The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1904-01-29
FIRE IN CHICAGO
MASONIC TEMPLE
A Scene of Wild Excitement In the
Big Skyscraper.
WAS PUT OUT WITHIN AN HOUR
Fifteen Persons More or Less Seri-
Ously Hurt by the Initial Ex-
pIOsion or by Contact With
Falling Debris.

Chicago, Jan. 24.-Fire broke out,
Saturday afternoon in the Masonic
temple, a 2O-story skyscraper, one
square east of the IIoquois theater.
Owing to the fact that upwards Of 3
600 people occupy the offices and stores
in the giant structure, the fire caused
much excitement.
Summoned by Automatic Alarm.
Firemen were summoned by an
alarm automatically sent in from the
rooms in which the fire began. The
firemen quickly made connections with
the stationary standpipe in the build
ing. Immediately, tons of water nCod-
ed the floors where the smoke and
blaze was thickest-
Occupants of the building warned by
the suffocating clouds of smoke that
rose through the many storied rotunda
and penetrated every corridor lost no
time in making efforts for safe exit
Guards were stationed at each oleva-
tor landing on every floor and the
panic stricken people were hurried
from the building.
The origin of the fire was in an
explosion of chemicals in d doctors
office on the fifth floor. The explosion
was a sufficient notice of danger to the
occupants of the floors Immediately
above and below, but was unheard by
hundreds of other persons in the vast
structure who received their warning
when suddenly confronted with walls
of dense smoke.
Flames followed the explosion and
quickly spread to the floors above.
Men and women rushed wildly for the
stairs and elevators. So rapidly did
the immense skyscraper fill with
smoke that the firemen found it al
most impossible to work within the
walls
Fire Ragged on Three Floors.
In short time the fire was raging
on three floors containing many chem
ical establishments and doctors Of
fees. Further explosions were mo-
mentarily feared. AS at the Iroquois
catastrophe, Fire Marshal Musham
was soon personally on hand, and he
quickly warned his men of the dan
ger.
From the top floor down the carriers
were jammed with passengers and
number of women tainted in tho cars.
The men for the most part retained
their senses. The elevator men stuck
to their work like heroes and cOntin-
ued to run their lifts until it was said
that every person was out of the bnild-
ing.
Wreck of X-RaS Apparatus.
The flames appeared first in the
suite of r. Friedlander & Co., manu-
facturers of X-ray apparatus, or the
fifth floor. The explosion which was
the cause of the fire occurred in $10,-
900 worth of vacuum tubes which were
stored in the suite. Smoke poured out
of the rooms which occupied the en-
tire southwest corner of the skyscraper
facing Randolph street, directly
across the street from Marshall Field
& Co.'S huge retail store.
DOdging the Debris.
Armed with axes and picks, the fire.
men broke doors and windows In the
rOtunda, at the bottom of the elevator
we'll, persons leaving the elevators
after descending in hairbreadth time
from the upper stories, were obliged
to dodge heavy beams and fragments
of stone and plaster falling in the ro-
tunda from the fifth floor and break
ing jagged holes in the costly mosaic
pavement.
Out within am Hour.
The fire was out within an hour. A
number of persons were injured as a
result of the fire. r. Friedlander, in
whose suite the fire originated, was
found unconscious on the floor. He
was overcome by smoke and chemical
fumes Twelve girls in his employ
made their escape at the first alarm.
The injured were as follows:
Julius Ernest, stock clerk for Fried
lander; hands and face burned.
John Stack, stock boy for Fried
lander; slightly burned.
Henry Buehl, stock boy for Fried
lander; slightly burned.
Walter Davney, laborer; injured by
brokekn glass, and burned about face.
Walter S. Parker, advertising solicit
or; face burned.
W. c. Preston.
John Sullivan.
]. B. Sullivan.
John Long.
T. Leonard.
Geo. Mullett.
Fred Lynch.
John Stearns.
Louis Tremains.
B. Smith, 60 years old; thrown down
areaway by crowd in street opposite
the fire; taken to hospital unconscious.
Murder in the Second Degree.
st. Louis, Jan. 24-William Phillips
was found guilty of murder in the Sec
ond degree, and his punishment fixed
at ten years in the penitentiary, the
minimum penalty, by a jury in Judge
McDonald's court. Phillips fatally
stabbed Henry Turk.
Golden Wedding Celebration.
Summer, ILL.,, Jan. 24-Mr. and Mrs.
A. J. Couchman celebrated their golden
wedding, Friday. Mr.. Couchman is Is
years old, was born in this township
and always lived in it. Mrs. Couch
mSn is GO years old.