Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1902-07-17

ly by the smaller business firms of
our city. The fire made clean sweep
of these until it reached the secon
hand store of Ike NJ. Davis, and
seriously threatened the whole of
Front street, but by herculean efforts,
the fire was finally checked and
brought under control at the point
named. The flames from the burning
buildings were driven almost hori-
zontally by the wind and rendered
any effort made in front of the fire
almost useless. Flying cinders were
blown across the railroad park and
tracks and quickly ignited the wood
piles Of the S. p Co, at the west end
of the railroad yards, The machine
shop also caught fire from the cinders
and was soon blazing furiously. The
round house roof soon caught fire
from the machine shops, and though
heroic efforts were made to save it by
the railroad employees, they were un-
availing and the building was soon
adding a fearful contribution of heat
and flame to the general confiagration
The block directly in front of the
blazing buildings and wood piles of
the S. p. Co was fortunately almost
vacant, occupied only by the dwelling
of VIM. Lempke and this was situated
on the farther side of the block.
This vacant space broke the sway of
the fire in the direction Of the Presby-
terian church and the homes beyond.
The open space was covered with
dry grass, across which the fire swept
with alarming rapidity, but vigilant
watchers here fought the flames in
the old fashioned style with wet bed
quilts and sacks and kept it under
control. At this stage of the con-
flagration, II osc and hydrants were
almost useless as. the pressure was in
sufficient to force the water more
than few feet from the nozzles and
this fact was discouraging in the
extreme to the workers as il seemed
to render their efforts futile, while
the wind was blowing more flercely
than ever, sending blazing cinders far
ahead in the path Of the flame, ignit-
ing the dry grass in scores of places
and threatening destruction to the
whole northeastern quarter of the
city.
Diagonally across the street from
the. railroad building and directly in
the sweep of the wind, We're the resi-
dcnces of A. Lempke, L. A. Heberlie
and the Kutschelis residence, occu-
pied by r. G. Smith These quickly
took fire and were consumed, the oc.
cupants saving a small portion only
of their household property. r. o.
McCroskey's residence on Il street was
the next to burn The dwelling of NJ.
! Clemens, by the side Of McCroskey'
was saved in the face of apparent i'm
possibility by hanging wet carpets on
the side next the fire and keeping
them wet down. A whole row OF
dwellings on the north side of L street
between Fourth and Fifth was saved
Tby unremitting effort. The Calvin
residence owes its escape to the thick
vines which cover its front.
The fire next attacked the block on
the north side of Il street between
Fifth and Sixth. Hotel Josephine il
situated ON the southeast corner OF
this block. A dwelling on the cor
ner of L aud Fifth, belonging to Mrs.
A Yerke, was burned and "The
Colonial" handsome brick building
lately completed and owned by Mrs.
W. j. Rogers took fire and in short
time only the walls were left stand
ing. The Josephine was saved by
intelligent and vigorous work. Thi,
was the limit Of the burned area, the
fire having been brought under contro
at all points with one exception, the
Baptist church To burn this edifice
the fire leaped across two blocks o.
untouched wooden buildings. Flying
cinders caught high up on the churcl
roof a small blaze was started, the
flames crept downward and the build
ing was consumed. The most heroic
effort on the part Of few member
of the fire department kept the flamel
from spreading to the adjacent build
ings.
] Estimated losses are as follows;
Southern Pacific r. r. Co. g., 900
covered by insurance.
Baptist Church, $500; insuranc,
$500.
Eugene Kienlen, brewery and dwell
ing, $40, 900; insurance, $500
W. J. Rogers, 1850; no insurance
A. Lempke, $500; insurance 5000
G. Kutschelis, 5000
X. G.. Smith, 5000; no insurance.
L. A. Heberlie, $25O0; insurance
$1,000.
A. Bartlett, 5000; insurance 800.
/ l. NJ Davis, 500; insurance 800.
K. O. McCroskey, &3lOO; insurance
sliOO.
David Lindsay, $500; insuranc,
$1,000.
Mrs. A. Yerke, $500; no insurance
job Whitehead, furniture, 500.
Geo. L. Good, furniture, $50
Alya Lamar, store building, 800
/ J. A. Midday, store building, 900.
The confectionery store Of Mr..
Wood adjoining the Bartlett building
and the restaurant o. =. VanNoy in
the Niday building are also among the
losses J. o. Booths building, oc-
cupied bs l. ~ Davis, was badly
damaged by.dynamite and b. A. Will
Jams building at the corner Of Front
and Fourth streets was pulled down.
III. q - ,,-ga ,IaokeI t,..fcra 10 raacl.