The Hawaiian gazette., 1900-01-30
A BIG FIRE
SATURDAY
Thirty ShaCks on Six
Acres Burned.
EVIDENCES OF ARSON
Origin Of the Blaze Good Work of
0. R. & L, People Scarcity
Of Water,

\ fire. which is generally believed tC
have been OF incendiary origin. com.
pletely destroyed on last Saturday
afternoon that portion of the Aala dis
trict makai of the Chinese theatres and
| between the Palama grocery and the
merchants warehouse lately erected on
| King street.
At about twenty minutes after five
o'clock one of the railroad employees
on his way home discovered great
/ clouds of smoke issuing from the vicin-
| ity of the new Chinese theatre. He
reported the matter to Geo. Dennison
superintendent of the o. II. 4 i. Co.
VINO Immediately turned in an alarm
Within four minutes engines 2 and
were on the scene and six minutes after
the alarm two streams of water were
paying on the flames. A line of hose
was run into the new theatre but the
place when it began to burn went Sc
quickly that the firemen were COM
PEELED to retreat.
A strong breeze was blowing from
Nuuanu valley, which. catching up the
burning sparks and shingles threw them
these were soon in a blaze. Within
twenty minutes after the alarm was
turned in the whole doomed district
was ablaze. The dry shacks burned
like kindling wood and it was seen that
the only hope was in keeping the fire
from reaching the merchants ware
house and fumigating room.
Engine Company No. from Makiki
was brought in and stationed on the
bridge, the water from Nuuanu stream
being used. Two or three times the
high wind carried the flames across the
street to the buildings of the Oahu
Lumber Co. and to the lumber piles
surrounding the planning mill. burning
the iences and telephone poles on the
makai side. When the o. II. 4 l.. Co.
depot began to smoke several cars in
the yards loaded with hay and other in
flammable freight ready for shipment
were hastily hauled away. The o. r.
a. l.. Co. had a small steam pump
mounted upon a hand cart, which was
run into position just in front of the
depot. A strong stream was forced
through a two-inch hose and played
upon the building until danger was
passed when 1t was changed over to the
buildings and lumber yard of the Oahu
Lumber Co. directly opposite the new
warehouse on King street and undoubt-
eddy prevented the fire from crossing
the street.
Superintendent Geo. Dennison per-
sonally directed operations and for a
good part of the time held the hose.
Fred Smith, Jock Mcclure and o. Berg
ersen were also on duty. Several times
the buildings on the makai side were
smoking and the great heat drove the
volunteer hosemen from their stations,
but they returned and kept the fire
away until they were relieved by the
arrival of the regulars with line of
nose from the Eva side of the build
ings where they had been operating.
The fumigating house, EVA of the
big warehouse, on the mauka side of
King street was on fire several times,
being only ten or twelve feet from the
burning buildings, but the department
did magnificent work and held the fire
until the adjoining buildings fell. The
side of the house exposed to the fire
was badly charred. Had the fire ex-
tended to the warehouse the loss would
have been very heavy as 1t is filled with
goods of much value.
Just one hour after the fire started
the danger was over as the buildings
We're heaps of burning embers. Chief
Hunt and his men did wonderfully
effectual work considering the source
of the water supply from the Nuuanu
stream. A great crowd OF spectators
gathered to see the conflagration and
while the hosemen waited for water in
several instances they were chaffed
by the bystanders. When the water
came the firemen dampened the ardor
of the crowd for joshing by turning the
stream full force on them.
AS soon as the flames had been sub
dued the Hawaiian Electric Co. and
superintendent of the Government light
plant had men at work repairing the
damage to the lines which supply the
Kalihi Detention Camp and Oahu
Prison with light. The telephone COM
pany suffered more than the other as
their poles were on the mauka side of
the street and three of them were de-
stroyed and the wires broken. Com
munication with Kalihi by telephone
was re-established early yesterday.
The burned district covers an area
of about six acres and some thirty
houses and shacks eyre consumed.
cipally occupied by Chinese. Among
Chong, Kwong Sing Wo, Palama Res
taurant, zee Wo and Wing Wo ChOng.
The new Chinese theatre was owned by
company.
Captain Quincy, who resides upon
the bank on the Eva side of the fire,
states that 1t began in the small cot
tage mauka of and adjoining the new
Chinese theater. He was sitting upon
his veranda, looking straight at this
cottage when he saw heavy volumes of
black smoke roll from the windows
upon both the mauka and makai sides
almost simultaneously. This would
seem to indicate that kerosene oil was
present and points directly to incen-
diarism. The cottage was owned by
Wun Chez and occupied, until the dis
trict was condemned by the Board OF
Health, by the drummer and chief mu-
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