Evening journal., 1899-07-24
FIRE IN A RESTAURANT,
DREW IMMENSE CROWD TO THE
SCENE ON SATURDAY NIGHT.

| DhEW IMMENSE OhOWO - lF1E
SCENE ON SATURDAY NIGHT.
lFIREMEN HANDICAPPED INTHEIR
WORK BY TELEGRAPH, TELE-
PHONE AND ELECTRIC LIGHT
WIREs-TWO ACCIDENTS OC-
CURED.
Fire broke out shortly after o'clock
Saturday night in the fourth floor Of
the building No. $40 King street, and
for a time matters looked serious.
The dwelling is occupied by Chris
tian Stuck, as an eating and lodging
house. and is known as the City Res
taurant.
few minutes after o'clock, as
George Wright, colored, was prepar-
ing supper for customer, two boys
rushed up to the door, and cried out,
mister, your house is on firel"
Wright dropped everything. and in
company with William Meeks, who
was eating supper at the time, ran
upstairs to the fourth floor where
sley found flames bursting forth
from the ceiling in the northwest COR
ner OF the building
In the meantime James Burke ran
to Third and King streets, and Sc
curing the key to box No. 81. from
Grady's shoe store. sent in an alarm.
King. Fourth and Market streets.
we've thronged with pedestrians at the
time, and all made a break for the
scene OF the FIRE. The district engines
responded promptly. but experienced
great difficulty in reaching the fire,
owing to the crowd that had congre-
gated.
Fourth street and King street were
literally jammed, and it was as much
as squad Of policemen from the first,
second and fifth districts and the Mar
ket street reserve officers, under COM
mand of Sergeant Evans, could do to
keep the thoroughfare clear so the
hremen could work
The street was finally roped of,
however, and the crowd kept back.
After reaching the building the fire.
men We're handicapped in their work
by the network of overhead telegraph,
telephone and electric light wires.
which run along King street. It was
almost impossible for the Phoenix
truck crew to raise their ladders, as
they had to pass them beneath the
wires to avoid cutting them.
When the firemen reached the top
Of the building, it was found that the
blaze was between the roof and the
lceiling of the fourth floor. and they
had no difficulty in extinguishing the
blaze. An UNUSUAL amount Of water
was poured upon the building. which
soaked through the third and second
stories. and came pouring down in
streams into the restaurant below
Mr.. Stuck has six lodging rooms in
his house. and the bedding and furni-
ture in all of them were badly dam.
aged by water. His wife's clothing
was also ruined. Mr. Stuck is insured
/. in the Royal to the extent Of $500
and his loss will probably reach hal
= that amount. The building is a par
Of the old Parry estate. and is nov
q owned by Wolters & Levy. The los
on it will probably reach $500, covere,
10y insurance
While responding to the alarm twI
.ccidents, the result Of being run int
by hose carriages. occurred. The Reli
ance hose carriage came up Fourtl
street, and turning into King, dfov
up close to the curb on the west sid
Of the street. The sidewalk was line
= with spectators, and standing close I
|. the curbstone was George Brown, tn
!, 14-year-old son of James Brown. pr,
:, lprietor of the Bulls Head Hotel.
No. 1O3 West Front street. The whe
- Of the carriage struck Brown in Il
I leg and cut him badly. The Phoent
ambulance was summoned and arriv,
1 shortly afterward. carrying DR.. Jam
l. Morgan, who dressed the boys Il
- juriss and sent him home
AS the Fame Hose wagon was cor
1re ing mp Second street it collided wi
illo iicl one Of n. B. Danforth's delivery wa
eat ons, standing on Second street, 4
eni ween Market and King streets. a.
hts completely wrecked it. Fortunate
ma no one was hurt.
D. Mr.. Stuck. who is a member Of {