The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1900-10-30

10 the west. the walls OF those on the
washington street side being hurried out
ward 10 the streets. as u an explosion
had been taking place locally Instead OF
away at the Greenwich street end OF the
block II was thought. indeed, that ex-
uloslong had followed in these buildings.
but no cause for them could be found
The immense buildings OF J, II. AohlmanH
& co, fronting on Washington street,
simply collapsed. q deluge OF barrels and
boxes filled with fruit rolling out aud
forming a pile that stretched half way
across the street At the time Of the ex-
pIosi0n blazing barrels were hurled clear
across Washington street and set fires in
the buildings 20 the west. threatening an
extension Of the confagration in that d.
rectlon. but the firemen deluged these
buildings and saved them.
The first reports OF the fire that went
out we're that the Tarrant building in rs
fall had crushed down upon two crowded
restaurants and buried a hundred or
more in each. Subsequent examination
showed that IL any persons were caught
in these places IL was the kitchen help
and very few outsiders, IL any. The pa
kept by man named Buckley, were in
the most imminent danger. but Witness
gay all escaped, and after the flames sub
sided clear view could be got into the
dning-rOom and no bodies were seen, the
place being untouched by IRE, though
damaged by the collapse Of the Tarrant
building. A man who watched the fire
from across the street said that the crowd
In the restaurant was evidently warned
and swarmed out after the first explo-
sion. everybody being out when the sec
ond explosion came.
Nothing Authentic az 10 Loss OF Life-
Outside OF few who we're injured in
the streets the loss of life by the fire
and explosion must have occurred in the
Tarrant building mainly. and possibly In
the other buildings destroyed by fire. The
rumber Of persons in the Tarrant build
ing was estimated to be in the neighbour
hood Of fifty Secretary Allen, of the
company. said that there were forty-fiye
employees. and he thought all got out
with the exception Of one. People who
saw the FIRE declared. however, that more
must have been lost.
Engineer Alexander Phillips. who lives
in Hoboken, was seen after the fire. and
told how he tried to make his way up
into the burning building. He said that
the people in the building were as fol-
lows: In the basement were the engi-
neers department and the shipping
room, where five men were employed. All
these, he thought, escaped. as he himself
warned them in plenty of time.
On the first floor were the offices OF
the company and the retail dispensing
department. There were about half a
dozen persons on this floor at the time
of the fire
On the second floor was Breitenbach's
pepsin chewing gum factory, where ten
girls and six boys were employed.
The third and fourth floors were stor-
age floors for the TaTant Company.
There were several porters on the two
floors The fifth floor was used as bot
ting department for one Of the firm
speCialties Six girls were employed here.
The sixth floor was the place of manu-
facture of one Of the specialties, where
three men were usually employed. One
of these, a porter named John Phillips.
is known TO have escaped. Another, an
old man eighty years of age, named Cal
lahan Phillips. it Is thought must have
lost his life, being unable 10 get out
The top floor was chemical laboratory
used by Louis Patterson, the chemist OF
girls helped him there. Phillips was in
clined TO think that most of these got
cut, although at a late hour Patterson
himself had not been heard from.
Phillips said that he saw the fire while
out at lunch, and rushed into the building
10 try to warn the people inside. He
went to his own department and yelled
FIRE, then he made his way up to the fifth
floor, he says. He could not see into the
BTeitenbach premises. which are sepa
I'd n, hsrp~ h
got Up to the fifth floor and then found
that the way was cut off by flames.
Seeing there was so much fire, he hur-
ried out, having been warned that there
were explosives in the place. He yelled
10 the flGemen as he came down TO get
out for their lives, as there would be an
explosion.
How many Of the girls and other en-
plOyes escaped could not be even guessed
tonight, although a large number of
missing persons Indicated that there were
some. 1t was said that half of the en-
ployes were out getting lunch.
Only One Known TO Be Dead.
The only person known to have been
killed up to o'clock tonight was a man
who died in one of the hospitals from
the result of an injury received in the
street.
Chief Croker. at an early hour, said
x.
though il had been reported that an en-
tire company could not be found and il
was supposed that they had been lost I'M
der the ruins Of the collapsed commits
sion houses on Washington street. A
number of firemen were injured in vari-
Gus ways. however. and scores of per-
sons received injuries of every degree
! from falling debris in the streets. Fire.
! lit
were common sights at the beginning OF
the fire, and one of the latter. Calvin, OF
| the Church street station, who was bad
| ly cut up while assisting a fireman out
! of the wreck on Washington street, was
certain that fireHen had been buried I'M
| der the cavern Of the building.
There was great indignation among the
! business men of the city when they learn
ed the part that the explosion had played
in the general catastrophe. An explosion
| from this drug house had not been unex-
pected, as IL was generally believed in the
neighbOrhOOd that there were explosive
| chemicals in the place. ]. S. Coward, a
/ shoe manufacturer, Of 26S Greenwich
/ street, whose place was wrecked by the
| explosion. said that IL was the general
| talk in the neighborhood about the chem
| icals = le Tarrant concern. r. NJ. Dick
/ son lber Of the firm of R. w. Dickson
| & s, & Washington street, declared to-
! night nat for several weeks neighbors
| had motto ed barrels and carbOys going
| into the building. Everybody was appre-
| hensivt Of fire in that particular place.
Firemen Gained Control.
| At o'clock the fire was completely
| under control of the firemen, the flames
still burning fiercely in the interior of the
| burned area, but danger of spreading
| being over. At o'clock the flames had
/ been extinguished in the buildings south
/ of Warren street, and crowds OF men from
I the building department were put to work
/ tearing down high walls. at the same
| time workmen were hurried by the ele.
waited railroad company 10 repair the
| downtown track.
Neither the officials of the police de.
partment or of the building department
were willing to give any estimate of the
| loss caused by the fire and explosion
/ That II will amount to over a million wa.
/ not denied by anybody The buildings