Daily inter mountain., 1900-12-19
FIERCE BLAZE
IN THE GULcH
LODGING HOUSE AND SALOON
DESTROYED AT A LOSS OF
ABOUT $4,000.
THE LODGERS BECAME
PAN!C-STRlCkEN.
Reports That Some of the Inmates
Lost their Lives in the Fire
Were Unfounded.

Joe Ryan's lodging house and saloon.
in Dublin Gulch, was destroyed by fire
at an early hour this morning. and 1t
made one of the tiercest CONGREGATIONS
that has been witnessed in the city for
many days.
The building occupied a ground area
of about 60N100 feet and being on the
slope of the hill. was one story in front
and three and q half stories in the rear.
The saloon occupied one corner OF the
building, and the lodgings We're conduct
ed by Mrs. Walker The loss is variously
estimated from $4,000 to $4,000, the insur-
ance on which was $4,000.
The first alarm was turned i'll at S:55
a. M. from box IA and 10 minutes later
a second alarm from box u called out
the entire fire department. AS the house
was frame. with cloth and paper par
titions the flames had a good start be-
fore any of the fire apparatus arrived
on the scene. Two lines of hose were
run out by the fire department.. and the
Parrot and Nipper mines each ran out
a line of hose and did first class work
in assisting to subdue the flames
The fire started in the dryroom in the
rear of the house. and was bursting
through the roof before water could be
turned on. The house was filed with
dodgers. and they only had time to get
into their clothes and make their es-
cape. Many, however. did not have
time to don garments and ran about in
a distracted manner in their undercloth-
ing. The women of the house. partic-
ularly, appeared to lose their reasoning
power. and made their appearance in
their nightgowns. The excitement was
intense. ana the report was current that
some of the dodgers had been caught in
the building. Chief Sanger and his men
made an investigation, at no small risk
To their own safety. and found that ev
erybody was out. One woman asked the
firemen to save her children, and. as
they We're in the front of the building,
they were taken out without difficulty.
A brisk wind was blowing. and for a
time it looked as though the adjoining
buildings would be destroyed. The peo-
pie living in them commenced with fe-
veriSh haste TO remove their effects, and
the statement of the fire chief that they
We're in no danger did not quiet them.
MI. Ryan told the chief that he had
removed $500 from the saloon and secret
ed it in the trunk in his room, because
he feared hishwaymen, and the outlook
was that he would lose it by fire. The
chief and few of the tiremen, without
waiting for explanations. rushed into
the building and succeeded in rescuing
the trunk before the fire had reached it,
and when it was opened the $500 was
found intact.
For about two hours the department
worked hard and succeeded in eXtin-
gushing the flames. Although the house
was gutted, the adjoining houses We're
not injured further than a light scorch-
ing.
The district is compactly built With
frame houses, and serious conflasra-
tion would have been an easy matter.
The water pressure at that point. how
ever, is the best in the city, being about
1So pounds, and although the fight was
hard one, the four streams finally did
the work.
Mr. Ryan states that his loss is about
5000, on which he had an insurance Of
$1,000. He stated to Chief Sanger that
he had recently added about 81, 900 worth
of liquors to his saloon, and on this he
had no insurance whatever. Chief San
ger is inclined to think that $4,000 will
cover the loss on the building, furniture
and the saloon stock. This of course
does not include the effects Of the lodg-
ers, and there is no way at arriving
at this loss. The work of the men from
the Parrot and Nipper mines was very
effective, and Chief Sanger desires to
extend his thanks to them.