The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1901-10-17
YESTERDAYS FIRE.
Much Damage Caused Blaze in A.
w. Reynolds Drug Store.

Yesterday morning at o'clock flames
were discovered issuing from the build-
ing owned by w. q. Scurry x 20.
and occupied by Druggist A. w. ReN-
nolds. The flames were seen by stage
CARPENTER Hull of the Grand opera
house. He sent Il messenger to turn
in an alarm while he took he nose
used in the opera house and with the
aid of his brother Charles soon had a
stream on the building. The fire
alarm system was out of order ana
but one bell sounded from the city bel
FRY, The fremen. believing test was
being made. did not respond. The gen.
tlemen who turned in the alarm ran
TO the hose house of the tolulnblas
and succeeded in gathering few or
the Young members of the company
who are employed in the near vicinity
of the company's quarters. twenty
minutes passed before the columbia
company was on the scene ana shortly
after the Mitchells arrived. Three
streams were thrown on the building.
A heavy volume of black smoke
polred out of the Reynolds place. be-
tween the opera house and the drug
store. The blaze when first seen was
near the theatre and worked from the
bottom of the building upward contin-
ing itself to about four feet in width
The fire had started in the basement
of the drug store caused by Il probable
defective ,lue in the furnace. The fire
had caught on to the cold air box and
from there caught to the outside OF
the rear wall and catching between the
walk of the building which is double
IA
flames crept to below the tin roof on
the one story addition in the rear of
the drug store. Tie smoke finding no
egress there had followed Il course up
ward in the building ana poured int"
the store of w. q. Scuiry & Co., giving
the impression that this building wa"
on fire. Through small loop holes in the
second story of the Reynolds store the
smoke poured out and many predicted
the loss of the several buildings Be-
fore the fire companies had arrived ON
the scene the Hull brothers succeeded
in eXtinGuishng all traces of the fire
in the rear of the building.
\ space was cut in the tin roof and
Joseph Coughln of the Columbia COM
pany squeezed the nozzle under
the roof with a stream of water
troll. The damage by water
is very large as compared with that
done by the flames. The fire was so
closely confined that the companies
were unable to locate it for q time and
were forced to content themselves with
placing the water in whatever place the
smoke issued from The water from
the four streams ran in torrents from
the top floor down to the drug stock
damaging or destroying almost the en-
tire stock 4 large canyass cover.
twenty feet in length. had been placed
over some valuable articles on IL cOun-
ter. but the goods were almost de-
StrOycd before the canvass had been
laid. Had ii been procured within
twenty minutes after the discovery OF
the fire the firm of Reynolds * co.
would have saved considerable stock
as the counter was heavily laden A
stream of water was directed against
a large window in the rear of the store
of W. q. Scurry e. CO.. breaking
through and Wetting a portion OF the
stock on the shelves near the north
side. The stream was quickly with
drawn when ii was discovered that the
flames had not reached that building.
Mr.. Reynolds stock is insured for
about orc-fourth of its real value. The
shelf containing the cOstliest drugs
was directly under Il large stream of
water and We're badly damaged. The
oufict and the dressing rooms in the
opera house Were deIugcd with water.
Water to a depth of several inches
owed into the basement of the Steph-
MS tailoring establishment. though
ne damage caused was slight