Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1900-05-01
WIPED OUT BY FIRE.
Property Loss Of Sl5, 100000 by
Fire in Hull and Ottawa.
THOUSANDS HOMELESS.
A Chimney Fire the Origin of the
Greatest Calamity in the His
tory of Canada.

lllC I1c WHICH HIS mere anu 1lull
since IL a. m. yesterday, was under con-
troll. The total number of buildings de-
stroyed will probably aggregate $500, en-
failing a loss of from $15, 900, 900 to ST.,
100000. 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 at
Ottawa and Hull as follows:
Misunderstanding destroyed, 1000.
Hull-Buildngs destroyed, 600.
Total loss, both cities, estimated, $2O,-
600, 900.
Total insurance, both cities, estimated,
S12,0OO,O0O.
Lives lost so far known, four.
Some of the losses are: Booth Lumber
company, $3OOO,OOO; Eddy company,
SD 900, 900; Mckay Milling company,
$500, 900; Hull Lumber company, 800
900; Electric Light company, T23O,OOO;
Dominion Carbide works, S1oO.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
S1,OO0,OOO; covered by insurance. 1t IS
estimated that about 250,000,OOO feet of
lumber has been burned i'll Hull and
Ottawa.
The wind continues from the northeast
and unless it changes the city will be
safe, as the fire has about burned itself
out towards the country. Should the
wind turn and blow some of the burning
debris towards the city, there would be
great danger of it breaking out again as
everything is as dry as matchwOod.
Widespread Distre So and Destruction
= Montreal, April PA special to the
Star from Ottawa says: The greatest
hre IN the history of Canada was that
which visited Hull and the western dis
trlct OF ottawa Yesterday. The loss is
to S1I 100000. Over 5000 families have
been rendered homeless. The major part
OF Hull, with its immense industrial es-
adjustments and the homes of their
operatives was swept clean, as well as
Victoria and Dalhousie wards in or
taWa. The valuable lumber piles are
now smouldering and the loss on this
score alone cannot be less than $1,000
600
Without Foundation,
The sensational stories of the origin of
the contlagration have no foundation in
fact The fire broke out in the center
OF Hull early III the forenoon. but that
Is y, ii conlnon occurrence there and attract
ed little attention. Before noon it had
devastated great part of Hull and
spread toward the river famed by i
strong WIND; threatening and ultimately
destroying five of +. B. Eddy's mills.
Before L clock it had leaped to Otta-
wa river ana had swept across the Otta-
wa, carrying everything in front of it.
Nothing more grand could be imagined as
spectacle. Considered as to its conse-
quences no greater calamity has visited
Canada IN years. There was a belt of
tame fully four miles in length and at
least half Il mile wide Dark clouds of
smoke Streamed SOutbweStWard from the
burning district all day. and yet the sun
shone clear and bright, changing the inky
blacknesS to amber and way up in the
sky to the appearance of a summer cloud.
while beneath it was Il long line Of flame
hercc and lrrepreSSlDle.
All night long the city was lit up by
the glare. The dominion government is
among the heavy losers, the Chaudiere
bridge having toppled into the river from
the warping effects of the heat.
Four Lives Lost.
Fireman John Watkins Of No. 1 sta
ton was SmOthered in a house in Queen
street West. Mrs. Cook, an invalid, was
SufTOcated 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, = builder, was
taken to st. Lukes hospital badly burned
and hurt. James Merrifeld of Queen
street West was taken TO the hospital
seriously injured ny Il IdllluS
Most of the lumber piles in Ottawa
and Hull have disappeared and now
mere heaps of charred wood and ashes
| mark their sites. Half a dozen churches
and schools have been burned; the Eddy
company's paper and pulp mills and
match factory and %. b. Eddy's resi-
dence have been destroyed. Bronson 4
Weston's mill, the Hull Lumber compa-
ny's MILL one of Booths mills and the
Mckay company premises, one OF 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, ard shops i'll Hull
have been destroyed. Indeed. practically
nothing of Hull is left but Il church and
a few houses beyond it. The only lumber
mills standing in Hull are the Giimou,
& Huston mills. at the extreme east end.
The steel suspension bridge which con-
nected the city of Ottawa with Hull was
also destroyed
On the Ottawa side many fine resi-
dences were included in the fire area.
The Canadian Pacific railway depot on
the Chaudiere flats burned quickly.
Caused by "a Chimney Fire.
The fire broke out in the house of Mr.
Kirouac, on Chaudiere street, Hull 1t
| is said Mrs. Kirouac was lighting her
| stove to get the family dinner and set
the chimney Oh fire. The flames spread
to the roof, quickly communicated to adj
| joining houses, and as there was 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 hail, the Salvation Army bar
racks, and other places.
Scenes of Desolation.
The scene Of the Hull fire today pre-
sents vast desert of ashes. out of which
the porch Of Notre Dame Du Grace, the
property Of tic Obates OF Mary the I'm
maculatc the st. Mary's school recently
built at a 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 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.
FEARED BEING BURIED ALIVE.