Virginian-pilot. (Norfolk, Va.) 1898-1911, 1900-01-03
THE COLD WAS INTENSE
rne c. & o. omce nn,ia.ng. ws,h val
nAbio Records Ruined by .he
Fumes and wnior, En,ni,ins
Heavy Fuss -conaaYrn,ionP roba>
bly, Dne 10 ~ Combination OF
siovcs-ihe Insurance.

Richmond, Va, Jan. 2.-About 6:1O
o'clock this morning the janitor at the
big Pace Block" cccup ed as the gen
eral Offices of the Chesapeake and Ohio
railroad, ssiw flames issuing from the
woodwork on the front floor, and an
213. Shortly afterwards the private
alarm Sl4 was turned in, followed by
second alarm from 213. These signals
brought out large part of the depart
mcnt and President John Frischkorn,
OF The Fire Boaid turned IN 6-6-6 alarm,
h CHI cal.ed for the whole dc partment,
and by $3.50 o'clock the entire fire de-
partnent was fighting the flames.
Viii Il mad made con idelab Roadway
Two OF the plugs, those at Eighth
and Main and Eighth and Cary were
frozen, and some little time was lost
in thawing them out. The liremen
fought braYely, but owing to the guam
ity OF inliammable mate. ial the flames
made great Roadway, and stubbornly
sisted the efforts OF the men at the
hose TO subdue them. The frigid con-
dition of the atmosphere tended to
make the work of the firemen harder
and more dsagreeable, but KS the
sprays of water that were thrown
against the building. CONCEALED into
beautiful icy figures and formed gilt
tering, grotesque Communications to the
burning building. beautiful scene
greeted the eyes or the hundreds of
men and women who had fastened TO
the scene.
ICE. SLUSH AND SNOW.
The spraying waters fell upon the
firemen and in short while they look
cd like men of ice. The streets were
covered with slush and snow, and the
rushing waters poured down the
streets, leaving Icy tracks in their
wake, thus making the work of con-
qucring the flames almost futile.
AS soon as it was seen that the
many wires strung along the street
would interfere with the fight with the
flames q message was sent to cut off
the current, and the liremen were thus
allowed to work with more freedom.
and many of the wires were broken and
twisted some by the workmen and
some by the concealed masses OF gilt
tering Ice.
1t was about three hours before the
fire WAS conquered, and 1t was done at
great cost.
VALUABLE RECORDS LOST
In the building were records of al
most inestimable value. many of them
without duplicates, papers OF great
moment to the various departments,
maps and blue prints worth much, and
material that will cost n great amount
OF time and q large sum of money to
replace.
The building is heated by stoves and
it is believed that from this combna-
ton the con1agratlon begun.
The principal loss will be in the Car
Service Department, under the charge
of Mr.. Gear@e-S S. Sipp. The records in
the department cannot be duplicated,
and the loss will probably be q total
one. The building of this office is to
keep the record of all the cars on the
road. The telegraph department will
also be big loser. The trnin dis
patchers have Offices on the same floor.
and several OF them were on duty at
the time OF the breaking out of the
| fire. Dispatcher Il. G. Goodwin was
| in the act OF making UP new train
sheet when the flames drove him out
Superintendent c. c. Walkers offices
were also on the same floor. and his
| loss will probably be great
| The loss TO the departments on tho
1