The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-02-01
FIREMEN IN NEW YORK wERH
FORCED BACK BY ENcROACH- 1
ING FLAMES
ABANDONED THEIR ENGINES
HAD TIC CUT THE TRACES TO SAVED
THEIR FIRE HORSES,
LIVES
LOSS A MILLION AND A HALF
Three Hundred and Forty Pieces on
Apparatus Were Summoned by; 81
Chief Croker to Fight 4
the Blaze.

the Blaze.
NEW YORK, Jan. 31.-The seven-stor-1
factory of the William Wicke company3
manufacturers of cigar boxes, labals and3
RIBBONS at 4l5 to 4l9 East Thirty-frsH
street was shaken up today by an exA
plosion in the shaving tower which,,
wrecked the tower and demolished theC
foof of the engine house. The explosioui
is believed to have been caused by gas1
which found its way into the tower"
The force of the explosion was tre-
mendous The disintegrated brick works
fell upon the roof, crushing it. and the
conclusion of the explosion cracked thei
big smoke stock-100 feet high-tnat'
lowered over the engine room Nearly
SEQ persons were at work in the factory az
the time of the explosion. Three hundred
and fifty of them were women panic
ehsued, but only two persons We're serl<
ously injured
Fire that did damage to the extent Of
Sl,5Oo,0tO started anew in the WiIliamf
Wlcke company's building tonight. AZ
half hour after the first alarm was sent
in, the entire building extending half the
length of the block in Thirty-frst street.
to the East river was a mass of flames
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,
Ihe men of engine company 16 who
had been left on duty and had put OUT
q watch line were at work at the
tihe the hre started. -Four alarms wera
turned In within fifteen minutes.
Chief Croker soon arrived and sent INF
NTH alarm minute later he sent
IN the alarm known as 1.-TWO mines" the
hrst time this alarm has been ased
since the Nassau Chambers building fra
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
NTH street on the north, $40 in ALL
RGundsman Quinn and Sergt. Haupt-
man, who was promoted for bravery az
the Windsor hotel fire, were in command
OF squad of ten men at the scene Wherlt
the fire started They at once raw that
the Wicke building was doomed and
turned their attention to, the tenement
house at 464 East Thirty-first stresf. az
rectly opposite the burning factory,
This is a five-story tenement occupied
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 leapad
over Thirty-first street and First ave-
nue. was In flames in no time Bv this
time the blaze had eaten its way into the
building in the rear and facing ON
Tbirty-second street, the top floor of
which was occupied by the same COM
pany
About this time the police saw thar
the tenement on the West corner of First
avenue and Thirty-first street was DOOM
ed. They turned their attention to gets
ting out the people who were there. Al
policeman carried out Mrs Sarah Nc
Donald, who lived on the second floor.
and who had given birth to a babe only
few days ago.
FIVE HORSES SCOBCHED.
Engine Company q, which had attach--
ed lines Of hose to the hydrant at the
corner and almost underneath the wallis
of the burning factory, was seen to be
in dangerous position. The ffremnn had
been forced back by the heat and We're
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 brownsh color, and
some firemen threw overcoats 1vor their
heads and ran in and cut the traces.
One Of the horses was burned SO badlv
that he had to be shot. The others will
recover. The walls of the factory had
fallen, one by one, and theE5 oaIy re-
NAMED standing the big chimney and
the south wall. The building in the rear.
extending into Thirty-second street. was
Quilted.
When this building was burning a lads
der on the south wall, on which was
Fireman Peter Coyle was seen to be on
Shouts Of 1.t,or
of his danger, and he started to descend.
Before he was half way down the wall
fell and took the ladder with IL. CoyIe
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
llISI street, the DullulnS aDuttlQS IL on
Thirty-frst street, and three large tene-
ment houses were among the destroyed
buildings. Back of the burn NJ 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
e N e Inn nl,ffc In ~ hn
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 &c Peterson suf-
fered considerable damage. The fire vas
one Of the most peculiar New York has
ever seen.