Evening star., 1898-12-05
BIG FIRE IN NEW YORK
Supposed Fireproof Sky soraper Goes Up in
Flames.
buildings of Rogers. Peet 4 Co. and
Home Life Insurance Com
pany Destroyed.

1
! of firemen was still busy this morning
pouring water on the buildings involved ir
| the big Broadway fire of last night. gang
| OF men was set at work tearing down the
! walls of the building in which was the
| store of Rogers, Peet & Co
1t is thought that one of the walls of the
| Home Life building is badly cracked from
| the fifth floor up
| Deputy Chief Crocker said that in his
opinion the losses would not be as heavy as
| ar first estimated. He places the total
, loss a $500, 900.
| r. j. Cochran, night superintendent of
the Postal Telegraph Company, said today
that none of the wires of the company was
damaged.
| The ruins We're visited today by several
well-knoWn insurance men, who mourned
| Individual losses of from $4,000 to $5O,UUt
apiece on buildings which had hitherto
been regarded SO favorably that the com
panies We're willing to take the risks at
about ten cents (for 500 of insurance. for
| hve years. The fire is regarded by under
writers as one of the most significant hap
penings in years, and will undoubtedly have
an important bearing on the adjustment OF
rates Tor that class of buildings.
JnderWriters have been frank to admit
Tor a year or more that their estimation of
the hazards on fireproof buildings was to
large extent guess work. since they had
no reAable data to govern calculations OF
that sort
Fire broke out about $50 o'clock last
night in the massive block Of buildings at
Nos 2h3 to 259 Broadway, New York, and
included between Murray and Warren
streets and within three hours more than
million dollars worth of property was
consumed. The fire began In the fve-story
prick building occupied by the mems fur
nishing firm of Rogers, Peet & Co. on the
southwest corner of Broadway and Warren
street. Adjoining the Rogers-Peet building
ana south of 1t was the magnificent whit 2
building of the Home Life Insurance Com
pany. and next to this was the brownstone
building of the Postal Telegraph Company.
erected at the cost of millions only a few
years ago.
Within a few minutes after the discovery
of the fire the Rogers-Peet building was
roaring furnace, and an alarm had been
turned in which brought more than a score
of engines to the scene. 1t was but a short
time when the flames had eaten through
the wall of the Home Life and We're roar
ing high above that lofty structure. Thous-
ards of people had gathered on the scene,
ard the binding glare of the flames lit up
the lower part of the city. Even in the
downpour the great crowds of people grew
and the police reserves We're called out
fIom many stations, and kept the people
back for blocks Great showers of sparks
Were carried by the gale that blew sixty
miles an hour, in all directions.
Tn fire started in the basement of the
building occupied by Rogers, Peet & Co.,
clOthiers, about $50 O'Clock. Two police
men standing within half a block of War
rem street heard a loud explosion, and a
moment later saw a thin line of smoke
curling up from along the side of the RoC-
ers, Pcet & Co. building. At that time :he
rain was falling in torrents and the wind
blew Il gale.
An alarm was sent in. but before the first
engine turned into Broadway the Rogers,
Pet Il Co. basement was roaring fur
mace, with great flames bursting through
the floors above and rushing fiercely to the
roof. Within ten minutes five alarms had
been sent in bringing engine after engine
to the scene
By 10 O'Clock. SO rapidly and fierceIy did
the flames make progress, there was moth
ing but the shen of the Rogers Peet & Co
building left, with mountains of flame roar
ing hundred feet in the air and enctrcling
the adjoining structure the Home Life In
Surance Company building.
In the binding rain the firemen worked
surrounding the block, stretching the black
and slippery lines of hose through the
building, fighting the flames from every
side. Soon Il great wave of fire swept
across Warren street and caught the Unit
ed States Life Insurance Company's build
ing, at the northwest corner of Broadway,
numbered 30 and 25l. The woodwork on
a dozen windows was afire in a moment
and from that time on several streams
ware played this building to save it
from destruction.
Ffremen Under Falling Walls.
When the Warren street wall of the
Rogers, Peet q Co building fell at 1870
O'Clock a dozen firemen We're directly be-
meath the wall. Several of the men were
struck by bricks, but none was more than
slightly injured. Acting Chief Perle fell,
but was dragged to safety by some of his
men.
Just before II o'clock the Home Life
Insurance COmpany's building, sixteen
stories high at 256 and 257 Broadway,
caught fire. The firemen already had their
lines in this building up to the seventh
floor. They were greatly handicapped by
the many stories. Flames had eaten their
way through the side wall in many places
and the huge white structure burned fierce
ly. The elevators made trips up and down
until the men running the cages We're com
PEELED to flee for their lives, and in this way
many Of the effects of the offices were saw
ed. The three top floors were on fire almost
simultaneously from the beginning The
smoke was dense.
Flames shot high above the roof and
over the massive brownstone Postal build
ing, on the corner below. All the operators
of the Postal building and everybody at
work in the structure had been ordered out
of this building long before. Desperate ef-
forts We're being made to save it.
Interior Was "a Furnace
The interior of the Home Life Insurance
Company building was by this time a fur
mace. From the windows of the six or
eight upper stories the flames were pouring
in masses. In the rear nine stories were
afire, and the fire department. so far as
this portion of the building was concerned
was absolutely poweress.
AT 11:15 the Postal building of fourteen
stories caught fire. Chief Bonner who had
charge of the firemen, took the elevator
and went to the roof TO give personal direc
tions. At this time there were few opera-
tors, who had ignored the orders of the fire
chief, two or three clerks and few bows
at work In the building in the aif1ing smoke
and messages were sent until the flames
came and all were forced to rush for their
lives. The unsent messages We're left at the
telegraph keys.
Driver Not to Blame.
Maj. Sylvester has decided that John Car