Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-07-11
THE BIG F|RE:::0F 1886
Disaster W hich Befell the Post
Office Department.
sj9
PATENT OFFICE ALSO
NARRATIVE READ BEFORE THE
VETERAN FIREMEN.
Account Given by Present Resident Of
Washington-Extent Of
the Damage.

The monthly meeting OF the Veteran
Firemen's Association was held at the old
Union engine house, 10th and H streets,
Tuesday evening, Mr.. James H. Richards
presiding, and Mr.. ]. J. Peabody serving as
secretary In his sketch of fire matters for
1896. Mr. Peabody included an account OF
the fire at the General Post Office Decem-
Der IL, 1896, quoting the account in the
National Intelligencer on the following day
as follows:
TT is with no ordinary regret that we
perform the duty of announcing the de-
struction by fire of the building in the CEN
trail part Of this city which has for many
years been occupied by the General Post
Office the patent Office and the city post
office, with an important part of the con-
tents of those buildings, including the en-
tire contents of the two latter. This ca
lamity, great as it is. has long been feared
by old residents Of Washington, who knew
the combustible nature of the building
(the floors being all of wood and some of
them not even countersealed) and the Gus
tom of storing fuel not only coal, put
wood, in the vaults underneath the first
floor. The calamity has come at last. and
affords the second demonstration within
four years of the utter absurdity and i'm
providence Of the structures to which the
public archives records and government &C
confided
1.-THE first alarm of fire was given by Mr..
Crown, a messenger. who usually sleeps IN
the room connected with the city post Of
flee (the postmaster's own room). The
clerks had been at work asserting the
mails until half-past o'clock, when one of
the persons belonging to the office (A1r.
Lansdale) passed out Of the east door and
all along the whole front of the building.
without discovering anything to give rise
to a suspicion of danger. Not long after 3
o'clock Mr.. Crown was aroused from
light slumber by the smell of smoke.
Opening the door of the city post office he
perceived a dense smoke without any visi-
BILE appearance Of fire. He gave the alarm
instantly, first rousing Mr. Cox, one of the
clerks, who slept in a back room adjoining
the post office, and who coming out of the
door of his room, passed along the whole of
the long room with, difficulty through the
smoke, hearing the fire cracking. but being
able to see nothing. The watchmen in the
body of the building. some distance from
the city post office, had perceived nothing
of the smoke until they also were alarmed
by Mr.. Crown.
Delay in Giving Alarm.
''The hour of the night when all this
took place being one at which the whole
world is buried in the deepest sleep 1t was
found almost impossible to spread the
alarm of fire. One of the church bells be-
gan to ring, but the ringer not seeing any
flame ceased ringing almost as soon as he
began, and 1t. was a full half hour before
the alarm bells were rungi and more than
that time before an engine or a bucket OF
water could be commanded. As it was, the
fire had its own way and was at last seen
in the vault or cellar. Immediately under
the delivery window Of the city post office,
followed shortly afterward by flames from
the windows of the latter. and within five
minutes afterward by flames from the roof
the fire having crept up along the staircase
or partitions to the top of the building be-
fore 1T broke out below.
From the moment of the flames burst
ing out from the lower windows 1t was
obvious that all hope of saving the build
ing was in vain. In little more than an
hour the whole interior of the building and
its contents were destroyed The books of