Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1904-02-13

| Jones' falls were lined with lumber
| yards, and the piles on one side were
blazing constantly and on the other
throwing or clouds Of steam caused
| by the water turned on wood heated
almost to the point Of ignition.
The President street station of the r.,
w. and r.. railroad is used az barracks
for the militia, which il enforcing mar
| tial law The building caught fire a
number Of times. and whenever the
| door was opened a shower Of sparks
was carried inside. In front the ium-
! Der piles furnished finder for file flames
which were ever creeping forward, yet
the men who had been pacing the
| streets all night lay in the sleep only
brought by exhaustion
! The loss will not be accurately esti-
mated for weeks. business men pros
porous yesterday are poor today Ex-
pressions heard among these men as
they peer into their collapsed proper
ties reveal an astounding number who
were not protected by insurance at all.
When the advance Of flames had
been checked the fire companies start
ed back over the course of the disaster,
attempting to diminish the flaming ru-
ins and prevent another outbreak.
Residents and business men Of the
east side are not yet fully assured of
their safety, and through every win
dow may be seen anxious, affrighted
faces. Moving vans, push carts and
vehicles of all kinds fill the streets,
carting household effects and valua-
bles to safe sections for shelter.
1t is feared that aid must come from
adjacent cities or partial famine will
be an added phase OF the situation.
Restaurants are entirely without food,
and the destruction of the commission
houses along the wharfs has shut off
the means of supply Hotels are but
little better off. and, though they say
they will be able to feed their guests,
it is admitted the variety will be less
ened at once Preparations are being
made to rush supplies from New York
in order to avert suffering in homes
The cheering news that the confia-
grafton had been checked spread rap
idly over the city. and the great crowds
that all day had surged against the
faulty drawn fire lines began to turn
hoineward Unless the wind which
now blows briskly from the northwest
should change it is felt that there is no
further danger But the tired firemen
are taking no chances. All over the
burned district they are fighting the
fierce blazes that still live in large
piles of ruins These fires are not mem
aeing. however, for they have nothing
to feed upon outside their present linn
its.
The wall of fame has persistently
eaten its way in southerly and west
erly direction toward the water Spo-
radio fires sprang into existence and
caused the withdrawal of apparatus
and men from the line of battle. Build
ings old and new, large and small;
stores, shops-every imaginable class
of business vanished as the fire swept
onward.
There was decided check to the
forefront of the fire as it near n Jones
falls small stream that trena5 north
and south and divides Baltimore from
that portion of the city known as East
Baltimore This little stream was the
last barrier
If the conflagration leaped it, if by
flying embers or a rush of flame the
fire could cross and gain foothold, its
extent could not be foretold. Tremen-
dous efforts We're made to block it.
Dynamite was used freely. The fire
apparatus was conferred and all the
skill of the fire fighters called into play
ITO defeat the element that had eaten
up millions of dollars. And human
skill and pluck and grit and unfalter-
ing courage won. The fire was check
ed But behind it lay great Quilted
waste of more than 140 acres in extent.
Every street that led to the fire area
was crowded with awestruck specta-
tors. Down the narrow gulch, like
sheets. the black smoke hung densely.
split now and then by a red glare of
fame The crash of falling buildings
was lost in the roar OF exploding dyna
mite as it was used to demolish struc-
lures as yet untouched by fire.
The city is under the strictest of mil
itary control. All around the burned
area was stretched a Gordon of soldiers,
who held up all Corners at the point
of the bayonet. Police brought from
tie neighboring cities patrolled the
district, and on every street near the
limits of the fire area paced armed
sentinels and the streets fairly teemed
with police.
In the early hours the army of fire
fighters contended against the over
whelming odds, and when dawn broke
the flames We're raging fiercely along
the wharfs and focused about the
great power houses of the United Rail-
ways company. which furnishes the
power for all the street railways of the
city. Then the flames ate their way
with undiminished force southwark,
following the lines of Jones falls, and
were finally checked near the waters
edge at West Falls avenue, in the
southeast section of the city There