The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-02-16
NAVY YARD LOSES A MILLION.
FIRE DESTROYS MANY VALUABLE
MODELS OF WARSHIPs.

Machine shop at the Brooklyn Navy
Yard Burned to the GrOund-Cause
of the Fire Not KnOwn-Wu BE
an InvestiEatiOn-MOde of the
Lost BattIeship Maine Among
Those Destroyed-There Was Little
Work on Hand.
New York. Feb. 15-Over million dol
lars worth of government property was
destroyed by a fire which started in the
large machine shop of the Brooklyn navy
yard known as Machine Shop No. 2s to-
night and the workings of the navy yard
have received a serious set t-baek
Many fine models and patterns of battle
ships their parts and plans, have >been
destroyed and some of them cannot be OBJ
tanned again except by going over the
work mapped out in the beginning.
A great number of the models we're sim
ply copies of plans drawing and specii-
cations now in the store rooms of the de-
paTment at Washington, and these can
be replaced at any time
The steam engineering department of the
Brooklyn yard is practically wiped out.
and the work done in that building viii
have to be thrown temporarily upon the
department of yards and docks and that
o. construction and repairs. There is
considerable obstruction to the work there
and an extra force will have To ba M,
oil III order to keep up with the work.
Inc hre was discovered at $50 O'Clock
tonight by the man on the watch OF the
pattleship Massachusetts,. He Immediate
~ notified Lieut.. .R T. Mulligan in
charSe of the watch, and a call to fire
quarters was made. The men of the Mas
sachusetts scurried down to the machine
shop about 300 yards away, and with the
ana OF hose reel picked up in the ward
sot small stream plying on the fire.
Fire Department Called.
The building was about 100 feet in width
and 325 feet long. 1t was four stories in
hlght and built of stone and brick. The
wooden inside was thoroughly saturated
with OIL and the flames rapidly gained
headWay. 1t was seen that the Massa-
chusetts men could do but little against
the blaze, and Col. Huntingdon. in com
mand OF the marines Joined in the work.
ABOUT this time a fire alarm was turn
ed IN, and all the engines in the neigh
borhood or the navy yard responded The
flames had then completely enyeloned the
great machine shops, and attention had
to be paid to the foundry and other build
ings in the vicinity. Several times the
flames got a start on the foundry roof
but the firemen quickly put them out.
small corrugated iron building in the rear
of the machine shop took fire and was
burned, but the loss on this is insIgnif
cant.
The firemen pumped huge streams of
water into the blazing machine shop hut
ali efforts were fruitless.
The fire made such rapid progress in
the machine shop that by s O'Clock tha
officials of the navy yard pronounced II
an utter loss At about Il O'Clock the fire
had spent itself
Many Models DESTROYED
Machine shop No. 2S was occunied hv
the coppersmiths, the boiler makers the
carpenters and machinists. About 600 neo-
pie were employed In them, but only two
watchmen We're in the building at the
time of the outbreak of the fire The last
workman had left the place at O'Clock.
Aside from being filled with a great mass
of machinery, more or less used the build
ing was occupied as a pattern and model
shop. Here were kept the models. plans
drawings and specifications of the work
TO be done on any Of the naval vessels
that were to be repaired at the ward
Many models of battleships and war YES
sells built from time to time were kept
there. These were mostly copies of models
and their loss, which, though footing up
considerable from a pecuniary point. will
not be irreparabe.
The steam engineering department. had
a number of elaborate plans, which were
originated i'm this yard, and they cannot
be replaced.