The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1900-05-02
WIPED OUT BY FIRE.
Property Loss Of SIS, 100000 by
Fire in Hull and Ottawa.
THOUSANDS HOMELESS.
"A Chimney Fire the Origin of the
Greatest Calamity in the His
tory of Canada.

Ottawa, Ont, April 2I.--At a. M
the fire which has ragged here and Hull
since IL a. m. yesterday, was under con
trol. The total number of buildings de-
stroyed will probably aggregate $500, en-
taxing loss of from $15 100000 to ST.
OOO,OOO. Between 10000 and $4,000 men,
women and children are homeless and
four lives were lost.
Toronto. Ont. April 27.-Dispatches
from Ottawa summarize the situation al
Ottawa and Hull as follows:
OttaaWa-Buildings destroyed, 2OOO.
mull--Buildings destroyed, 600.
Total loss, both cities, estimated, $2O,-
100000.
Sl2,OOO,0OO
Lives lost so far known, four.
Some of the losses are: Booth Lumber
company, $3,OOO,OOO; Eddy company,
$4,000 900; Mckay Milling company,
3oOo 0OO; Hull Lumber company, 500
Ooo; Electric Light company, S2oO,O0o;
Dominion Carbide works, $15O.OOO.
Vast Lumber Yards Burned.
The Export Lumber company had all
ITS big stock. destroyed and it is estimat-
ed that their loss will foot up nearly
9l,OOOOOO; covered by insurance. 1t is
estimated that about 250,OOO,00O feet Of
lumber has been burned in Hull and
| Ottawa.
The wind continues from the northeast
ana unless it changes the city will be
sa1e, as the fire has about burned itself
out towards the country. Should the
wind turn and blow some Of the burning
deDrls towards the city, there would be
great danger of it breaking out again, as
everything is as dry as matchwood
Widespread Distre SIS and Destruction
/ Montreal, April pa special TO the
star from Ottawa says: 1.-The greatest
hre in the history of Canada was that
wnlch visited Hull and the western dis
trlct Of Ottawa yesterday. The loss is
roughly estimated at from $1,000. 600
TO |,OO0,0OO. Over 5000 families have
Dcen rendered homeless. The major mart
o1 Hull, with it's immense industrial es-
adjustments and the homes of their
QTR;efatives was swept clean, as well as
victoria ana DalhOuSie wards in Or
tawa. The valuable lumber niles arc
now smouldering and the loss on This
| 900. 'A"i Po'o0o'
without Foundation.
Inc sensational stories Of the origin Of
the conf1agration have no foundation IN
Iact. Ihe fire broke out in the center
or Hull early in the forenoon. but that
- d coinlnon occurrence there and attract
ed little attention. Before noon If had
devastated a great part of Hull and
| spread toward the river, famed nv !;
strong wind; threatening and ultimately
destroying five of e. B. Eddy's mills.
Before o'clock it had leaped to Otta-
wa river and had swept across the .Otta-
wa, carrying everything in front of II
Nothing more grand could be imagined as
a spectacle. Considered as to it's conse-
quences no greater calamity has visited
Canada in years There was a belt of
ilame fully four miles in length and at
least half a mile wide. Dark clouds of
smoke streamed southwestward from The.
burning district all day, and yet the sun
Shone clear and bright changing the inky
Diackness to amber and way up in the
| SKY TO the appearance of a summer cloud.
while beneath it was Il long line of flame
fierce and irrepressipIe.
| All night long the city was lit I'D by
the glare. The dominion government is
among the heavy losers the Chaudere
bridge having toppled into the river from
the Warplng effects Of the heat.
Four Lives Lost.
Fireman John Watkins of No. l sta
ton was smothered in house in Queen
street West. Mrs. Cook an invalid. was
suffocated in her bed on Queen street
West before help could reach her. A
man unknown was found dead on the Ca
madam Pacific railroad track in Roches-
terville. John Navan, g builder was
u.
and hurt. James Merrfield of Queen
street West was taken to the hospital
seriously injured by a falling building.
Most of the lumber piles in Ottawa
and Hull have disappeared and now
mere heaps of charred wood and ashes
and schools have been burned; the Eddy
company's paper and pulp mills and
match factory and Il. E. Eddy's resi-
dence have been destroyed. Bronson Il
Weston's mill, the Hull Lumber compa-
ny's mill, one of Booths mills and the
power houses of the Ottawa Electric
company, the Hull waterworks, the Hull
courthouse and Jail, the postoffice, the
convent, almost every business place and
about 1000 dwellings and shops in Hull
have been destroyed Indeed. practically
a few houses beyond it. The only lumber
mills standing in Hull are the Gilmour
q Huston mills, at the extreme east end.
The steel suspension bridge which con-
nected the city of Ottawa with Hull was
also destroyed
denceS were included in the fire area.
The Canadian Pacific railway depot on
the Chaudiere fats burned quickly.
Caused by "a Chimney Fire.
The fire broke out in the house of Mr.
krouac, on Chaudiere street, Hull 1t
is said Mrs. Kirouac was lighting her
stove to get the family dinner and set
the chimney on fire. The flames spread
to. the roof, quickly communicated to adj
joining houses, and as there was a heavy
gale blowing at the time, the FIRE was
soon beyond control. Hundreds of
homeless persons slept in the open air
last night, Or wandered about the streets
OF Ottawa and Hull, although many
houses were freely thrown open to the
homeless. Many were accommodated in
the Drill hall, the Salvation Army bar
racks, and other places.
Scenes of Desolation.
The scene Of the Hull fire TODAY pre-
sents a vast desert of ashes. out of which
the porch Of Notre Dame Du Grace, the
property of the Oblates Of Mary the I'm
maculatc, the st. Mary's school recently
built at cost of $4,000 and a cluster
Of residences round the church alone are
intact. Among the ruins of house on
Washington street, Hull, today, was
found the corpse of a man named Barna-
by Myers. All night in Ottawa the
homeless ones have been going about
looking for places in which to take up
their abode and in some instances search
ing for members OF their families.