Virginian-pilot. (Norfolk, Va.) 1898-1911, 1899-02-16
MACHINE SHOP BURNED
Destructive Fire in the Brooklyn
Navy Yard.
shop No. rs, With Fine Models mad
Platforms OF Isntticships Complete
~ wiped Out-I.oss More Thnm
Milton Dollars.
tBy Telegraph to virs,nlan- pnota

(By Telegraph 10 NirsInlan- Piiot)
New York. Feb 15.-Ovcr million
dollars worth of Government property
was destroyed by fire. which started IN
the large machine shop of the Brooklyn
navy yard. known as machine shop
No. 2S. tonight, and the workings OF
the navy yard have received serious
setback Many fine models and pat
terms Of battloships. their parts and
plans. have been destroyed. and some
of them cannot be obtained again ex-
copt by going over the work mapped
out in the beginning. 4 great numher
of the models were simply copies OF
plans. drawings and specifications now
in the store rooms of the Department
II :. X ll,-l..,-,-
placed at any time. The steam engin-
eerinS department of the BROOKLYN
yard is practically wiped out, and
the work done in that building will
have to be thrown temporarily upon
the Department of Yards and Docks.
and that of Construction and Repair.
There is considerable obstruction to
the work there, and an extra force will
have to be put on in order To keep up
with the work
THE FIRE DISCOVERED.
The fire was first discovered at G: 30
o'clock tonight by the man on the
watch of the battleship Massachusetts
He Immediately notified Lieutenant r..
T. MulliSan, in charge of the watch.
ana call to fire quarters was made.
The men of the Massachusetts scurrieI
down to the machine shop. about 300
yards away, and with the aid of n hose
reel picked up i'll the yard. got a small,
stream playing on the fire The build-
ms was about 100 feet in width and 3oj
feet long. l. was four stories in height
and built Of stone and brick. Tn
wooden inside was thoroughly sam
rated with oil. and the flames rapidlv
cameo headWay 1t was seen that the
Massachusetts men could do bur LITTLE
against the blaze. and Colonel Hunt
inSton. in command of the marines.
joined in the work. About thi.; limo a
fourth alarm was turned in, and all en-
SineS in the neighbOrhood of the navy
yard responded. The flames had ;hcn
completely developed the great machine
shop, and attention had to be paid 10
the foundry and other buildings in III.
vicinity. several times the flames got
start on the foundry roof. but the
firemcn quickly put them out. a small
corrugated iron building in the rear o,
the machine shop took fire, and was
burned. but the loss on this is insign!n-
cant.
The fremen pumped huge streams of
water into The bla2ins machine shop.
but all efforts were fruitless.
The fire made such rapid progress in
the machine shop that by s o'clock the
officials Of the navy-yard pronounced it
an utter loss.
At about II o'clock the fire had spent
itself.
DESCRIPTION OF THE SHOP.
Machine shop No. 2S was; occupied by
the coppersmiths, the boilermakers. the
carpenters and machinista. About six
hundred people were employed in them
but only two watchmen We're in the
building al the time of the outbreak OF
the fire. The last workman had left
the place at o'clock. Aside from being
filed with a great mass of machinery.
more or less used, the building was oc-
cupied as pattern and model shop.
(Continued on Sixth PareN