The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-02-09
DESPERATE BATTLE.
Only Most Heroic Work Saves
Residential Section of City,
(By Associated f,ress.)

BAL.TIM ORE. NIB, Feb. S.-Baltimore
is staggering tonight under fire loss
which no one has the tenlerty TO put IN
figures The important commercial dis
}Strict is backened ruins. laid bare BY a,
4 confagraton which RACED without mo-
81 rnentary check from 10:45 a. M, yester-
div until late lin the afternoon to-day.
Vi AtS O'Clock the flames were under con.
troll. They had ragged twenty-elght hours,
in spite Of utmost superhunun efforts
ii nut forth by the best fighting forces which
4 more than half dozen cities were able
NJ to muster.
The residence section OF the city es-
q caped. This phase Of the situation re-
lleved the officials from any thought 9th
!; or than the saving Of property The
H flames were held In check at the Union
i docks and prevented from leaplng Jones's
Falls and placing the entire city east
Of there in jeopardy A score Of times
y flames OF Are were found tapping the
sides OF lumber piles on the east bank
Of the falls. Heroic measures stayed the
II casweep Of tho fire. u
Fierce Gale.
throughout the terrible contest which
n f,renen and nre waged for supremacy,
humanity was handicapped by a gale
which carried burning brands far over
the heads Of the workers and beyond the
q
poured into the raging furnaces. But
~ for the work OF volunteers In seeking out
and extinguishing these embers, 1t IS
IN almost certain the burned area would
have been twice larger than 1t Is.
a About seventy-nve squares. or one hun.
y dred and forty acres. are In. ashes. extend
ing from Lexington Street on the north
isA to Pratt Street on the south from LILO.
erty Street on the west 10 JONES : Gus aus
on the east.
Insurance companies have opened tenn
norary offices in the Lexington Hotel.
hut their representatives decline 10 es-
timata the loss. The answer OF one IS
typical OF ALL TITS too big. we have
mot figures to describe It. Make u ABOUT
one hundred million. That's the oest we
can do The same lndecision was
& =, 80, resard to estimates concerning
insurance.
M Martial Law.
FL The city was early placed under mar
MAJ tial Law and thus all danger OF lootlns
Il the doomed district was ellminateo
81 word was received to- night that ueh 1 as
II corbin, Of New York, would De mere 70,
y Z morrow to take command OF me reuesa =.
Il u trnons. Tho presence OF two regiments
Sl ~ mllitia as an adjunct to the police
& Y which were argumented by details lron
81 Pbiladelphia and Washington. resulted
in the maintenance Of the best Of order ,d e,e
No one dares TO guess what Wouia navs .
r. ha rpened If the flames mad )umPeo
III Jores,s Falls. The struggle to-day mas
4 been with the oneNend OF combining tIe
ire to the west side of the muddy ute
stream. That this effort was successor
is merely the result. Of the fire ournln
itself out and coming in contact IN l. or.
with the concentrated labors OF nearly
a hundred fire companies. aided by tne
! powerful fire TUG, the Cataract.
iI5 Again and again the terrible heat,
driven by the burning district across
/ Jcnes's Falls, ignited buildings and lum.
u Der piles. Furious hand to hand fights
Fl occurred which, fortunately for the resi-
dents OF East Baltlapere,. we're won by
the fremen. For ..seyGral hours IN the
y lumber district OF the east side volun.
teers watched every ember. Bucket
br,gades were formed to prevent the de-
structive leap of the Flames across the
/ narrow stream. Had tho fire gained
| foothold In the east side lumber yards
| it is conceded nothing could have stop
/ peu the onslaught and the department:
would have been powerless to prevent