The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-12-09
This Year Narrowly Escapes Be-
ing the Lowest Known.
CHIEF kELLooo's AMBITION.
The Cherry street Jewelry Fire Pre-
vents Him From Realizing His
Hope of Going Into Retirement
With q Banner Closing Year
Threatened to Make Big Firea.


pointed IN his ambition 10 bring MS .ast
year in office "a close with the lowest
1 record OF FIRE losses IN the history Of the
depar snnent He had everything going ali
| r.gh. until the unfortpnat. fire In the jew
e.ry store iast month The losses II taiS
case were OUT OF all proportion 10 the size
| OF the IRE. and tie departments COED work
IL stopping the fire promptly Was to no
| purpose, 80 far as the chiefs ambition
was concerned
without the Cherry street Jewelry fire
| the total fire loss in Seattle, barring seri-
| Gus eoni.agration during the Ieulais. NJ
four weeks Of The year, would fall under
the sum OF 10000. For a city OF .s.osn "a
nabitants this Is a very small loss. Con-
sidering that getting a department TO
fire in this city involves hills and muddy
roads TO an exceptional extent, the record
Is remarkable.
SIX years ago the fire loss was $ili 152
In 1854 /: was Sill. 6s4: in 1885 it was sZl9.-
l42. In these years there were large fires
TO swell the aggregate losses. but it is the
more TO the credit Of the department that
they have been able for three years TO
check the fires before they became. large.
The Jewelry fire on Cherry street had in
II the making Of a huge fiare-up, id
also the bakery fire Willow street, in
which Assistant Chief Cook was seriously
injured. but the vigorous work Of the de-
partment held the flames down to small
beginnings.
Many Causes of Fires.
glance through the list of known
causes for fires during the past year rem
ders the record OF prevention all the more
surprising. Almost once a month for the
past eleven months some one in this city
mas gone 10 bed with a cigar in b4s mouth
and has been awakened 10 find his bed
clothes. and sometimes his room. on fire.
The Stevens hotel was almost lost by this
cause.
Nearly forty times during, the year. the
department was called out because chin
Eeys. fiues and such parts OF houses had
got out of order Children playing with
matches and other fire material caused sev-
en- houses TO be threatened with the fire
demon. Housewives or lords who disobey
the law as 10 the placing Of ashes In ron
barrels and at fixed distances from fences
or wooden walls Were the cause Of half
dozen tEes during the year.
hs Uysrnea,sd s..,yes; an incident which
regulated houses. act the walls afire in
eight cases To VII ch the department was
called Cigars an. cigar stumps earelessly
thrown among inz-.tnmabe material were
the foundation Of four or five outbreak
-Four or five coal oil lamps exploded and
burned carpets, ta0leclotas, drapery or
resulting In serious damage 10 the entire
buildings.
Calls to Extingnish Burning Brush.
In July. when things were dry and peopie
destroyed the brush around their propertie.-.
The department was called out twenty-four
times to check fires which had got beyond
the control of those Who had set them. The
calls in this month sometimes Numbered
TIRES or four daily Durin, the year there
were forty-two fires OF this kind In sim
lar manner seven SIDEWALKS were threaten
ed with fires spread from grass iires set by
persons DESTROYS OF clearing their lots
The sawdust piles about The mills took
are in halt dozen Instances and called
out the department. Even the lighting OF
lar i9FfGES Dy some Ipri3Prt
caused alarms to be turned In, and The poor
animals had to drag the big engines and
hills
Leaking gas mains overheated steam
pipes. ignition of alcohol, sparks fTom an
Wis, electric wires. sparks from the power
houses. alright heaters, sky rockets on
the Fourth, OF July. irewo0d placed 100
close 10 the stove, drftwood piled up on
the beach and set on tire, presumably by
boys: furnaces out Of order, and many
other similar things made the probability
to the little fire boxes 10 ring In the alarms
Fires During the Year.
At the rate at which the department had
been doing business up TO November So
there will be a total OF a55 alarms respond
cd 10 during the current year Considered
without reference 10 the cost Of fighting the
fires, and reckoning only upon the actLal
cost OF getting ths engines. other appar-
atus and men out OF their houses To the
fires, these responses cost the city over
$500
Merely 10 get the department out of the
houses and 10 the scene OF the fire and re-
turn costs 80. This is the cost fer false
alarms well as for those which are
genuine Chief Kellogg, like chiefs in all
ether cites. almost despairs OF lmpressing
upon the public The coStiiness OF turning
n false alarms. Seattle people have turned
in thirty sucn alarms during the past year
a 81 cast to the Taxpayers, which means IN.
PUZZLE itself, Of nearly SIEGE
The general liable o. IRE causes exhibits
as follows FOR the first eleven months OF the
year
Chmneys. fges, etc.. 80. ........ s.
tncGn5iary ........ ... z
Pipes and c.gars in bed ......,.... :
oYer1leated stoves etc .........,, 3
Ash barrels and waste ..-.........
tfas main !sdkAge ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.