The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-09-11

WITH .Oar she explosion came and
the fircmcu were lifted bodily from the
foe, and hurled with frightful force
against wait eight or ten feet away.
Had IT not been for a wall between
tf.cm and the seat 90 the explosion
theS woCid undoubtedly have been
b Orm 10 pieces. With devotion To duty
the fircBeE picked themselves UP. and.
finding that they we're not injured.
tn eNtricated themselves from their
coVerin- Of debris and held their line
o. hose ON Tho approaching fire until
Chief Dcyine ordered them OGt. They
consider "a almost miracle that they
were not blown tn atoms.
Whsn the i,rc had been practically
eNtiuguisnad. I've curiosity of the crowd
hanging about the place gave the po-
lice and dremcn no end of trouble. Sew
eraI officers we've kept busy marching
up and down the walls, running the
crowd away. and it finally became nee
essar-- for the firemen TO turn their
hose upon tneDl several times before
they could -seep them back The south
wall of the building became so danger
Gus that Chief Devine ordered the hook
and ladder truck around and had ii
pushed over in the basement to pre-
vent any accidents. Ropes were put
uD and officers kept there to keep the
curious out of danger.
Two shifts of men were kept at the
scene of the fire all day
A Complete Ruin.
The ruin Of the Oregon Short Line
building is complete. There are one
or two ragged fragments of wall stand
ing. then huge gaps, then a few pieces
of brick, which look ready to fall at
the least prOVOcauOn- What had been
three stories in the building have been
merged into one. and that one is the
basement All the contents OF three
floors are piled up in hopeless mass
Of wreckage. from which peeps now
the remnants Of some desk. then again
"a huge piece of machinery. or a Few
leaves from ledger or a letter file,
lying water-soaked among the debris.
The scene in the ruins OF what had
been tie Nine & Smelter Supply COM
pany's rooms presents a iumbled ap-
pearance. as lying in the basement are
pieces OF machinery, pipes. bars of iron.
the door of the vault which stood in
the west end Of the store. all kinds
of assaying supplies and the different
materials carried by them. Some OF
the machinery was badly warped and
cut of shape. while some of it looked
as If il needed only cleaning and oil
ing to restore il to use The JOists and
cross beams in the floors are ali burned
ont here and there one of them pro-
jec:ing a charreG end into the air. The
Salt Lake Soda Water company's place
of business is absolutely destroyed.
nothing remaining but mass Of
melted glass in the cellar It was
claimed by a great many that the first
explosion came from this part Of the
building. but that could not have Ieeu
the case, for both the upper wall and
the wall IN the basement are solid yet
Nothing remains of either Spencer
Clawson's place or the Utah Electrical
& Supply company in the basement,
the greater part Of the material car
ried by them being of an infiammable
T, 4. aracter. although there is some de-
/ bi 3 from the electrical company. con-
sisting OF melted and twisted copper
and bras chandeliers and electric light
fixtures. The rest of the basement 10
J the south ard beyond the dividing wall
was occupied by the Mine & Srnelter
Supply company