Evening star., 1901-10-31

A STUBBORN FIRE
Mayer & Pettit's Establishment Sc
riously Damaged.
STOCK And BUILDING INJURED
Flames Were Confined to the
Top Floor.
SERIES OF ACCID ENTS
SERIES OF ACCID ENTs

The well-stocked furniture and clothing
house of Mayer & Petit. Nos. AIS and Alt
7th street northwest, was visited by fire
this forenoon, and considerable damage
was done. Members of the firm will not
be able to estimate the damage until they
get definite idea of the amount of stock
that was saved. The firemen win make
report of the affair later on. when their es-
innate of the amount of damage VIII be
given. Several merchants who visited the
scene of the fire expressed the belief that
the loss will amount to something Ike
$4,000 The damage to the building, which
is owned by the Thorn estate, will amount
to several thousand dollars. Both the
building and the stock are fully insured.
1t was about 1890 O'clock when the fire
was discovered on the fourth floor of build
ing AIT. and Ernest Little, the firms ship
ping clerk, who made the discovery, made
an outcry. A clerk in the office made an
effort to notify the fire alarm operator Of
the fire by telephone, and two persons
turned in alarms from boxes 124 and 125.
There was some delay of the firemen in
reaching the burning building. This delay,
Chief Dutton explained, was due to the
slippery condition of the asphalt pavement,
caused by dampness.
Where the Fire Started.
The room in which the fire started was
used for the storage of duplicate pieces of
furniture When Mr. Little reached the top
floor of All he noticed smoke coming from
a pile of couches near the middle of the
room There was nothing to indicate how
the fire started, nor did the shipping clerk
remain long enough to make an investiga-
tion. When the firemen reached the scene
of the fire and found the flames confined to
the top floor they made an effort to extin-
guiSh them with chemicals, hoping to save
the stock on the lower floors from damage
by water. They soon found that the chem
icals could not do the work, and several
streams of water were soon pouring on the
burning building and stock Because of
the dense volume of smoke coming from
the room the firemen had to fall back sew
eral times There was ample time to save
all the goods on the lower floors had there
been an efficient salvage corps upon the
scene, but in the absence of such a corps
it was impossible to save all the property.
Several thousand dollars worth of furni-
ture was saved
Some of it was lowered from the rear win
dows to the alley while other property was
taken through the doors connecting the two
buildings on three floors. The clothing on
the ground floor was soaked, the clerks hav-
ing been unable to remove this portion Of
the property. The police reserves from the
first and sixth precincts, under Lieuts.
Amiss and Moore, were kept busy keeping
back the crowd. For more than thirty min
utes traffic on the east track of the electric
road was suspended. The fire was a stub
DorH one ana the HT6men worked nara TO
save the lower floors and adjoining build
ings. and in this work they were successful,
although they were unable to prevent the
damage by water on the lower floors.
A Series of Accidents.
While responding to the alarm the horses
of No. engine slipped on the asphalt pave
ment near Pennsylvania avenue and 9th
street and were cut about the legs. The
firemen escaped injury and the apparatus
was not damaged A delay of few min
utes was caused by the accident.
One Of the horses of No. hose carriage
slipped on street near police headquar-
ters, but no injury resulted either to the
animal or the carriage
A small boy in the crowd had an epileptic
tit and was carried to the Emergency Hos
pltal, and one fireman cut his finger.
Messrs. Mayer & Petit carried an in
surance of $4,000 on their entire stock
Their insurance was placed through r. H
Howenstein, and was chiefly in out -of-town
companies. 1t is believed that the damage
to the building will amount to about So, 600
While the damage to the building and stock
will cause temporary suspension of busl-
ness in the burned building the firm
may be able to resume business in the fur
niture department, in Ais, tomorrow morn
ing.