The Hawaiian gazette., 1902-08-22
.ONE MAN
MISSING
Search for Body Of
Chinese in
Ruins.
CFrom Thursdays Daily)

Search is beginning among the ruin.
OF Monday mornings fire for the re.
covery Of the body Of a Chinese who
was seen to enter the room of a friend
at o'clock that morning and who has
not been seen or heard of since. The
man was an employe OF the Metropoli-
tan Meat Market up to a month ago at
which time he was taken III. He was
laid Off for a couple OF weeks when he
appeared at the market asking for
work again, but the job had been given
to another. He was around the mar
ket about week ago when the night
Chinese engineer talked with him. AT
that time the man was still quite sick.
Yesterday it was learned that the
man had not been seen since o'clock
on the morning of the connagration
and his friends at once reported the
matter to High Sheriff Brown. Orders
were given to search the ruins for the
remains, but up to a late hour in the
afternoon nothing was found there.
When the debris is cleared away later
on close watch will be kept.
The fire inquest jury continued its in
vestigation yesterday afternoon, Fire
Chief Thurston being recalled, and tes-
timony was also given by Andrew
Brown of the water works department,
r. c. Winston, owner of the block in
which the fire started, Wong zee and
other Chinese who occupied a store
adjoining the one in which it is be-
lieved the blaze originated.
Wong Yee said he was awakened by
cries from the street which the later
ascertained We're uttered by All Sui,
the butcher, and he rushed out by the
back door. Flames were rising all
around at the time. He did not know
whether cat was in his room at the
time but there was a big gray cat be-
longing to storekeeper on River street
which had a habit Of visiting around
other stores and was occasionally lock-
ed up over night. The cat may have
been in his place that morning but of
this he was not certain. He had taken
out thousand dollar insurance policy
three months before on about $1,000
worth of goods and store fixtures.
Fire Chief Thurston said when the
two central station engines arrived at
the fire there was not enough water for
them to pump and, IN his judgment, 1t
was fully fifteen minutes before a
forced supply was turned down into
the mains. He thought that If there
had been full head Of water when the
engines began pumping the fire would
not have spread over so large an area.
The lack Of full head of water han
dicapped him in closing in on the fire
tp,s -
1t started.
Watermaster Andrew Brown said
that it was the custom at the Bereta-
MIA pumping station to shut down the
pump at midnight, leaving a fireman
there the rest of the night, whose duty
1t was, in case of a fire to rake down
the fire, call for the engineer and
switch the valves so that all the water
would run into the mains nearest the
location Of the fire. This ne believed
was done within twenty minutes after
the alarm sounded. A forty pound
pressure was always at the head from
midnight until morning on ordinary oc-
casions The Punchbowl reservoir is
pumped full before the pump is shut
down. However. through stealing" of
water about 100000 gallons of water
get away from it during the night.
E. c. Winston, who lives opposite the
depot, was aroused by cries Of fire and
was almost to the scene when the
alarm was sent in. The fire gained
terrific Roadway and he could only
judge that it originated in the third
store on River street from the corner
OF Hotel street, out he could not tell
how it started.
An adjournment was taken until o
o'clock this afternoon.