The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1900-01-23

NNNfNNHNNH E|HNHN w WV NMfN"|' wv
sssa IN flames huihinf of ttlHs eal
aavcd. ufrsi piles uf merchandise hai
hen huffledly ard ffanilraily ihfovf
ont upon me sliswblka and dfays wef,
busliy ENGAGED IN rarilnr u 40 places
~ safety Most " A. however Va,
consumed Individuals making uI
bnnEies ~ absolute necessities Wnf,
fnfced 10 abandon them and Zee
Chests. trunks. valises boxes. hnatlly
nailed up. we're sirewn al along Klnf
street toward Nuuanu. only 90 be- con.
sumed later a. the nre gained ground
Block caught IRE at 1890 ~ I
O'Clock the Gre had swept entirely
through the four blocks below a.. loav-
ing nothing but Q smolderlng mass ~
rulns At Maufihken street deter
mined effort was made 10 hold the IRE
TO the Eva side Of the street Block
which had already been partially
burned. caught again. and the fire at@
iis way around to Smith and Hotel
streets The large brick buildings at
the corner OF King and Maunakes
streets were no barrier, and all withiu
the firm walls was soon blazing,
Thousands of dollars worth OF fire.
crackers, bombs and every sort Of cell
ebration explosives were stored in
these buildings. The noise from the
explosions continued for nearly an
hour. when these began the firemen
and people in the vicinity beat a hasty
retreat, as 1t was known that many
cases OF Kerosene were stored in the
neighborhood, and fears were enter
tanned that lives might be lost.
A Chinese Incendiary.
When the flames began eating into
Block 2 and swept toward the Eva
side, Chinaman was observed to en-
ter a building near the corner of Maui
nakea and King and deliberately set
fire to the place. His action was OBJ
served at once, and crowd of indig-
nant citizens rushed into the place arrth
bore him off to the guardhouse. That
the Chinese was not mobbed is a won
der, for the citizens had been working
tooth and nail to save the premises
and endeavor to prevent the fires prog
ress, and were worked up to high
pitch of excitement. 1t is generally
believed that the Celestial became
crazed with excitement for the time
being and that his action in setting the
building on fire was due to temporary
insanity. However, it. was not long
before this building was destroyed and
the flames leaped forward on their
wild course toward the harbor.
The Honolulu Iron Works.
When it was known that the fire
was beyond the control of the Fire De-
partment, the employees of the iron
works began to prepare for the oncom-
ing sweep of flames. Hose streams
were played on every building in the
vicinity, and the two hundred-odd men
employed there formed bucket bri-
gade from the wharves into the build
ings. The buildings and woodwork
along Maunakea street were demol-
ished long before the fire menaced
Block IS. Two streams of water, one
from the Iroquois and one from the
Eleu. were passed through the works
and the buildings facing on Mauna-
kea were thoroughly drenched.
1t was decided that if the flames
swept across to the Waikiki side OF
Maunakea into Block 13, the concen-
VI lilt llltlItl WI
unteers should be exercised to prevent
the works from burning. AS many
streams of water as could be spared
were sent to this quarter and the
bucket brigade continued its exhaust
ing work. A warehouse containing sew
eral dozen cans of oil, in the rear OF
Murray's carriage factory, caught fire
before the contents could be moved out.
Citizens eagerly worked in the real
of the buildings to prevent an explosion
taking place, tearing away sheds ant
fences. Prominent citizens and repre-
sentative business men climbed ovsl
sheds and roofs armed with axes ane
valiantly attacked the wooden build
ings to remove them and avert the
danger which threatened the rest OF
the block and the lower part Of the city
A brick building burning like a seeth-
ing cauldrOn was fought from rear
balcony of the same building. and a
bucket brigade was formed to keep the
firemen drenched with water and pre-
vent their faces from being blisterei
by the intense heat. The employees of
the Iron Works worked like beavers
with axes, pixies and buckets and com
batted the flames inch by inch.
At one time the lives of nearly doz-
en- men who held the hose on the rear
balcony were threatened by the col
lapse of a corrugated roof which pro-
jected over them. AS the main roof
fell in, the overhanging portion threat
ened the men underneath; but the
crowd behind saw the danger and
shouted a warning, and the roof was
soon propped or parts of it torn away.
The men then continued their work
without interruption.
BY nightfall the fire at this point
was well under control but had il not
been that the buildings enclosing the
iron works were constructed of brick
the map OF the Chinatown district
would undoubtedly have been all black
to the edge of Nuuanu street and the
harbor. At the time it seemed almost
certain that the iron works would be
destroyed, the merchants on Nuuanu
belOY King street, began packing up
their goods preparatory to leaving. All
the drays obtainable were brought in