Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1900-02-08
SEVERAL BUILDINGS BURNED.

SEVERAL BUILDINGS BURNED.
Plants of the Illinois Leather On, and
Waiiher g. Co., and Other Structures
Drinaged. .
At l.30 O'Clock Thursday morning an
alarm OF fire was sent in from box
No. 142, at Jones Guthrie's carriage
shops. at the causeway and Townsend
street, south of Market strent bridge.
On arriving at that place the firen,en
found thar tho carriage and wagon
shops of Walther 4 Co. were blazing
hercely and 10 make matters worse,
little water could be obtained on
account Of the fire plugs being frozen
and The Orange street main being OFT.
The flames. consumed the entire car
riage factory and spread to the store
and dwelling of Andrew }. Murphy,
adjoining, and in u shoIt time the
latter place was mass OF hame.i The
fire soon communicated TO the sheds,
warehouses and hair felt factory of The
Illinois Leather Co. The sheds and
warehouses were destroyed, but tho
main building was saved and work. was
resumed there Thursday.
The members of the Murphy family
had narrow escape from being burned,
They were intenlly watching the snread-
ing of the flames ut The catriage shops
and were not aware that their own
house was on FIRE. 1hoy were arprised
of the fact by Policemen Shields
Pierce and Solomon, who found the
lower floor mass of flames. The in
mates wero rescued from the second
floor Of the building.
After several people had been taken
out of the house and in the face Of u
sutfucaiing smoke, Officers Davidson.
Lyons, Pierce and Shields entered tho
second story of the building and found
an aged man, John Reese, father of
Mrs. Murphy, asleep in his room. Tho
| officers rescued him not moment too
soon. They encountered great diff
Guilty in the work, rs the smoke was SO
dense that they could not see and had
to grope thsii way along in nm effort to
! find the man and take him out of the
| building. Is, -
The fremen worked heroicaily and
how they we're enabled TO withstand
the intense cold they cannot we'll state
| themselves. A numbor of the men
were frostbitten on their fingers aud
| ears. The trousers of Chief Sasse, " ere
| q mass OF ice and the coats on some OF
the men were frozen and covered with
| icicles.
| The storehouses of the leather COM
pany were about $50 feet in length,
one story in height and 30 feet in
width, and contained about 10 cal loads
/ of finished hair. The stable, 42xlS
| feet, and a cart were destroyed, as was
also a large quantity Of hay and straw.
| The police and firmen rescued several
horses with difficulty. The loss to the
| company is estimated at about $40, 900.
| The insurance amounts to "a, 750. OF
this 80, $50 is with the Etna Fire In
suranoe Go. and $1,000 with the
| Netherlands.
Walther g. Go. 's loss is estimated at
$4, 800, and the insurance is 1910,
which is with TIE Royal Insurance ca.
Mr.. Murphy, whose dwelling was
| burned, estimates his loss at 50, 600,
with an insurance of $1,000 lin the
Delaware Fire Insurance Co., OF Dover.
Fritz Walther, the owner of the burned
store, gives the loss, on the building at
81, 900, covered by insurance
| ~ SECOND FIRE OF THE DAY.
The firemen were called out again at
IL. 80 o. clock by fire which destroyed
Cornell Brothers. carpenter shop, in
the rear of No. POI Jefferson street,
l ChuSiuR fUSS vi pttO. Iu6
| companies were summoned Ey an alarm
from box No. 1o2, at Third and Jeffer-
| son streets. and although the blaze had
good Roadway when the hremen
reached it, they soon had it under
control and it'was extinguished at
IL. 05 O'Clock, little over half an
hour. This was exceptionally good
work, as the building is not readily
accessible from the street and is in
close proximity to many dwellings,
none of which were damaged.
Israel V. Cornell, a member of the
firm, informed a reporter of the
Gazette that the fire originated from
the stove. He had been heating glue
and went to the house short distance
away, and. although he was gone only
few minutes, the building was
ignited before his return. George Ii.
Cornell, the other member of the firm,
was at Ninth and Market streets when
the fire broke out. OF the loss 5000 ia
on building, which is flame, and 5000
ON contents, carpenters stock and
! tools. The building is insured for 5000.
ACCIDENT TO FIRE APPARATUS.
While the Phoenix hose carriage was
being driven back to the enginehouse
at 1870 O'Clock in the afternoon one OF
the wheels came off on Market street
between Tenth and Eleventh, and the
three men on it, William Murphy, John
Mcfarland and James Anderson, were
thrown off. A wheel passed over Muir
phys legs and slightly injured him,
but he vas able to go home. The other
two men were only slightly bruised.
The horse became frightened and ran
to, Eleventh and King streets. where II
was caught. 1t was not injured and
the carriage was only slightly damaged.
FIRES ELSEWHERE.