The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-02-16
By Great Effort the Flames Were
Confined to Nos. o and West
Washington Street.
TOTAL LOSS MAY BE $4,000
ID. ID. BRoSNAN CARRIED STOCK
WORTH FROM 100000 TO s65,OOO.
The Building, Owned by Henry Schur-
mann, Valued at S1s.OOO-The
story I'm Detail.

After long respite Washington street
had big fire this morning. The build
ing at and West Washington street.
occupied by the Brosnan Dry Goods Com
pany Cd. d. Brosnan. proprietoD, was
burned 10 a she'll 1t was a roaring, spec
tacular fire. The first man to see it was
Walter c. Johnson. women's tailor, whose
business and sleeping rooms are in the
building at 20 North Meridian street. He
was awakened at 1870 o'clock this morning
by a great light falling on his face. He
went 10 his window and saw that the mon
ument was glowing with reflected glare.
He has telephone in his rooms, and he
called up fire headquarters.
Have you got an alarm?' he asked.
'No."
''wen, the old Sentinel building is burn
ing"
The alarm was sounded, and in a few
minutes the neighborhood was full of fire
apparatus Johnson was wrong about the
fire being in the old Sentinel building. The
fame that had awakened him had burst
from the rear Of the third floor of the
Brosnan building. Within fifteen minutes
after the alarm the whole inside of the
pIace-frst. second and third floors, from
front to rear-was ablaze.
SALVAGE CORPS THERE.
The salvage corps broke the Washington
street show windows and the first man in
carried out to safety the waxen bust of
a woman clad only in a corset. The rest
Of the goods display was quickly res
cued. 1t was dangerous job. for the win
dows above were cracking from the heat
and glass showered continuously. The
flames spurted far out of the windows in
front. but the roof held tight until after
the third floor had fallen.
While water was pouring on the fire from
single nozzles, two Glazier nozzes and the
water tower in front of the building and
from single nozzles in the rear a big crowd
enjoyed the show and exasperated the po-
ncemen.
1t was 1 O'Clock before d. d. Brosnan
arrived. He had been called by one OF the
telephone companies. He was greatly
cited. but he told the reporters that he
had a stock valued at from 500. 600 TO $685. 900,
and that his insurance was about three
fourths OF that amount. The insurance,
he said, was placed by the Charles F.
Sayles agency. The building belonged to
Henry Schurmann.
Mr.. Brosnan's neighbors were Henry and
Isaac Kantrowitz, clothing dealers, on the
west and William HaerIe, dry goods mer-
chant on the east. Henry SEVERN is the
owner of the building rented by the Kan
trowitz brothers. and Mr.. Haerle is his
own tenant. The walls OF the clothing
store and Mr.. Haerles store did not crack
open. but the intense heat and the acct
dental misdIrected water caused losses to
MIR. Brosnan's neighbors that 1t will take
time TO calculate.
STUMBLED OVER HOS G LINES.
Hose lines were thick at the corner of
Meridian and Washington streets and the
excited spectators stumbled over them. The
spray falling on the sidewalk formed a
thin scale OF ice so smooth that one slip
meant fat fall This misfortune was a
further cause of amusement for the crowd
When the water tower crew tried to put
its apparatus in position the tower scraped
a trolley wire. the wheels touched the
tracks and blue electric flame sputtered at
the hremen's feet. driving them away.
Finally they grasped the wagon and pulled
Il clear of the tracks. thus breaking the
connection.
The fire too hot for hour to per-
nit ladders being placed against the front
OF the building. but little before ? o'clock
the flames had subsided sufficiently for
men 70 climb up close to the front wall
A hose was carried up. and the firemen
getting water in enectually when the
second floor fell One man had slipped in
side a window. and he got out just in time
10 keep from going down into the bed of
live Goals.
The blaze that was up and going SO
speedily just after 1880 o'clock faded as
ignominiously at ? o'clock II did not have
the staying qualities 10 resist all that
water And when the reds and yelloWs
changed TO black vapor the crowd forsook
the place. The water tower and the Glazier