Evening star., 1897-06-15
FIRE AT ELLIS ISLAND
Althe Big Immigrant Buildings Com
pletely Swept Away.
FORTUNATELY NO LIVES WERE LOST
The Loss on the Buildings is Esti-
mated at $8o0,000.
VALUABLE RECORDS BURNED

NEW YORK. June 15.-Ellis Island today
is mass of black smouldering ruins All
the huge buildings which since 1892 have
housed hundreds Of thousands of immi-
grants were during the night demolished
in confagration which constituted one
Of the most brilliant spectacles ever seen
in New York harbor, and which threatened
the lives of 200 immigrants who were on
the island.
AS far as can be learned there was no
loss Of life. The exact amount Of damage
has not yet been ascertained. but i Is said
that the loss on buildings VIII amount to
something like $500, GOO, white hundreds of
volumes volumes of valuable records Aave been de-
The first steps taken today by the I'M y
migration authorities were to ascerta1n
definitely, If possible, whether any of the
persons who were on the island last night
had been caught in the flames There were
no records left by which the temporary IN
habitants could be accounted for 30 the i'm
migrants were divided up into groups ac-
cording to the ships they came In. Then they
were submitted to close Ques tioning. They
were asked whether they missed any of
their fellow passengers. 1t was a chatter
ing, noisy crowd, and little italian children
threaded their way between the eager men
last everybody seemed satisfied that all
his or her shipmates were safe and sound
on land, and the authorities came to the con-
slusion that In some wonderful way ,y,. the n
land as If they were match wood had been
without fatal result.
No Telephone Communication.
The absence Of telephone communication
with the island and the more or less con-
fused statements Of the persons who were
hurried from the licking flames that threat
ened to leave them no safety, but In the
waters Of the bay, make 1t difficult to as
certain the exact cause, extent and. details
of the fire. The thousands of people who
stood on shore throughout the night and
watched the immigrant buildings burn
themselves out had better idea of the
actual happenings than those on the island
themselves. 1t was wonderful sight. Well
out in the center Of the harbo- was livid
mass Of diane that shot upward and out
ward and only seemed to gain new life
when the roofs fell inward osthe heart: OF
the fire below.
The shores OF New Jersey, Staten Island
and the docks on the river were aglow with
the reflected light. On the edges Of the
island where the flames had not reached
dots, like black ants scurrying to safety.
Then from out Of the dark water in the
distance countless tugs steamed into the
flood Of light, and soon the island was sur
Night Watchman Christensen tells the
story OF the fire very graphically:
Waterman Christiansen's Story.
Il did not know anything about it," he
says. until I found myself in a cloud of
smoke. rushed to the northwest end
where the flames seemed to come from, and
shouted: "Fire!' Six men slept there and
they only just got out. Then somebody
rung the alarms which communicate with
all the departments. The immigrants SEEM
ed dazed. and we had to almost force them
out. Then some Of them ran back Tor
some bit of trinket or bundle Of clothes.
We thought we'd lost fifteen Italians for
certain. Their friends stood around in
the blistering heat and prayed and cursed
were being burned to death.
Several people made q dash into the
main building in search Of them, but it
was useless. Them when we'd given up
hope, we found the fifteen Italians huddied
together at the far end of the island.
1T was few minutes before l o'clock
when the fire started in one of the towers
in the main building. Everybody but us
watchmen was asleep. How they all got
out. goodness only knows. The fire boats
and police poured water on the blaze for all
they were worth, but for all the good 1t did
1t might have been oil.
IF it was a wonder that the immigrants
in the main building got out, 1t was still
more Of q wonder that the sixty-odd pa
nurses and doctors worked as cool and calm
as any trained firemen. Some Of the sick
shrieked and shouted. But the nurses
didn't mind. They hauled them out on
stretchers and laid them down where they
wouldn't get scorched by the heat. They
looked mighty ghastly."
Commissioner senner Takes Charge.
DIR. Joseph H. Senner. the United States
commissioner of immigration, went over to
Ellis Island soon after the fire started, and
personally superintended the work Of car
ing for the immigrants who lost all their
baggage, with the exception Of tile few
bundles they had carried In their hands.
The charity organization Is working hard
to provide them with necessary clothes
The buildings entirely destroyed were the
main building, 75D by 250 feet; the deten-
ticn pen. the restaurant, the laundry, the
morgue, the record building. the storage
house and the disinfecting plant, which
contained costly machinery, and which
was not quite completed. +. J. Scully who
has the money exchange privilege on the
island, says he has lost $4,000 in currency.
DR.. Joseph =. White. who had charge Of
the medical department en- the island was
awakened just in time to get his wife and
four children out in safety. His house was
destroyed
DR.. White said that there were twenty
men, twenty women ard seventeen chill
dren In the hospital last night. The only
very serious cases were those Of a young
Wo1usiu SuheEH8 typnOlQ FEVER, and
boy who is dying from an incurable dis
eose. All the patients were taken to hos
pitals in this city early in the morning, and
are reported to be none the worse for their
experiences.
DR.. senner's 0mcial Report.
Acting Secretary Spaulding has received
the following telegraphic report Of the fire
on Ellis Island from DIR. senner, the immi-
grafton commissioner at New York:
The immigration station at Ellis Island
was almost totally destroyed by fire, which
started from causes unknown In the statis-
tician's room and spread with incredible
rapidity all over the main building thence
to the restaurant and new disinfectinR
building. the dormitory and the hospital
destroying all OF them. damaging further
the surgeons quarters. The slip and the
covered gangway and a large part Of the
beard walk were totally destroyed.
by heroic exertions by the night force,