The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-02-01
FIREMEN IN NEW YORK wERN
FORCED BACK BY ENcRoAcH- !
ING FLAMES
ABANDONED THEIR ENGINES
HAD TIC CUT THE. TRACES TO sAvu7
THEIR FIRE HORSES,
LIVES
LOSS A MILLION AND A HALE
Three Hundred and Forty Pieces OF
Apparatus Were Summoned by 81
Chief Croker to Fight z
the Blaze.

NEW YORK, Jan. 31.-The seven-stor-y
factory of the William Wicke companv4
manufacturers of cigar boxes labals andi
ribbons at 415 to 4l9 East Thirty-frsH
street was shaken up today by an ex4A
plos1on In the shaving tower which,
wrecked the tower and demolished theC
ioof of the engine house. The explosioui
is believed to have been caused by gaS
which found its way into the tower"
The force of the explosion was ire.
mendous The disintegrated brick works
fell upon the roof, crushing it, and the
concussion of the explosion cracked thed
big smoke stock-100 feet high-tnati
lowered over the engine room. Nearlvi
SEQ persons were at work in the factory al
the time Of the explosion. Three hundred
and fifty of them were women A naniof
ensued, but only two persons were seri.s
ously injured.
FIRE that did damage to the extent of
$l,5oO,OG0 started anew in the Williams
Wlcke company's building tonight AZ
halt hour after the first alarm was sent
IN, the entire building extending half thef
length of the block in Thirty-frst street.
10 the East river was mass Of hames<.
and the firemen who had responded to-
the various alarms had ceased trying to
save the building, but had turned ali
their attention to adjoining structures,
had been left on duty and had put out
watch line" were at work at the
tIme the fire started. Four alarms were
turned In within fifteen minutes.
Chief Croker soon arrived and sent I'M
fifth alarm minute later he sent
IN the alarm known as two nines," the
first time this alarm has been ased
since the Nassau Chambers building fire
in 1885,
HUNDREDS OF ENGINES.
The final cali brought all the engines.
hook and ladder companies, tenders,
water towers and search lights between
Leonard street on the south and Eighty,
flfth street on the north, $40 in ALL
Roundsman Quinn and Sergt Haupt-
man, who was promoted for bravery at
the Windsor hotel fire, were in command
OF squad of ten men at the scene -yherrf
the hre started. They at once raw thai
the Wicke building was doomed and
turned their attention. to, the tenemeat
house at 464s East Thirty-fi trest. d.
rectly opposite the burning factory
This Is fve-story tenement occuDied
by twenty-five families of Italians and
Germans. The police succeeded in get-
ting all the persons out safely. The fire
IN the meantime had spread with the
greatest rapidity through the entire nlant
OF the W1cke company. The fire leapsd
over Thlrty-first street and First ave-
nue. was In flames in no time Rv this
time the blaze had eaten it's way into the
Tblrty-second street, the top floor OF
which was occupied by the same COM
pany.
About this time the police saw that
the tenement on the West corner of First
avenue and Thirty-first street was doom1F
ed. They turned their attention to get-
ting out the people who were there A.
n c9 riod
Donald, who lived on the second floor.
and who had given birth to a babe onIy
few days ago.
FIVE HORSES sCOHcHED.
Engine Company q, which had attach--
ed lines of hose to the hydrant at the
corner and almost underneath the waIIq
of the burning factory, was seen to be
in dangerous position. The fremen had
been forced back by the heat and were
compelled to abandon three big reels Of
hose that stood where the wall mad
broken out, just beside the engine and
the heat was unbearable. The horses
struggled to escape, but seemed para
lyzed with fear. The hair on their backs
was seen to turn to a brownish color, and
some hremen threw overcoats lvor their
heads and ran in and cut the traces.
one OF the horses was burned SO badly
that he had to be shot. The others will
recover. The walls of the factory had
fallen, one by one, and theEs oaly re-
mained standing the big chimney and
the south wall. The building in the rear.
extending into Thirty-second street. was
gutted.
When this building was burning a lad-
der on the south wall, on which was
Fireman Peter Coyle was seen to be on
fire. Shouts of warning notified Coyle
OF his danger, and he started to descend.
Before he was half way down the wall
fell and took the ladder with ii. Coyle
was thrown to the street and had both
ankles broken
Water Tower No. 8, attached to Hook
and Ladder Company No. 40, had station
ed itself on Thirty-first street, in the
middle OF the block. The heat was so in
tense that the horses had to be taken off
and the men were compelled to abandon
the tower. In a few minutes it was a.
mass of ruins from the heat, which melt -
ed the parts like rubber
The fremen had turned their attention
to the south side of Thirty-first street,
to keep the fire from spreading.
EXTENT OF THE FIRE.
The burned area, in general, extends
about city block. Wicke's building, at
the corner of First avenue and Thirty
first street; the building abutting it on
Thirty-frst street, and three large tene-
ment houses were among the destroyed
buildings Back of the burned buildings
and extending almost to the river was
the lumber yard of A. T. Buckhaut,
where piles of lumber were frequently
ablaze 1t as impossible tonight to get
a list of the damage done. The Jackson
Iron works, on Thirty-second street,
also suffered considerable damage. Swift
& Co.'S lumber yards, in the rear Of the
Wicke building, extending to the river
front were also damaged. The cable
factory of Theodore Sauer was damaged
to slight extent, and the sash. door and
box factory of Carter & Peterson suf-
fered considerable damage. The fire vas
one of the most peculiar New York has