The Forrest City times., 1900-02-09
A HOT T|ME IN ST. LONS.
A Sunday Fire that Licked Up a Million Dollars Worth of
 Property.
ONE MAN KILLED AND ELEVEN INJURED.
End of the Retail section De- stroyed-Thc Biggest Biaye the City Has Seen Since the Bis Fire of 40.


 of '40.
 St. Louis, Feb. 6.-Stripped of all ex- aggeration, St. Louis Sunday fire was the most extensive that has occurred in the city since the famous of '49. That it was not still more destructive was due to the fact that yall of rain 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 a 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 oc- cured before in the history of the modern department, and the men and engines worked unreIuittingly 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 it's initial stages, was one of the most peculiar that the St. Louis fire department has ever had to cope with. Immediate response 10 still alarm was made by two engine companies but two blocks away, and yet, before they could reach the scene the flames had gained a headway that no human power could check. It was as though the interior of the burning l building had been saturated with some infls mmable substance, and had been touched off on every floor simultan- eolsly. The outbreak of the fire was i immediately succeeded by an expio- sion which blew out the second floor front of the building and sent a sheet of flames across Broadway that at once enveloped the wooden awning strr cture that ran the entire length l of the old Crawford store.
 Story of the Fire. The fire, which originated in the de- | partnent store of Penny x Gentles, on the southwest corner of Broadway and | Franklin avenue, swept parts of five 1 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 S1,000,000. One fireman was killed by being buried under the ruins of one of the burned stores, and II 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. It 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 snow. It 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 reach of them. And all the time it was sending the fire toward the river with swiftness that it seemed beyond 1 human power to check.
 The Greedy Flames.
 As the flames stretched across Broadway to the old Crawford store l they also veered to the south and took in the Schaper Brothers store, imme- diately south of the Penny S Gentles. l They did not scorch things as they went-they first smothered them and l then devoured them.
 1 Nothing escaped them. Heavy wood en beams were as finder in a furnace; great iron beams twisted and squirmed in their grasp, and bent un- der the heat; brick walls cracked swaycd and tumbled, and almost be- fore the firemen had got their bear ings the first three stores that had be- come ignited were ruins.
 stopped By a Fire Wall.
 It was so all through the district that was bVrned. Everything was at tackled with eqnal ferocity. until the huge fire wall of Famous stopped the | fire on the south, and the wide ex- panse betweet the east and west sides of Third street stopped it on the east. NOW dtu tneu Duiiulug was passed over-not untouched, but still not ruined.
 Hard Work for the Bremen. And then the flames died down. In- stead of the blanket of fire. there was fog of smoke It did not rise as the flames had done; it hung low, and hid completely from view, save when a gust of the wind would throw it aside, the awful ruin that had been done
 Amid it all the fremen worked. They were chilled by the cold wind, drenched by the volumes of water that were dashed back into their faces, and