Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-07-11
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the general post Office were all or nearly
all saved exertions having been made for
their safety from nearly the first mo-
ment of the alarm but mass of papers,
etc, belonging to the office were destroyed.
Not anything was saved from the patent
Office. the volume of the smoke preventing
anybody from penetrating the latter SO as
to save anything.
LAS to the origin of the fire. it Is impos-
sible to say anything. for nothing seems
to be known of 1t. except that it was in a
cellar or vault. in which pine wood and
coal were stored, all of which were prob
ably in state of ignition before the fire
disclosed itself to the eye. We the more
willingly forbear any conjectures as to the
cause of the fire. since both houses of Con-
gress have taken steps, through commit
tees. to investigate it. and in one house
with power to send for persons and papers.
Most fortunately, the night was calm
and comparatively serene, or the destruc-
ton of private property would have been
inevitable and great. Had it occurred on
the night previous. when the wind blew
almost a hurricane. several squares of val
liable buildings must have been destroyed.
the means of the city for extinguishing
fires are wholly inadequate to the value Of
the property at stake, and the sources of
the supply Of water for the engines are
limited in their extent as well as precar-
ious. We trust that the lesson We have re-
ceived will not be lost on those who have
it IN their power to apply the remedy.
An Irreparabls Loss.
"Of all the amount of loss of papers and
property sustained by this disaster that
which is most to be regretted because ir-
reparable). is that of the whole of the great
repository of models OF machines in the
patent Office. The nlouldefing ashes now
only remain of the collected evidence of
the penetration, ingenuity and enterprise
which peculiarly distinguish the descend
ants of Europe in the western world.
I'VE have mentioned In the preceding
article the destruction of all the contents
of the city post Officer All the mails of the
night and morning. including letters re-
ceived by other malls for distribution by
those mails except the Warrenton. Va,
and Port Tobacco, Nd. mails had been
Sent off before the fire occurred. All the
mails received the preceding evening and
in the night for delivery at this place were
destroyed. including, Of course. all the let
tiers for members of Congress, different Of
fcers of the government and editors. The
transmission of mails from this place will
not, we understand, be for moment in
terrup.ed by this catastrophe.
December 20 the Intelligencer published
the following from the New York Courier
and Enquirer:
1.-THE Washington city post Office, the
general post Office and the patent Office
have this day been burned to the ground.
The f1re has contaminated IT'S work thor
ouRhly, leaving as memento of its visit
little more than the outer walls. from which
the smoking columns of fire are even now
ascending. At half-past o'clock this
morning we were awakened by an indiffer
ent sort of alarm that the post Office was
on hre. our bell gave out a few sleepy
strokes and three or four voices cried out
.nre. but there was no indication of light
in the sky and began to regard the matter
as Joke. but determined to ascertain If it
was SO. E sss- -.
Il approached the Office. but saw neither