The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1900-02-10
4 HOT TINE IN ST. LOUIS.
A Sunday Fire that Licked Up a
Million Dollars Worth of
Property.
ONE MAN KILLED and ELEVEN INJURED.
Portions of Five Blocks at the North
End of the Retail Section De-
stroyed-The biggest Blaze the
City Hns Seen Since. the Big Fire
of 40.

St. Louis, Feb. 6.-Stripped of all eX-
~aggerat;on, ST. Louis Sunday fire was
the most extensive that has occurred
in the city since the famous of ~.
That it was not still more destructive
was due to the fact that a a OF ain
and snow had occurred in the morning,
serving to dampen the buildings,
which had become abnormally dry,
thus impeding ignition from the fire
brands that were hurled by Il brisk
wind from the. scene of the initial fire
towards the river.
Entire Department Out.
The entire fire department was
called out, something that has not &c
Cured before in the history of the
modern department, and the men and
engines worked unremittingly in their
efforts to check the progress of the
flames, and it was not until 4:30 p. IN.
that it could be said that the fire was
fully under control.
The fire, in its initial stages, was
one of the most peculiar that the st.
Louis fire department has ever. had
to cope with. Immediate response to
a still alarm was made by two engine
on.panies but two blocks away, and
YET, before they could reach the scene
the flames had gained a Roadway that
no human power could check. 1t was
as though the interior of the burning
building had been saturated with some
infis mmable substance, and had been
touched off on every floor simultau-
eoIsly. The outbreak of the fire was
Immediately succeeded by an explo-
sion which blew out the second floor
front of the building and sem a sheet
of flames across Broadway that at
once enveloped the wooden awning
strl cture that ran the entire length
of the old Crawford store.
story of the Fire.
The FIRE, which originated in the de-
partnient store of Penny Il Gentles, on
the southwest orner of Broadway and
Franklin avenue, swept parts of five
blocks in the district bounded on the
west by the alley between Broadway
and Sixth street, on the north by
Wash street, on the south by Morgan
street, and on the east by Third
street.
The property loss is estimated at
nearly 81, ZOO, 900. One fireman was
killed by being buried under the ruins
of one of the burned stores, and IL
men were injured, five of them severe
ly. by falling debris, wires and other
incidents of a great fire.
Terrific Heat.
The heat was terrific. even at points
driven by the wind. 1t shrivcled paint
and cracked plate glass north of
Franklin avenue, and presently, before
streams of water. could be turned on
the newly threatened buildings,
charred the wooden fronts and then
nursed them into flames.
The wind was stiff, and in it there
was SHOW. 1t whipped the faces of
The struggling firemen, and scattered
the streams of water that they were
trying to throw upon the burning
buildings when they could get within
ItdCI VI tllCiH. III all tht tllllc u
was sending the fire toward the river
with a swiftness that it seemed beyond
human power 20 check.
The Greedy Flames.
As the flames stretched across
Broadway to the old Crawford store,
they also veered to the south and took
in the Schaper Brothers store. imme-
diately south Of the Penny d Gentles.
They did c scorch +hings as they
went-thcy FIRST s%mothered them and
then devoured them.
Nothing escaped them. Heavy wood
en- beams were rs finder in a furnace;
great iron beams twisted and
squirmed in their grasp. and bent I'M
der the heat; brick walls cracked,
swuvcd and :umbled. and almost be-
fore the firemen had got their bear
ings the first three stores that had be-
come ignited were ruins.
stopped BY n Fire Wall.
1t was so all through the district
that was burned. Everything was at
tackled with equal ferocity. until the
huge lire wall VI IdliouS StODItu TIC
fire on the south, and the wide eX-
punsa betweet the east and west sides
of Third street stopped it on the east.
Now ard then 4 building was passed
over-not untouched, but still not
ruined.
Hard Work for the Firemcn.
And then the flames died down. In
stead of the blanket OF Sre. there was
a fog of smoke. 1t die not rise as the
flames had done; it hung iow, and hid
completely from view, save when 4
gust of the wind would throw it aside,
the awful ruin that had been done.
Amid it all the firemen worked.
They were chilled by the cold wind,
drenched by the volumes of water that
were dashed back into their faces. and
blistered and scorched by the awful
heat.
Following is a list of the casualties
and the firms involved:
Dead.
Charles Mebus. Engine Co. No. II.
Injured.
Chief Swingley, face and nose blistered.
August ThOerry, first assistant chief;
shocked by falling trolley wire