The daily Republican., 1902-12-01
ORIGIN V0RKH0USE
FIRE A MYSTERY.
[Continued from first page.1

Dullt at cost OF Sl7o, 900. Tht
machinery and stock in the worL
and store rooms are owned by Op
penheimer q Company, of New York
They. no doubt, carried ms urance
to cover their loss which l suppose
will be about s25, 600.
| This is n lesson for us as to the
value OF a water tower. Seeing that
the two companies in service were
unable to head off tho fre | tele-
phoned for the Washington Com
pany to come here. In my opinion
the companies could have done bet
ter work by coupling their hose as
the force of water would have been
greater. 1t is calamity to see the
workhouse being destroyed.
"A number of the TRUSTEES are
deserving of special commendation
for the manner in which they be-
haved. When the fire broke out
they were as willing and eager as
the guards we were to fight
the flames. They helped us much
tonight
CFLLS REMAIN STANDING.
Only the wing OF the building
which contains the cells Of the pris-
oners remains standing, and the
con7:cts will bckept there until some
disposition can be made Of them.
| When the wcrk Of recon struc tion is
! begun it Will be necessary to reps air
the part that remains standing
The estimated loss by the fire has
has now beel brought down
to $50, 200, half Of which falls
upon Oppenhcimcr & Co.. Of New
York, who owned the equipment and
stockroom. This will lower the loss
to the county to $4,000, on which
there is an insurance Of $2O,O00 10
make up the loss the county tax
rate will have to be increased or
new bonds issued.
Mr. Gawthrop roundly rebuked the
fire department for the manner in
which IL managed the ire and in this
connection sald
ut was very plain to anyone that
the manner In which the fire was
managed was incompetent. do not
wish to be hard on the iremen, but
think that the fault lies in the heads
OF the department. Ladders should
have been brought as vel! as the en-
gines, as they were badly needed. II
the lircmen had given half the ser.
vice which was given by the police
the damage would not have been near
so great. "
Continuing, Mr.. Gawthrop said the
tiremen showed incompetence in
moving the lines Of hose. He bollev-
ed that If ladders had been available
at first the damage would have been
much less. He said the work Of re-
building the damaged portions would
begin at once.
CHIEF CONwAY'S STATEMENT.
In reference TO the part which
the flremen took in fighting the
flames Chief Conway said
''rhe message asking held came
to me at 3. 81 clock in the Wccca-
coe engine house. | ordered out the |
Weccacoe and Water Witch, and |
also 'old the Union Company that it
might respond If it saw fit, as its
hose might be needed and the com.
panv willingly responded,
"Ihc companies named were on
the grounds within thrce-quarters
of an hour, although they had to 20
over three and one half miles on
country roads. At that time the
workroom wing of the workhouse
was on fire aud the flames were eat.
ing their way to the other portions
OF the building. The Gremsn laid
two lines OF hose into the corridor
or 'hub' OF the building. Tho fire
was soon practically under control,
when at the request Of the trustees
l moved the hose several times.
"Thls had the effect Of giving the
flames more Roadway. Finally | saw
this would not do, and after trying
all the various p ans which the
trustees suggested, l determined TO
handle the fire as | saw tit, aud |
stationed the men where consider
ed they would do the most good and
saved the jail portion of the building
which was never on fire.
Seeing that more than two en-.
gineS we're needed | ordered John
II. Shiplev to telephone for the
Washington Company. lie did SO
and the company was placed on the
opposite side Of the building from
where the Weccacoe aud Water
Witch were at work. The litemen
were kept at work until the fire was
out.
"Tho Phoenix truck arrived while
the fire was IN progress, but it was
OF bsolutely no use. The only use
the ladders were put to was when [
used enc Of them to 60 into room
on the upper floor, and this could
have been easily reached from tho
inside. No man can stand on ladder
and hold an engine stream with the
pressure necessary in this case.
The first message which re-
ceived asked fora chemical engine.
l ordered out the Weccacoe Com
panys chemical and started out in
my own team. When got to Front
AMI Union | saw tho blaze and
knowing the chemical could not
cope with such fire | ordered it
back and telephoned the Weccacoe
and Water Witch to send their
steam engines. Had l merely an
swered the first call over half an
hour would have been lost.
when | got to the workhouse l
suggested that horses be sent to
help the firemen pull their engines
to the scene, but none were sent, al
though the work house is sunnosed