The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-12-05
PROPERTY LOSS
OVER A MILLION
FOR THREE HOURS CONFLAGRA-
TION DEFTED THE EFFORTS
OF THE FIREMEN
BUILDINGS BLAZED
UP LIKE TINDER

Home Life, Postal, Rogers, Peet &
Co. and United States Insurance
Buildings Food for the Flames
Height of the Structures
Made 1t Almost Impossible to Get
Water Where 1t Was Most Needed
-FIremen Under Falling
Wall, but Nome of Them Was
Seriously Hurt-No Loss of Life
So Far as known.
NEW YORK, Dec. 5.-In a binding
| rainsterTn tonight, the massive block
| Of buildings on Broadway, numbers
| 253 to 259, and included between Mur-
ray and Warren streets, was almost
destroyed by fire. Within three hours
mere than a million dollars worth of
property wes destroyed. The fire be-
gan in the flve-story brick building ee-
cupded by the mems furnishing firm Of
| Rogers, Peet & Co., en- the southwest
ceFner Of Broadway and Warren
streets. Adjoining the Rogers-Peet
building and south of it was the mag
nif1cent white building Of the Home
Life Insurance company, and next to
this was the brown-stone building of
the Postal Telegraph company, erected
at a cost of millions only few years
ago.
Within a few minutes after the dis
covery Of the fire the Rogers-Peet
building was a roaring furnace and an
alarm had been turned in which
brought more than a score Of engines
! when the flames had eaten through the
wall Of the Home Life and were roar
/ ing high above that lofty structure
! Thousands Of people had gathered
on the scene and the binding glare of
! the flames lit uD the lower part of the
city. Even in the downpour the great
crowds Of people grew and the police
reserves were called out from many
stations and kept the people back for
! blocks. Great showers of sparks were
carried in all directions by the gale
! that blew sixty miles an hour. It was
a picturesque fire.
| TRANSIT PLANS LOST.
The Home Life Insurance building
was occupied by that company and bv
a large number of prominent men in
various lines Of business. Every effort
was made to save the valuable papers
stored in some of the offices, but MANY
| Of these were lost. The offices of the
rapid transit commission were on the
ninth floor of this building, and it is
believed that all the plans and scban,as
of work with which the commission
has been working this many wears
| have been destroyed. In the Postal
/ building as well there were manv sAri-
Gus losses of a private nature and
when the flames reached the operating
| room Of this structure, which thew did
within three hours of the outbreak the
one or two solitary operators who re-
mained at their posts were compelled
to fee for their lives.
The fire burned even more Aaroa1,, -
the Home Life building, owing to the
! great height of this structure and IN
! an incredibly short time the upner half
OF this magnificent building was in
flames. The water towers in the street
were able to throw their heavy streams
only into the lower part Of the struc-
! lure, and the fremen, though they
| worked with great bravery and untir-
ing energy in the binding smoke and
neat could do little in the face of such
a fierce sweep of flame and gale II
was only question Of time when the
Postal building, so far as the upner
stories were concerned, went the wav
Of the Others
ESTIMATE OF LOSS.
| The estimate Of the losses by Chief
| Bonner, after midnight. was 81 OOo non
with probability Of a still further
less should the fire continue to make
anything like rapid progress. At that
hour, however, he believed that he had
| the fire under control within reasono-
bic limits.
AT o'clock, however, it was sill
burning fiercely in front, and. al
though not observable by the thou
sands Of spectators, was burning still
more fercely and extending lower
down in the rear.
An insurance man roughly estimated
the losses at about as follows:
Rogers, Peet & Co., building and
stock and losses to other tenants in
the building, $3.50, ,0O0
Home Life Insurance company.
building and losses to other tenants,
$500. 00O
Postal Telegraph company, building
and losses to other tenants, 500 900.
Losses to surrounding buildings, $780,
600.
Chief Bonner thought that this esti-
mate on the basis of 81 ,0OO 900 loss,
was about as near correct as was pos
| sible to make.
The Rogers, Peet & Co. building was
| the property Of the Hoffman estate
| and was one Of the historic buildings