Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1901-05-13
Detroit SUBURB
SC0URGED BY FIRE.
AND THE Loss is ESTIMATED
AT $SO0,O0O.
ORIGINATED IN LUMBER MILL
AND, FAMED BY A HIGH WIND,
SWEPT EVERYTHING BEFORE 1T.
The Streams of Water Were Turned
Into Steam Before They Struck the
Blaze-Over One Hundred Thou
sand Telegraph Poles Were Among
the Property Destroyed-No Loss of
Life Reported.

DETROIT, Mich, May 12.-Fanned
by thirty-five mile an hour wind.
fire this afternoon swept the west
bank of the Rouge river, in Delray, a
suburb to the south of Detroit, Tor
three-quarters of a mile and destroyed
over 100000 worth of property. Fol-
lowing are the losses:
Salliotte and Furgason, lumber mill
$4,000, covered by insurance; Brown
lee & Company's saw mill, Salt block,
and part of their stock of lumber. S45,-
600, insurance $4,000; the Western
Union Telegraph Company, loss on
cedar poles, stored in a yard which
was swept by the flames, about $780,
600, insurance unknown; Carkin,
Stickney & Cram, loss on dredge which
was tied up at Salliotte and Furga-
sons dock, 100000, insurance I'M
known; Maltby Lumber Company,
cedar poles and saw mill S50G0O in
surance $25, O00
The fire originated shortly after one
o'clock in the roof of the Salliotte and
Furgason lumber mill The mill had
not been running for several months
and the roof was as dry as finder The
building was soon in ashes and the fire
swept across a dock to where dredge
No. of the Carkin, Stlckney & Cram
fleet of dredges was tied up. Despite
efforts to save her, this craft was burn
ed to the waters edge. Great embers
were picked up by the wind and drop
ped on the roof of Brownlee & Com
pany's mill and Salt block and both
these buildings were destroyed.
Delray has very small fire depart
ment, and call for help was sent to
the Detroit department, which respond
ed with three engines and the fire boat
Battle. Even the great streams from
the fire boat were powerless to check
the flames, which were rolling down the
river bank for hundreds of feet.
From the Brownlee property, the fire
jumped over into the large yard which
the Western Telegraph Company used
as storage point for their cedar tele
graph poles. The yard is the distrib-
uting point for ten States, and over
100000 poles were stored there. The
fire swept through the great yard
which comprises about eight acres, in
less than two hours, but the poles
blazed far into the night. The streams
from the fire boat Battle were center
ed on this yard, but the had no effect
in staying the flames. The fourinch
streams were turned into steam almost
before they reached the burning piles
of poles.
The plant of the Maltby Lumber
Company was the last one on the river
bank, and it was soon destroyed, to-
gether with large stock of cedar poles
which were stored In the company's
yard.
When darkness fell the glare from
the burning poles Illuminated the sky
for miles, The firemen worked on the
fire almost all night but it was only to
keep it from spreading to other prop
erty for they realized that 1t would
simply have to burn itself out in the
Western Union storage yards.
While this fire was burning the lum-
Der yard of G. A. Raupp & Company
in Ecorse, about a mile from Delray
was set on fire by sparks from pass
ing engine and 100000 feet of lumber
was destroyed. The loss is about s75,-
600, covered by insurance.
a-rrr YnRO CEADnTY