Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1903-05-11
OTTAWA is SWEPT BY FIRE
Between Five and Six Hundred Families
Rendered Homeless.
MONETARY LOSS RUNS INTO BIG FIGURES
Water Mains Had been Tempered
with and for an Hour Firemen
Were Unable to Secure
Any water,

OTTAWA, Ont. May lo.-A fire, sus-
| pected of being of incendiary origin, this
/ afternoon and evening destroyed hundreds
OF houses and millions of feet Of lumber
| in this city. John White, who had just
been releaEed from the penitentiary after
serving a term Of imprisonment for arson.
was caught near where the FIRE was first
discovered. lie was taken to the police
station and will be charged with starting
| today's confiagration. The fire originated
within a stones throw of where the Hull
fire of 1897 was checked The Hull fire
started on the other side of the river and
spread to the ottawa side. destroying mil
| lions OF dollars worth of property. 1t
| burned out to near where the ottawa &
| Parry Sound railroad enters the western
| Part of the city, and II was in the lumber
yards near the railroad where todAy's fire
started
Two hours before the main fire started,
two smaller fires were started and quickly
extlnguished in the lumber yards near the
Canadian Pacific railway. It\was $3.50 wnen
the third fire was discovered. When the
brigade arrived at the scene 1t was found
that the water main had been damaged
and no water could be obtained. When the
brigade did get water the fire was utterly
beyond its control. 1t swept along over
gone over, the only difference being that
1t was going in the opposite direction.
There is large cliff which extends from
the Ottawa river to the corner of Margaret
and Preston streets. The fire area was on
| the flats below the cliff. At two or three
points 1t came very near getting over tho
cliff and had it done so nothing would have
saved the city.
No Water for an Hour,
At $3.50 tonight the fire was under con-
troll and was confined to the following
area. The Ottawa & Parry Sound railway
on the south, Division street on the east,
First avenue on the west, and the Rich
mond road on the north. From the Parry
Sound road to the Richmond road is about
one mile and from First avenue to Division
street is about one-quarter of a mile Wh le
the fire was burning fiercely among the
lumber piles the whole brigade of the city
which had been summoned was forced to
remain idle.
For an hour not drop of water was
thrown into the flames. A stiff southwest
wind was blowing and by the time the
water main had been repaired the lumber
yards were mass of glowing embers
From the lumber yards the flames spread
TO group of frame houses on the out
*
Rochesterville, but which is now united to
the city Every house in the little settle
ment HAs destroyed .ssss .s -
Another lumber yard in a thinly settled
section northeast OF Rochesterville was
swept by the fire in an incredibly short
time. This brought the fire to the more
thickly settled sections.
After leaving the lumber piles the flames
swept over Pine street, which runs east and
west. down Willow, Poplar, Anderson.
Eckles, Somerset Spruce, Elm, Maple. AL
bert and on TO the Richmond road, or prop
erly speaking. Wellington street, where n
was stopped. short distance from the
Canadian Pacific railway depot.
At p. m 1t was feared that the fro
would get over the cliff on the top of which
is st. Jeanne. Baptist church. In the rear
and a short distance back from the church
Is the residence of the late Hon. David
Mills. The family began moving out at
p. m. and the hearse was ready to renove
the remains OF the distinguished Canadian
should the necessity arise. The firemen
however succeeded in keeping back the
flames.
Five Hundred Families Homeless.
Fifteen million feet of lumber were de-
stroyed. 1t belonged chiefly to j. r. Booth
and was sold The loss on the lumber will
be about 100000. The buildings burned were
principally dwelling houses and stores.
They were all built since the last fire and
all were either solid brick or brick veneered.
as the city would not permit any other to
be erected The loss on buildings is estI
mated at various amounts tonight. Mavor
Cook said there were from 500 to GOO fam
lilies homeless, or about 1000 individuals.
All the parties are supposed to be well In
sured The mayor said the city would op-
pose any aid being asked from outside
Canada and personally he thought that the
city should grapple with the situation
without any appeal for outside help.
Mayor Cook estimates the loss on the
buildings at 100000. making total loss q,
5000 900