The San Francisco call., 1898-04-15
It Was a Well Known Resort for Park and
 Ocean Frequenters.
Lack of Hydrant Facilities Pre- vented Effective Work by
 the Bremen.
WAS A BRILLIANT BLAZE.
It Started in the Kitchen and the Inmates Had to Hurry to
 Escape.

Golden Gate Villa, one of the pret- t1est resorts on the ocean beach, was destroyed by fire last night. The place was owned and conducted by Robert Haggerty and Charles Leonhardt, and scarcely vestige of 1t was left at mid night, when the fire engines were called away from the scene. The firemen could do .tttle to save the buildings and their contents. The nearest fire hy- drant was 400 feet away, and there was only one of them in the district that could be reached by hose line. From that only a feeble stream could be got and about all the firemen could do was to stand and watch the place burn.
 It made brilliant blaze. The build ings were of light ginger bread work and burned readily. The flames could be seen from the city above the tops of the hills that skirt the ocean beach, and at the Cliff House, a half-mile awa- 1t dimmed the electric lights.
 All that was saved from the place was few of the bar fixtures and they were not estimated to be worth more than $50. The proprietors of the place estimate their building and contents to be worth about s25,000, and the insur- ance companies representatives place the loss at only $3000 below their fig ures. The insurance on the property was $20.000.
 The fire started In the kitchen. It was first observed by John McMahan, the trainer of James Lawler, the pugi- list, who is preparing for a fight with Charles Conway at the Olympic Club on next Friday night. He gave the alarm, and the occupants of the place had hardly time to escape with their lives. LaWler was asleep in his room, and when he was aroused the flames were at the door of his apartment. He was obliged to leap from the window only partially dressed. He left his watch and two diamond rings behind, as well as his training apparatus.
 Charles Spohn, the bartender of the saloon, occupied room near that of Lawier, and he, too, was obliged to jump for his life. He saved scarcely watch in the bar of the house and as soon as the alarm was given and it was seen that the flames had such a great start, he occupied his time in re- moving what he could from the bar, but 1t was not long before he was driven away, so rapidly did the fire spread. and he saved but little of the stock of liquors.
 In the rear of the main building were many sheds, and it was not long be- fore they were enveloped in flames. One of a pair of horses was gotten safely out of one of the sheds, but the other was caught by the fire and burned to death.
 About a hundred feet to the south of where the burned buildings stood is the Golden Gate Life-saving Station, but by the work of the crew of the place, with their feeble fire-fghting app -atus and the formation of a bucket brigade among their number, the buildings were kept wet and the fire was pre- vented from spreading to them. A short distance to the east is large three-story building recently erected by Adolph Sutro, but as yet unoccupied. It was in a direct line with the sparks that were carried by the high wind, but the firemen united their efforts in protecting it when it was seen that nothing could be saved from the burn- ing structures, and though the fire brands lodged several times in it's roof it was saved from the flames.