Democratic messenger., 1904-02-13

their wounds were dressed.
The great majority were compelled to
remain at the hospitals Later in the
day the City Hospital was threatened.
and the same injured had to be removed
to places of safety. The elements. how
ever. spared the institution. By ,
O'Clock all hope had fled. Mayor Nc
Lane. who had worked as hard as the
men III the ranks. sadly admitted that
the business section was doomed. Ap-
peals were sent to Washington. then to
Philadelphia. Similar messages were
despatched to Chester, Wilmington.
Harrisburg. and York. From each one
of these cities the same reply was re.
ceived: Engine and men will leave at
once
DYNAMITE THEN RESoRTED To.
At O'Clock ten blocks were in flames
The hour had arrived for drastic meas
ures. Dynamite, that most powerful of
all agencies. was suggested. but it could
not be used for several hours. In the
meantime the flames roared and sprang
maGly in all directions Nothing was
spared. Banks. trust companies, mer-
camille establishments all fell prey to
the hungry demon.
By 6o'clock the blaze was at its height
All traffic and communication began to
suffer. BY order of the Mayor all cleo
trical power vas shut off Street cars
were stalled here, there, and everywhere
Arc lamps were extinguished. the red
glow of flames being sufficient to light
the firemen in their work At : o'clock
came the hardest blow of all The main
exchange of the two telephone compan-
les were attacked. and within half an
hour local and long distance telephone
| communication was at an end This was
followed short time later by the an.
nouncement that the Postal and West
ern Union Telegraph Companies were
compelled to suspend business. The city
was now practically isolated, alone with
fiend that knew no mercy The tele-
graph service was badly crippled, and
only with the greatest difficulty was
connection with Philadelphia and New
York established by the Western Union.
| OUTSIDE FIREMEN ARRIVE.
AS the afternoon advanced aid from
Washington arrived. and several hours
later the engines from Philadelphia
came rushing in. and were at once
assigned to duty. Bv o'clock the
flames had reached the homes of the
city's newspapers. and every plant.
with the exception of the World, was
destroyed. To the wearied firemen the
hours passed slowly, and by noon the
fighting force was in bad shape. Only
their great and intense will power sus-
tained them during these terrible hours
With the aid of the shifting wind they
were enabled to save the Court House.
City Hall. and Post Office. All of the
important documents. however, in the
former two buildings and the mail
matter in the latter had to be hurriedly
removed to places of safety. When the
bright rays of the winter sun dispelled
the dawn of the cold gray morning a
heavy pail hung low over the city The
flames had spread farther south, and
like brilliant canopy of red. they veiled
the distant skies. In their wake they
had left twisted mass of smouldering
debris. from which arose a dull, white
smoke. the last signs of a mighty pyre.
To safeguard the fire-swept territory
the State Guard had been called out,
and the members of the 4th Regiment.
Troop a. and the Marine Corps all
night patrolled the streets in battle ar
ray.
1t was sad and mournful awaken
ing for the citizens of this city, but like
true Americans. they are not standing
idly by. bemoaning their fate, but with
vim and vigor. they have set out to lay
plans for complete reconstruction of
Baltimore's business section.
SOME OF THE BUILDINGS DESTROYED
I
ings were destroyed.
1t is useless for us to attempt in the
space at our disposal to give a complete
list of those burned out. but some of the
most notable are; the Sun. American
and Herald offices. the Carrollton Hotel,
John +. Hurst & Co., Daniel Miller,
National Exchange Bank, Merchants
National Bank, New York Clothing
House. Oehm's Acme Hall. Likes, Ber-
wanger & Co., Continental Trust. Un-
ion Trust. Bank of Baltimore. Alexander
Brown & Co., Calvert Building. b. &
o. Railroad office, Pennsylvania Rail-
road office. Equitable Building. Law
Record. Dulaney & Co.. Armstrong Ga
tor & Co.. Hubb Clothing Co., and hun
dreds of other buildings between Eutaw
Street and Jones' Falls and Fayette ST..
and Pratt Street. destroying eighty odd
blocks of the most valuable property in
Raltimore The City Hall Post Offfca