Evening star., 1898-11-07

| In the MarshaTs Office.
| streets southeast. FASTENED to the Capitol
| end. seeing flames issuing from the east
| basement front. dashed across the plaza
to the coast and geodetic survey building,
| on New Jersey avenue. and turned in an
| alarm from box Nc ~. Chief Electrician
! Gliem of the Capitol, who was driving near
| by at the time. also responded.
First to Arrive.
| Engine companies 3. and and truck A
| were the first to arrive, and a second ALARM.
| sent in by Chief Paris brought Nos II
| and and truck ID. Closely following the
| engines camc the police reserve of the
| sixth precinct. under the command of Lieu
tenant John F. Kelly and Sergeant Byrnes;
| the reserves Of the ninth precinct under
Lieutenant McCathran, and the reserves of
| the fifth precinct, under Sergeant MulEall.
| These were augmented by the police On the
beats surrounding the Capitol.
Major Richard Sylvester, superintendent
| of the police department, was present. and
| gave his personal attention to handling the
| crowds about the Capitol
The concussion wrecked the pump room,
| blew out the crown of the arch and scat
tered in every direction the Tagging in the
corridor above. The flames darted up the
shaft of the elevator, which had been COM
pletely destroyed by the force of the ex-
plosion and communicated with the record
room of the Supreme Court the office Of the
marshal of the court and the Law Library.
In order to enable the firemen to work
| without peril from live wires, Chief Electrl
| clan GLEN cut off the current from all
| wires except one circuit. which lighted the
| lower western part of the building. With
| in thirty feet of the scene of the explosion
| solitary incandescent lamp marking the
exact center of the Capitol structure and
| hanging directly over the bier in which it
| was proposed to lay the remains of George
Washington. burned brilliantly.
few minutes after the arrival of the
| fire department the flames seemed to be
under control, although precautionary
| measure streams were poured into the mar
| shals office, the library and the Subterra-
mean basement for two hours. The firemen
| were unable, however, for considerable
time to eXtinguish the flame of gas which
| shot out Of the foIr-inch main in the meter
| room. From this main the fire swept
through orifice in the basement floor,
caused by the explosion and attacked the
record room of the Supreme Court justices
on the main floor.
1t evident that the fire could not be
extinguished until the gas from the main
was cut off That this might be accom-
plished the fireman turned two streams
upon the main, choking the flow of gas
and at the time cooling the pipe.
Chief Electrician Gliem, heroically Drawing
the intense heat, entered the meter room
and cut off the gas at the floor valve of the
main.
Clash of Authority.
Mr.. Gleim and the fire department The
former, assisted by H. w. Taylor. chief en-
gneer of the House side, We're playing a
stream of water into the Supreme Court
record room, which by that time was
roaring furnace, when they We're ordered
by the assistant fire chief to desist Mr.
GLEN refused. and the assistant chief Of
the fire department ordered his to
place him under arrest. United States
pf1I fnrth har mill
cations by placing Mr.. Gliem under arrest
for the marshals office, and he was taken
away from the place. The arrest was
purely technical. and was for the purpose
of preventing Mr.. Giiem from being taken
into custody by the fire department for an
alleged interference with their work.
Second Explosion.
Just after the fire seemed under control,
and while the tiremen We're waiting for the
smoke to clear, to examine the oul1-
ing, a second explosion came. 1t caused
another upheaval of the floors above the
endorsement. and sent great tongues OF
flame licking their way upward. Owing TO
the smoke, the heat. the circuitous pas
sages and unfamiliarity with the building
the firemen had great difficulty in reaching
the flames but succeeded eventually in get
ting two lines of hose III play, and by 10
o'clock their work was over.
A line of hose burst during the progress
of the fire and the bystanders fled panic
stricken and dripping. 1t was re-
paired, but failed to work. A fireman con-
cluded that the pipe was choked, and TAX
ing off the nozzle he drew forth four eels.
There was no trouble afterward.
Former Fires.
The Capotol building has been damaged
a number of times before by fire, but it is
believed that last nights fire will prove to
be the most disastrous in the history of the
building. On two occasions PRIOR to this
gas. Seventeen years ago large amount Of
damage was done to the same part OF the
building by an explosion of this kind, and
in 1876 there was an explosion of gas that
killed one man and came near killing an
other. 1t occurred in the hall in the north
ern part of the building, at the point where
the main building and the Senate wing join.
When it occurred John King, head carpen-
ter in the building, was in the hall. He
was thrown against the wall with such
force to kill him instantly. His body,
striking against the wall, left an impress
sion which could only be removed by re-
building that portion of the structure. At
the same time Captain Cutler, now super
intendent of the municipal lodging house,
who was in charge OF the Senate folding
room, was severely burned and otherwise
injured.
Thanks to Col. Bright.
Chief Paris of the fire department last
night extended, through The Star, a vote
of thanks to Col. Richard ]. Bright SER
geant-at-arms of the Senate, for the supper
which was served to the members of the
department at the Congressional Hotel on
Colonel Bright's order. The men were di-
vided into relays, and, after a hearty meal,
each returned to the scene of the fire.
Reflections On Last Nights Fire.
To the Editor of The Evening Star:
Modern plumbing and political policing
seem to burn libraries well as Alnrou,
whose destruction of the AleXandrian
library caused longer sermons than mine
shall be.
The incongruous applications of national
buildings to storage, restaurants barber
shops, baths, elevators, etc, have vagrant
motive and termination.
Our new Library Of Congress abounds