuable furniture belonging
to Mrs. G. L. Lansing, widow of the for
mer secretary of the Southern Pacific.
An incident of the fire was the presence
of Deputy Sheriff White of Oakland, who
took advantage of the presence of Mrs.
Cohen to serve some papers upon her for
which he had long been seeking an oppor-
tunity, but had so far been successfully
baked in his effort. However, the ex-
element of the occasion caused the lady
to relax her customary watchfulness, and
the papers were served before she could
prevent it.
It was 80 this afternoon before the fire
was extinguished and the firemen were
permitted TO return home. During the
forenoon Mrs. Cohen had coffee and re-
freshments served to the fremen A large
crowd was drawn from all the Surround
ing country, who remained till the de-
struction of the building was com plete.
A remarkable feature of the affair, both
while the fire was burning and after it had
finished its work, was the entire absence
of any expressions of sympathy from any
source.
Mrs. Cohen knew nothing about the fire
until the news had spread all over the
city. She is living with her son Edgar on
Versailles avenue.
'tAll / know" she said, sis that the
house is now complete ruin. and most OF
the valuable paintings and things are de-
stroyed. The insurance on the place is
nothing like its real value, and know the
loss to me will be fully $500, 900, even with
the insurance.
Edgar Cohen estimat the loss at fully
$500,
The insurance on the property was
handled by AL Cummings. "The place is
a complete loss" he said. "The little fur.
niture saved amounts practically to
nothing. The house was one of the hand
soonest on the coast, while the art gallery
could not be beaten by any private collec-
tion in the country. have the inventory
OF the goods, but the insurance will only
partially cover the loss. The total amount
of insurance aggregates $155,000, dis
tributed among the following companies:
Commercial Union, $4,000.
Western of Toronto, $500.
American of New Jersey, $25OO
Fire Association, $500.
Caledonan, $4500.
Scottish Union and National, $4,000.
Worcestershire, $4,000.
American of New York, $500.
Providence OF Washington S25OO
Hartford, $4,000.
Insurance Company of North America,
$4,000
mr.