The record-union., 1899-06-30
WILD EXCITEMENT.
SCENE AT THE saTEITER FIRE
AT JEROME.
Graphic Descriptionsof the Peril Of
the Company's Works and
the Firemen.

JEROME (Ariz.), June 29.-Since the
filing of the last Associated Press dis
patch Wednesday night Jerome has
been one scene of wild excitement with
out Interruption The great copper
camp has not experienced such wild
turmoil in it's weird and charmed ca
reer. The disorder had its incipiency
with the breaking out Of fire in the
large reverberatory at the smelter
works of the United Verde Copper
Company on Tuesday night, and has
increased at frightful rate since.
The reverberatory is one of the prin-
cipal buildings of the copper company,
and within easy reach of every other
building belonging to the great plant,
and LOO men are employed around
the smelter. This force of men fought
the flames with a desperate courage
born of a knowledge of the far-reach-
ing consequence of the destruction OF
the property To the east Of the re-
verberatory is the s1nelter, and the
great copper furnaces advance twenty
feet north the power-house with r.
600 square feet of floor space covered
with Corliss engines, electric light
plant, etc., and valued at $2oO,OOO, coke
| bins containing 5000 tons of coke
above the trestle works to the United
Verde and Pacific Railway with a train
of freight cars, one of which was load
ed with giant powder. South were
| the offices of the company's officials.
| From it's point Of vantage the fire
at the start proved to be master of the
situation, and in few minutes con-
sumed the outer walls of the bins con-
tanning the coke, precipitating this
mass of infiammable material into the
! flames, and the great heat generated
from this was something beyond the
power Of humans to cope with, and set
! fire to the trestle work under the rail-
| road and the string of cars thereon.
The car loaded with powder was not
thought of until the car next to it was
on fire. A train crew took out an en-
CINE and went through the burning
smoke and run over the burning
trestle to the car and pulled it safely
out of harms way, not, however, until
the brakeman who coupled the car to
the engine had his hair singed, and five
minutes after the carload of powder
was removed the remaining cars fell
on the fire below.
The companys officials were deter
mined to save the poWer-house at all
costs. To accomplish this adj the water
of the city was shut Off and 5,COG
people We're without water in the dryest
climate in the world. To further ag-
gravate this cause, the river can be
seen flowing quietly at the foot of. the
mountain, seemingly not a quarter of
a mile away, SO clear is the atmosphere,
but in reality it is seven miles away.
Few complaints were heard, however,
from any of them, and 4 mighty cheer
was given when a break was finally
made in the coke, and it was realized
that there was a good chance to save
the mine and smelter While this con-
test was at it's hight. tons of live coke
fell through an open shaft to the 300
foot level, and before it could be told
a great volume Of smoke rolled out of
| the mine.
Volunteers were called for to go down
and fight the flames in the bowels of
the earth, and the response was prompt
and hearty. It was with the utmost
difficulty that they made their way
! through the great shaft leading into
the mine proper. The fumes from the
burning sulphur was simply impossi-
BILE for common men to cope with. II
took eight hours to get the fire in the
mine under control