Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1900-10-17
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The Postal telegraph Building -
New York City damaged BY
Flamoa
Quick Work and Remarkable Prss.
snos Of Mind Saves Wires
From Injury
| hrss Big Factory Buildings Mar,
roWly Escape Destruction BY
Fire in Chicago.

mo; shut OF the current. quick" was
the order that clicked out on the i'm
strument in the basement OF the Postal
Telegraph building at Broadway and
Murray street at 8 o. clock last night. 1t
came from John j. Whalen, night man
ager of the 100 operators at work on the
twelfth floor.
To obey 1t meant to kill In second
the 600 wires leading out Of the build
ing and paralyze of5the time the entire
Postal Telegraph system thru the New
York Office.
But the shslhser STOPPED the dynamo
at once without waiting to question,
and the danger that iiianaced the great
switchboard In the operating room
from q fire that was at that moment
raging over the floor above was
;ayerted.
{ If the water from the fire engines had
wet that switchboard while the current
was on John Whalen knew that 1t
would have Instantly united every one
of the 800 currents into one vast sur
charged electrical power. This would
have paralyzed the Postal system
quicker that to turn on the dynamo,
and no one could estimate the dire re-
suit.
The fire started In the locker room
on a stair platform half way between
the fourteenth floor and the roof. 1t is
believed by Fred Yanger. nightimana-
ger of the building, that waiter threw
a lighted cigaret down on this ward
room. 1t was used entirely by the
walters.
The whole fourteenth floor was used
by the Hardware Club. A hall bisects
that floor parallel with Murray street.
On the left of this hall. on the Broad
way front. is the parlor, containing
many valuable paintings: on the left
the library. and in the rear OF the libra
ry the committee rooms. Back of the.
latter is the cafe.
1t was from the hall near the en-.
trance to the cafe. in the northwest cor
iner of the building. that a small wooden
stairway led to the wardroom, half
way up and by another short flight to
the roof, where kitchen. had been
built for the club, as there was no room
on the fourteenth floor for IT, The fire
Quilted the wardroom and chased up.
ward to the kitchen.
There We're no members in the club
rooms when the fire started. The first
known of it was when a waiter rushed
into the hall and yelled Fire"
4 Eugene Howard, messenger boy
heard the cry. and. hurrying down on
one Of the elevators, he rushed out and
sent in an alarm.
The f1remen We're quick to respond.
Chief Croker was there at the first
alarm. and two lines Of hose went up
one of the elevators and one up the
stairway.
Meantime the operators were making
herculean efforts to cover their instri-
5ments and keep the flames from reach
ing the operating rooms. What would
have been the thirteenth floor forms
gallery around the operating room on
the twelfth. The precious switchboard
was under this gallery.
The current once off. the men shut all
the iron window shutters on the Broad
way and Murray street side. This took
fifteen minutes. The operators then
went down the stairs. leaving the ele-
vators free for the firemen. Fire pa
trolmen We're in the operating room two
minutes after the men had left, and
every instrument was covered.
The fire was confined To the ward
room and kitchen, tho CHIEF Croker
sent out second alarm as precau-
;tiohary measure. The chief estimated
the damage at 100000 The Hardware
club rooms were greatly damaged by
water.