The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-02-02
WILL Be A HEAVY Loss
Butte Visited by Most Disas-
trous Fire.
SOON BEYOND CONTROL
Property at the Corner of Park Street
and Ohio Avenue Goes Up in
Flames-The Damage Placed
at $4,000.

The most disastrous fire that has
visited Butte for nearly a year occurred
last night. The loss to the various
property owners having interests in
volved will aggregate more than $2O,-
900. and may reach s25,000 The scene
was the corner of Park street and Ohio
avenue and the property was the two
story veneered building owned by Jo-
seph H. Case of Case, Gravelle & Err
win and S. H. Courtney, formerly a
member of that firm, and the two-story
frame building adjoining, which is
owned by A. Tighe. The buildings are
virtually a total loss, together with all,
the business firms by which they were
occupied. The Case and Courtney
building was four stores long facing on
Park street and about so feet deep,
and the Tighe building two stores, fac
Ing Park and having the same depth.
All the store rooms WeMe occupied as
business places, and the upper story
by lodging houses and bath house
The lodgings were all occupied by
roomers, most of whom were asleep and
several people had narrow escapes,
barely having enough time to get on
few clothes and get out Little or
nothing Of all the contents of the
buildings was saved.
The fire burned with awful ferocity
and the firemen were unable to make
any Roadway whatever against it. The
Case and Courtney building stood at
Nos. 300, 302, 304, 306 East Park The
corner store, No. 800, and all of the
upper story were leased by DR., A. w.
Noble of the Noble Drug company. The
store room was occupied by the drug
store and the upper floor was re-let
to the Butte Bath and Massage COM
pany, which conducted Turkish bath
house, and to Miss Rolf, each occupy
ing half the floor, and Miss Rolls por-
tion being lodging. The store room
at 1902 was occupied by the Cash Meat
market and Nos. 304 and 3O6 by the
Royal Milling company. The Tighe
building at Nos. 3OS and $40 was known
as the Klondike house, conducted by
Charles Heckler. saloon occupied
the ground floor and the upper fioor
was run as cheap hotel or lodging
house. AS nearly as could be ascer-
tanned the fire started in the Turkish
bath rooms over the Noble drug store,
but from what cause is unknown.
The one to discover the fire was L.
COOK, who conducts grocery store on
the opposite side of fine street Mr..
S'oor '-aIiS Jul VI LIES SlOIe al IL U CLOCK
and noticed a, big volume of smoke is
suing from the windows over the drug
store. He ran across the street to the
klondike saloon, and calling Proprietor
Heckler, told him there was a fire in
the adjoining building Heckler ran to
the corner of Ohio avenue and turned in
an alarm just as Officer Wilson, who
had also discovered the fire in the mean
time, arrived at the box for the same
M
crowd of men We're soon on the scene,
who voluntarily went through the lodg-
lngs upstairs to awaken the inmates
In very short space all were safely
outside and the department had arriv-
ed. Snort as the time was, the whole
upper floor of both buildings was afire,
fames were leaping from the windows
and the interior was raging furnace
It was impossible for the firemen to
enter and Chief Flannery was compelled
to content himself with stationing his
men in front and directing the streams
in through the windows. One line Of
hose was first laid followed by another.
but the streams had no effect or at
least not enough to make any appre-
c1able showing, and an alarm was sent
to headquarters for the extra hose wag-
on, which was soon on the ground and
two more lines were laid, turning 4.
oil ediIiS DIT the rear.
About this time the water pressure
commenced to weaken and got de-
spairingly bad, SO bad that astream on
the Ohio avenue side would scarcely
reach the second story window. Thare
was no hope then for the building. The
tire continued to burn fjercely, the
flames lighting up the distance with
almost sun-like brilliancy, and creating
a heat so intense that the veneered walls
OF the brick soon commenced to cruln-
BILE and fall. With a great crash, a
portlon OF the front wall came down at
a time that several men were in the
drug store assisting in removing some
OF the stock. 1t was feared the whole
building was about ITO fall, and there
was a wild rush for safety All got out
and as it was obviously unsafe then to
approach the building. The firemen
We're stationed at safe distance with
their pipes and the crowd, several hun
dred people, stood back and watched
the fire as 1t steadily gained in head
way.
When the water pressure began to fail
a signal was sent in to notify the
pump stations of the water company,
and, the pressure was increased after a
time but 1t was too late. All that could
be done was to keep the fire from
spreading. The fire burned on till
ABOUT q O'Clock, and was only under
control when the two buildings were
destroyed or so nearly 50, that what Is
left cannot be utilized. It smouldered
till morning.
The Case and Courtney building was
formerly the works of the old Mahoney
Five or six years ago it was
rebuilt as a business block by the pres
ent owners. It was brick veneered and
was worth in the neighborhood of SIS, 900,
1t was insured, but for what amount
could not be learned. The Klondike
house, or Tighe building, was a frame
structure, and though old, was substan-
tial and was worth about $4,000. It
was also insured
1t was found, after the fire was under
control and an examination made, that
the lower floor of this building was not
as badly damaged as at first supposed
and that the stock of liquors would be
saved. The loss of Charles HeckIer.
of the Klondike house, will
be about $4,000, fully insured. The loss