The San Francisco call., 1904-12-15
TWO FIREMEN
DIE In BLAZE
Property Loss in Minneap-
oils Will Be Over Eight
/. Hundred Thousand Dollars
WIRE CARRIES FLAME
Three Men Trapped on the
Fifth Floor of Building
and One Does Not Escape

MINNEAPOLIS, Dec. 1.-two fire
men lost their lives, several persons
were injured and property valued at
100000 was destroyed by fire, which
started last night 1t was not brought
under control until this morning.
The dead:
JACOB F. MILLER, insurance pa
; JOHN FELLOWS, pipeman
Seriously injured: Fred Kircheff,
substitute pipeman, burned about face.
Tony Wilson, pipeman; burned about
legs Lieutenant j. 2. Barrett, back
injured.
For time the entire retail business
district was threatened and its escape
from destruction was due as much to
the absence of a strong wind as to ef-
forts. of the firemen.
The fire started in the Photographic
supply house of the o. H. Peck Com
pany, and quickly spread to the ad-
joining buildings. including the six
story furniture house of Boutell Broth
ers, one of the largest establishments
of its kind in the Northwest.
The losses include the following: O..
H. Peck Company, Photographic sup
plies, building and stock, $50, 000 Bou-
tell Brothers, furniture, building and
stock, $375,00O; Bintliff Manufacturing
Company picture frames and art
goods. building and stock, S120,000.
Powers Mercantile Company. building
and stock, 1925 900. 0tter miscellaneous
losses will bring the total loss up to
$S20,0O0. The total insurance is $605, 900.
Jacob Miller, a member of the in
surance patrol, staggering under a
heavy load of tarpaulins on the fifth
floor of the Peck Photograph Supply
Companys building stumbled into the
elevator shaft and fell to the basement.
Every effort was made to rescue him,
but in the rising flood of water and the
roaring furnace of flames, his body
could not be located.
John Fellows, a pipeman, was caught
on the fifth floor of Boutell Broth
ers' furniture establishment with three
of his comrades. 1t was a critical mo-
ment, for all at once the wires that
controlled the automatic sprinkler
turned, dull red and in another in
stant the whole building from top to
bottom burst into flames. The sprink-
Ter wires had in some way touched a
live heavy current wire. The three men
who were with Fellows succeeded in
making miraculous exits down the fire
escapes. but Fellows made the fatal
error of running to the elevator shaft
and sliding down the cable, in the be-
.
had not yet begun to burn. He slid on
TO a cauldron of flame and was seen
no more.
When the Boutell building burst into
flames the firemen knew that nothing
could save it and turned their attention
to the adjoining buildings. Next to the
Bintliff building is the Northwestern
National Banks new white marble
building. It resisted the flames admir-
ably, Across the street from the Bou-
tell building stands the two-story de-
partment store of the Powers Mercan-
tile Company, covering a quarter of a
block. 1t is of very inflammable con-
struction, and soon flames began to ap-
pear along the caves. The fire depart
ment, however, succeeded in prevent
ing the fire gaining headway here. The
stop was made at the expense of
heavy damage to the Powers stock.
This prevented a fire that might have
gone far and included the newspaper
buildings Of the Tribune and the Jour
nal