New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-11-02

WIN something OF volcanic velocity Reaching
me height OF a hagpole, it was caught by
northwest wind and was carried awy to sea.
watchers at distance regarded it disinter-
es'eolS' Tor IL was too serene business sitting
IN the warm sand TO strain necls over a fire.
But The minutes passing the LATEST man on
me whole shore was on his feet making his way
hresthlessly and excitedly to the race in the
centre OF Coney Island. IT seemed as IL the
WIND had borne the flames Gown upon a hun
ared Of the wooden ho1ses and stores at once.
g the time these sightseers passed Luna Park
(Which was not harmed in the slghtest). and the
Loop the Lo4p." and had reached the Steeple-
chase. which lies only short distance west,
they found a street packed with a terrified lot
q people. many Of whom were Italians; score
~ IRE engines already at work and q line OF
flame working east. four blocks long and fifty
feet high. which stretched from Surf-ave. to
the beach.
The centre Of the line where the fire lay
ihickest was the Bowery, a narrow, board
walked alley thoroughfare dedicated TO vendors
Il the satisfying frankfurter, the cheap dance
halls and the thousand and one sideshows Of
peoples shore resort The roofs Of these fiimsy
structures WERE in most instances, Of tarred
paper. Caught by the rapid running fire. in
quick succession they ignited. flared at height,
and then collapsed IN great dust Of sparks
which were carried on 70 the next row Of like
buildings.
Every few minutes more steamers. drawn by
exhausted horses. bowled filed hose that
crossed Surf-ave. at every few rods These
engines were stationed at every block. and soon
pumped water through every cross street, in
anticipation Of the speedy coming Of the line
of FIRE But, save the sun-dried, makeshift'
pine-built shacks the firemen could not, though
they fought relentlessly.
T5ardicaDnAS a. hy the thousands of
visitors who occupied every vantage ground,
the 6remen made better progress when as
sisted by several hundred late-arriving police
men The FIRE was so hot however, and SO wei!
FED that it felt its way through walls played
upon by two streams at one and the same time
The policemen were as fully occupied IN fore
:ng owners from the saving ofNheir household
effects in the establishment Of fire lines.
These men and women. who live at Coney Island
all year around, had il many instances TO be
dragged from their quarters. so unswervingly
bent were they on saving t'eir little stocks IN
The main street was at times almost i'm
passable with carriages, trucks. pushcarts and
human burden bearers all straining under
masses OF bedding, crockery, canned fruits, MIR
rors. chairs sailed meats and a thousand petty
chartels. Every car and elevated train brought
masses OF people to choke the principal street
Quite as many worked for others as watched;
quite as many lent a hard TO hauling hose from
danger as laughed at the amusing things the
losers in terror did Thieves were arrested ana
dragged through the crowd.
By dusk drunken men and women. their
wrecked saloons. sang and scoffed, though they
had lost their all Fire engines whistled Cor
coal. more hose carts and steamers rottled in
from Brooklyn, ambulances came, ana more cars
poured excited passengers around the fringe Of
the fire lines. But instead of a pandemonium
there was. the whole. fine behavior shown.
and an adaptabiiity TO the sire IS o. Conditions.
From a roof O. an observation tower on It's
extreme western edge Of the red area the pici-
ure. pv sundown. was that of forest fire seen
from hilltop. On the left on the protected
SIDE Of Surf-aVe. glowed white facadeS. rooted
fantasticaly. and dotted with men playing tiny
streams on the tender box wood about On The
right the beach sand, glowing like sulphur.
where a hundred homeless women ana children
Squatted on tIulths ana ped comes areaoE
preparing stoicaiy 10 pass there the night:
further out on the water WIS hotilia OF small
boats, gunwale Gown with clocks provisions
dogs bedding. cash registers and hric-a- brac
snatched in panic. Directly ia front and be
tween was the panorama CT fame bowling over
home. shop. loon. ganer. restaurant: eating
uP huge chmneys, sucking up ehapeless Whiri-
irir fc-s rlln,va--s hath houses towers
steeples and wheels. sweeping down square
blocks of nameless pleasure things that have
made people happy i'm the past and which
have cost their owners their al.
Insured" said man. rubbing the smoke and
grit from his eyes as he boiteG from his home"
30. NOBODY is. AIS gone. The whole things
up and I am without cent Somebody stole
my coat. my wife is missing
Same ground went FIVE years ago said an
other unfortunate, whose plight was equally
miserable. "Coneys hit for sure didn't save
= cent. I'm like . thousand here who planned
70 spend az winter here know it's nearly
Thousand OF rs. for We registered five hundred
fof the election. and there's lot IF the women
End the kids. l didn't have much but there's
2 lot Of buildings burned which cost from $4,000
- Sloooce- What's Coney done TO get il again
hard2"
During the afternoon the Ferris wheel 20 the
east and beyond the burned area, wheeled
crowded with those able and willing to pay
premium for a better view below. The man be
yond the Steeplechsse opened a gate. some tine
since closed Up for the season, admitted the
n curious. and cleared pretty profit through his
u shrewdness. Later the gate was closed by the
police.
Louis Stauch mad $4,000 insurance on his
dancing pavilion Mr. Henderson his
insurer, he could not get insurance from any
If the leading fire insurance companies on &C
count Of the lack Of adequate water facilities in
case Of fire. The COney Island territory is sup
piled with water from q pumping station at
Sheepshead Bay. where there 200 sunken
wells. Ii is considered ideal plant. and
built in the days of John Y. McKane. When
Brooklyn was consolidated. however the supply
was, in part, diverted TO Flstbush and else
where. and last night there was said TO be very
small and entirely inadequate pressure when the
engines got work
There were number Of accidents in the
course OF the FIRE ALERT Reuben. twenty four
wears old. Of the Silver Hollow Pavilion
badly burned Thomas Deitzman. a fireman OF
Engine Company No. lag. was overcome by
smoke and was removed TO the Kings County
Hospital. was Mary Yager, forty-foUr years
old OF HendersOn's Walk. who inhaled smoke
Joseph Murray, Of the Metropole Hotel. Her
derson's Walk and the Bowery, was badly cut
by falling glass.
Detectives Reynolds and Masterson rescued
Mrs. Tice wife OF Albert Tice. the proprietor of
The Albatross Hotel. She asleep when the
fire broke out. The detectives also rescued a
Mrs. Dexter from a building in the Bowery,
near Bushman's Walk. John Smith was res
cued by Rounosman Kennedy and Officer Fitz-
gerald from Ferriss Hotel IN the Bowery. He
was helpless as he had sustained conclusion Of
fhe brain by falling bricks