Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1904-04-20
TORONTO FIRE
RACED AL NIGHT
Not Until 5 O'Clock This Morn
ing Were the Flames Finally
Under Control
THE Loss is ABOUT slo,oooooo
Area Covered by the Flames Was
Three Blocks In Length and From
One to Two In.N Width-Two Hun
dred Fifty Firms Put Out of Busi-
ness-Entire City Was Threatened.

Toronto. Ont April 20.-Fire that
ragged thruout the night and UP to an
early hour today In the wholesale and
retail business districts caused a total
loss of $10,00o,O00. The principal ware
house Of the city was burned and near
Ily $50 firms are put out of business.
The area covered by the fire is three
blocks in length and varies from half
a block to two blocks in width. Every
building on Bay street from Melinda
Istreet southwark to the Esplanade at
the water front was wiped out. The
fire spread on Wellington and Front
|streets and the Esphanade, along the
water front from their intersection with
Bay streets for distances of 200 feet to
o. whole block.
In answer to appeals for assistance,
London, Hamilton, Montreal and Buf-
falo sent engines and men here on
special trains but ut was long after MID
night before the first arrived In the
meantime the local firemen were having
the fight of their lives. From the time
the fire started on Wellington street
In the rear of Currie's neckwear man-
ufacturing plant, until it burned Itself
out at daybrak there was not moment
when "a shift of wind to the north
would not have resulted in destruction
of a greater part OF the city. The only
person injured was Fire Chief Thomp-
son. who jumped from the top OF a
building to save his life and received a
broken leg. One man. traveller from
Montreal, is missing and Is believed to
havss ter.sfeG in the flames The Gus
tom house WAS the last building to
burn, at 5 O'Clock this morning.
The custom house. four-story stone
structure. at the corner of Yonge and
Front streets. was the BARRED that
stopped the progress of the flames. The
structure was not seriously damaged
DYNAMITE was used on several small
buildings.
few minutes before midnight, when
the situation appeared desperate, prep
arations were being made to dynamite
buildings in the path of the fire as a
last recourse. Appeals for help We're
sides Of the line.
Buffalo Sends Help.
Buffalo was one of the first cities
to respond to the appeal.
The fire started 2 little after 3
o'clock at the intersection of King and
Wellington streets the center of Toron-
tos shopping and business district. liz
less than fifteen minutes the flames had
leaped from block to block until moge
than half dozen of the principal
business blocks were ablaze.
The fire spread SO rapidly that, all
though general alarm was sent In
at once, the fire was almost beyond
control before the full strength of the
I fire department was brought into ac-
ton.
At 9;15 sparks started blaze on the
roof OF the Queens hotel, two blocks
from where the fire originated. In the
wholesale business district at $50 p.
m., the premises of Ansley & CO., hats
and caps, and the Comfort soap works
were totally destroyed, and the ware
houses of Brown Bros paper manu-
facturers, on the opposite side of the
street, became ignited.
fire was under control, but sudden
Shift in the wind again famed the fam
es into a roar and clouds of sparks and
burning brands We're carried down side
streets until three entire blocks were
doomed
The fremen were making a gallant
fight amid the falling buildings and a
mass of tangled wires, but their efforts
at midnight seemed to be fruitless
Chief Thompson of the fire depart
ment and George Dowkes of Montreal
were cut off by the flames while direct
Ing the work of firemen from a roof.
Thompson jumped six stories to the
ground and miraculously escaped with
a broken leg. A mass of tangled wires
broke his fall near the ground. Dowkes
has not been seen since and 1T is be-
| lieved he perished.
Among the Heavy Losers.
Up to midnight the following places
had been destroyed
| Gillespie. Ansley & Co hats and furs:
Dignum & Moneypenny, importers;
| Comfort soap works; Davis g. Hem
derson, wholesale stationers; Jessop
Steel Company's building, occupied by
| X. Il. HUTCHINSON & 10, wholesale
woolens; Alcott, Sargent & Westwood,
| fishing tackle; Dodds Medicine CO..
| Western Steamship Company; Richard
l.. Baker Company agents; e. T. Corset
Company; C. III. Westwood & Co, fish
| ing tackle; Garland Manufacturing
Company; F. II. Cragg, agent; Roths-
| childs Bros q Co, manufacturers G..
| w Bangard & Co. brokers' Richie &.
Ramsay Company paper manufacture
| ers: Thomas Hoskins, manufacturers
agent; Kinleith Paper Company: An
| drew Muirhead. wholesale paints; e.
| w. Gilmour & Bro, silverware; w. Fl.
Payne and Company, commission
agents; r. M. Slater g. Co, wholesale
| dry goods; Internationa Brokers, limi-
ted, Gale Manufacturing Company:
Whiteman & Brown Bros wholesale
stationers; Ralph Smith & Co.. litho-
graphers; George III. Hess, Son s. Co,
J window shades; Menztes Manufactur-