New-York tribune., 1900-04-05
ALL CITY, YESTERDAY DESTROYED BY FIRE

The Hall Association has $4,000 in the bank
and will have the S155,0o insurance for imnle-
diate USE the insurance compa nies having Of
fered to waive the usual sixty day limit and
make settlement on demand The Kansas City
Lumber Company. that furnished four-fifths of
the lumber for the old building. has agreed
duplicate the order at once at the rate in exist
ence two years ago. and the Minneapolis firm
that furnished the steel girders for the immense
roof has been asked to duplicate the order.
The fire started just above the boiler room.
where some plumbers had been at work There
was no fire in the furnace and the supposition
is that the blaze started from spirit lamp
by the ssing of an electric light wire A still
alarm was first turned IN, and by the time the
first engine arrived ten minutes later the whole
building was of flames. and in less than
alf an hour the roof, upheld by massive steel
girders that spanned its 200 feet of breadth,
fell with a crash that sent showers of burning
embers in every direction. The brick Cornthian
columns, lining the building along the facades
on Thirteenth and Central SITS, tottered a few
minutes and fell outward, and the hall was a
complete wreck.
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH BURNED
A strong wind carried the flames to the Sec
ond Presbyterian Church. on the opposite side Of
Thirteenth and Central sts.. and in forty min
utes that structure. occupying half block in
length, was in ruins. The parsonage adjoining
and next the Lathrop School which was par
TALLY destroyed in the cyclone Of 1888 and
which had been set aside for the use OF the
newspaper correspondents in the coming con-
vention, were attacked by the flames stimuli
taneously. and soon nothing save their walls
were left standing. Fortunately, the school
children had not returned to their after
the noon hour, and all were taken TO places of
safety. Next the flames caught the William
brick flats, across the alley from the hall
on the north. IN Twelfth-st., and these We're
burned out. The flats occupied half block and
were three stories in height. Flying embers
started blazes a dozen different houses within
radius of TWO blocks. and. famed by a stiff
breeze and aided by low water pressure
threatened a general conhagration
Convention Hall had been classed as one of the
largest and most perfectly constructed audi
toriums in the world The building was erected
in 1898 at a cost of S23j.000 which was raised
entirely by public subscription. 1t occupied a
piece OF ground 314 by POO feet in extent, was
two stories high and built of native stone cream
brick and terra Gotta. The first story was of
the Renaissance style of architecture, and the
second story was in peristyle form. with groups
and columns. The building was of bridge con-
struction. without a column, the roof being
supported by great steel girders. Its general
seating arrangement was modelled somewhat
upon the plan of the Metropolitan Opera House
NeW-YOrk. The floor space was divided into
arena. arena balcony. balcony and roof garden
with boxes skirtng the arena and the arena bal
cony. The total seating capacity OF the build
ing was nearly twenty thousand and with
standing room, the building was capable of hold
ing more than twenty-five thousand peopIe The
arena alone seated four thousand. The build
ing had no stairways, the upper seatings being
reached by means Of inclined planes Separate
exits We're used for the balconies and roof gar
den, and 1t is estimated that the hall could he
efnptied at the rate of five thousand persons a
minute.
That the Convention Hall will be rebuilt and
before July A. was settled the meeting this
evening Of the Board of Directors of the Con
vention Hall Company That the necessary
funds will be subscribed Immediately is not even
questioned. Early tomorrow morning a force of
men will be sent into the ruins to begin the
work OF clearing away the debris To-nieht tha
directors are in telegraphic communication with
iron and steel men throughout the country in
an effort to secure the necessary structural iron
and steel. The securing of this material Is the
one question that is causing uneasiness-
In the old building there were approximately
one thousand tons of iron and steel There ie
doubt whether the great steel eirders and
trusses that supported the massive roof can he
constructed in time owing TO the present praat
demand upon the iron and steel works IIou,
ever. even though the iron men should nrove nm
equal to the emergency ii is believed that the
hall can be rebuilt In time for the conyention nv
putting on temporarily light roof supnortad
by wooden columns This plan is heinz al
the old Exposition Building. two miles east aF
the burned hall. could easily be trapsforr,ad
into satisfactory auditorium. This buiIdin~
would seat probably ten thousand persons
The Democrats In this city were nor rn,o.
worried yesterday the burning of the b,a -
In Kansas City in which the Convention Us >. ~
held They said that doubtless there wor,d
plenty OF time to rebuild the structure beror. ~
convention. At all events they would u,at, -,
!. t'ts ,aking any ACTION The National Committee
was added would doubtless look after the mat