Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1903-09-21

pumps which send the pressure into
the railroad mains Thus for a time
the men were left with one stream
from the city hose and a faint dribbla
from the railroad pipes to fight with
a fire which was eating like so many
demons into the very heart of the net
work of shafting which supports the
tons and tons Of heavy machinery
with which the machine shops are
crowded But there was one man
with bravery and another with wit
and between them these two rigged
up an emergency steam pump attach
ed it to the boilers around which the
fire was blazing and sent pressure
through the empty pipes. One of
these men, Farrell. an engineer stay
ed in the boiler room. with the wood.
work blazing around him and kept
this pump running while his compaa
ions fought the fire. Even with the
added pressure and half a dozen
streams working it looked for an hour
as If the great plant with its thous-
ands of dollars worth Of machinery
was sure to go, but at last the fire.
men checked the blaze in the machine
shops, working with red hot betting
and burning shafting falling around
them while another crowd on the roof
tore away the hot sheet iron to get at
the flames in the wood work beneath.
And they conquered. but only after a
battle that for sheer fierceness has
seldom been equalled. Thousands Of
the town people gathered to watch the
blaze and hardly one Of them expected
TO see the firemen victorious. But
the result is much less serious than
the battle seemed to indicate for after
the flames had finally been quelled
Sunday at noon, 1t was found that the
damage is confined almost entirely to
the east end Of the old machine shops
and to the boiler and engine room.
1t will reach in total not more than
$4,000.
With good luck the entire plant will
be running tomorrow morning. The
two immense electric engines INSTALL
ed less than a year ago at cost of
more than $4,000 are slightly dam.
aged although they were in the thick
Of the blaze, and they cap be used as
soon as the wiring and the burned
out motors can be replaced. All day
yesterday and all night last night the
men were at work replacing shafting
and betting, while the electricians
are equally busy and 1t is hoped and
expected that every wheel will be go.
ing when the whistle blows tomorrow
morning.
I6 HiG was q buu lbeti0 s'atts
ter Mechanic Bean to The Optic cor
respondent today, "and we have had
a very lucky escape. As nearly rs.
we can estimate it the loss will be be
tween $4,000 and $4,000. II will not
exceed the former figure and It may
not reach the latter. The greatest
damage is to betting and wiring and
this will all have to be replaced be-
fore we can go to work full force
again. The damage to the machinery
outside the engine room will not ex-
ceed 800. With good luck we will
have the whole plant running as usual
Tuesday morning. But 1t was a bad
fire and we are out Of 1t with the
greatest good luck"
The result OF the fire In the shops
will probably be the purchase OF add.
tional fire fighting equipment by the
city Of Albuquerque. It was demon
strated at that blaze that the present
equipment is inadequate both in sup.
plies and the number Of men EN-.
ployed.
At a meeting Of the council which
will be held tonight the matter Of
the first sub-station will probably BE-
brought Up and the question Of more
men and equipment and an entire new
fire alarm system Is sure to be UP for
discussion. It is probable that some
radical action will be taken looking
to betterment of the situation.
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