The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1900-04-05

Kansas City's pride, wherein the ueiio-
cratic. National convention was to have
bten held on July I. was laid In RUNS !"
! LEGS than thirty minutes this afternoon
| from the time that It started, from an
unknown source, at o'clock
The fire burned with such fury that u
was evident almost from the start tha'
the structure was doomed and the hre-
men soon turned thsir attention TO saw
! ing surrounding property. stin breeze
was blowing and before the fire was sub
dued at 2;15 o'clock the Second Presby-
terrain church. one of the finest edifces in
the city, the church parsonage, the Latin
rep public school, a two-story thirteen
room building all situated across the
way on Central street, and a half block
of three-stor fat residences were dam
aged to n greater or less extent and Tor
time 1t was feared that several biochs
OF buildings in the residence district would
CO.
The aggregate loss is 100000 apportion-
cd as follows:
Conventional hall, s235,0Oo. insurance
sl55OOO; church $4,000 insured parson-
age $4,000. insured; school $4,000. in
Isurance $50 400, Williamson block,
Twelfth street. 100000 insurance si5,-
600.
Plans are on foot 10 rebuild convention
hall Immediately and make it ready for
tho democratic National convention in
July, While the FIRE was still in pro-
gress, members of the Commercial club,
through whose efforts the hall was con-
ce.ved and built mingled in the crowd of
spectators aud began soliciting funds FOR
a new structure This evening $25, 900
had been subscribed and Secretary Z NJ,
Clendening of the club called mass
meeting OF citizens for tomorrow night to
devise ways AID means OF raising an ad-
ditional $4,000 The hall association has
$4,000 in the bank and Will have the
S155 600 insurance for immediate use. the
insurance companies having spontaneously
agreed TO waive the eixty days limit and
make settlement on demand.
The Kansas City Lumber company, who
furnished four afths OF tha lumber ioT the
old building. has agreed TO duplicate their
order at once at the rate n existence two
years ago, and thu Minneapolis fir1l that
furnished the steel girders for the im-
mense roof have been to,egraphe1 to tH
duplicate their order.
The fire started as near as can be learn
ed at l o'clock this afternoon, just above
the boiler room In the northwest corner
OF the building, on the alley whare some
plumbers had been al work There was
no fire in the furnace and the SUPPOSE
lion is that the blaze started from a spirit
lamp or by one OF the plumbers crossing
= an electric light wire, still alarm was
first turned In. BY the time the arst en-
CINE arrived, ten minutes later, the whole
building was mass OF flames. The en-
tire structure. covering block each way
a on Thirtieth and Central streets was
turned into a furnace of fire before a sec
/. ond alarm could be sounded and In less
than half an hour the roof upheld by
4 massive steel girders that spanncd its
200 feet OF breadth fell with a crash that
=, sent showers of burning embers In every
direction and drove the fremen across
the street The brick Corinthian COL
1 umns lining the building along the
faeades on the Thirteenth and Central
street sides tottered few minutes and
e tell outward and the hall was COM
: plete wreck, the work OF but fifteen min
utes time.
The strong winds carried the flames to
the Second Presbyterian church en- the OPP
posite side Of the street and in forty min
utes that structure, occupying a half
block in length. was in ruins also. The
= parsonage adjoining and next to the la
,trop school, which was partially de-
2 stroyed in the cyclone Of 1888 and which
had been set aside for the use OF the
newspaper correspondents during the com
t Ing convention, were attacked simuita
ueously and soon nothing but their walls
we're left standing. Fortunately the
| school children had not returned to their
rooms after the noon hour recess and all
/ were gotten to places OF snfety Newt tba
t flames caught the Williamson flats. acros,
The alley from the hall Oh the north, on
twelfth street and these were Quilted
, Fiying embers started blazes on a dozen
different residences within a radius Of twr
blocks, and, famed by tho wind and aided
: nv low water pressure. threatened \
general connagration, The Are which
was hnally gotten under control nj 9.Sf
proved one OF the quickest and most dan,
e gerous experiences In Kansas CITY for
many years,
Convection hall has been elsssed y,
travellers as one OF the largest ana mos,
perfectly constructed auditorlums In H.
1 world. The building was erected IN tsoc
4 al a cost Of s2S50oO which was raIsed sy'
1 ureiy by public subscription. II occupisa
: piece OF ground sli by 200 feet N extsnt
The total seating capacity of the bIild,n,
:" 40 HeAlly -"uV" anu with standing room
It the building was capable OF holding nnr,
than %. 600 persons
!, The building had no stairways m ,,,.
a per seating being reached by means w =
: inclined planes. Separate exits we-e ,so,
= for the baleones and roof gard,n ana :,
: Is estimated that the hall could no en,n,i,I
at the rate Of 5000 people minute
Practically nothing remains Intact =.
convention FALL save the rhi-toa,,t,
lie street wall and the fonnastlon ~.
d struggling walls VIII have to he ,or,
-. down "V'
II That the convention hail VIII ho ,,,,,
a anew and before July was set,iag ~. .
y the nesting tonight OF the hoard ~ AVA
tofF OF the Convention Hall onmna ~.
? Th1t the necessary funds Win he sn, :
= seribed Immediately Is rot own 90
toned Fsrlv tomorrow morning 49,
OF men viii be ssnt into The ruins "a ~.
y the work OF clearing away The dshsts =
n nisht ths directors are in telegraph, 49,,
N mrnication with iroa and steel me-, ~ M ~
enueayor TO secure the neeessary g..
2 tural iron and steel Tho securing ~ y. 7,
material Is the one question th,f e 49,, ~.
:" ing uneasiness. In the old buiidior 80
! ver> approximately 1000 tons NJ IT,, we.
= steel Thsre Is doubt whether ~ an
steel girders ana trusses that spn,s.'A
the massive roof can he eous.,,,e.os I.
time, owing 70 present x-est 49,.
in upon 10 iTno "a -4..f l''u0