Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1904-02-09
A TERRIBLE FIRE
At baltimore, MD.
Nearly all of the Business Portion
Of the City Completely Wiped
Out Of Existence.

lions. The Firemen were Utterly Help.
less Before the Roaring Furnace. The
Nearby Cities were Appealed to for
Help but Aid was Useless.
Baltimore, Feb S.-This most destruct-
i've conflagration in the history of Bal
timore ragged practically unchecked dur
ing many hours, completely destroyed
scores OF the largest business houses in
the wholesale district and involved losses
mounting into the millions
Owing to the wide extent of the ca
lamity 1t will be tomorrow before even
an approximate estimate can be made,
enough It is certain that it has already
exceeded $4,000, ooo
The fire broke out shortly before II
O'Clock this morning in the wholesale
dry goods store of John E. Hurst & Co.
on Hopkins Flace, in the heart of the
business district, with a series Of loud
explosions which were heard in remote
parts OF the city and spread with fear
full rapidly.
In half hour there were dozen big
warehouses in the wholesale dry goods
and notions district burning fercely.
he entire city fire department was
called out, but was utterly powerless to
check the spread of the flames, which
were aided by high winds, and by noon
there were savage fires in at least thirty
big warehouses, and the conflagration
was steadily eating its way into success
slve blocks, east, north, west and south.
Building after building fell prey to
the flames and apparently there was
no possible means of arresting the on
ward sweep of destruction.
On Baltimore street the block between,
Liberty and Sharp was soon ablaze, then
came the next block east to Hanover,
and after that the block on the south
side to Charles street broke out into
flames, the Consolidated Gas company's
building and Oehm's Acme hall burning
fiercely.
Meanwhile there were stores north of
Baltimore street being similarly con-
sumed. Mullins hotel caught and other
buildings near ii. West of Liberty street
OK, the south side of Baltimore the block
was doomed and the big Baltimore Bar
gain house also caught Down in Hop
kins Place. where the confagration start
ed, Hursts building and the other whole
sale houses on both sides of the streets
crumbled and fell
The big dry goods houses of Daniel
Miller & Sons and r. NJ Sutton & Co.
were soon afame and along German,
east and west from the Hurst building,
there were dozen buildings burning
and scores were threatened. The spec
tacle of ruin and destruction from any
point in these doomed blocks was
something terrifying.
Mass & Kempers big wholesale store
on Baltimore street quickly succumbed
to the flames and the walls fell with
crash that was heard for many squares.
The Hurst building was utterly de-
stroyed, not even wall ten feet high
being left standing, and was apparently
the center of the cauldron from whence
the flames radiated over the doomed
sssighborhood.
On Hopkins Place the Hopkins Saw
ings bank and the National Exchange
bank were Quilted by flames, the few
streams of water that the firenen were
able to turn on them proving utterly
3 Intellectual to even halt the destruction.
Here were the ruins of the John E.
Hurst & Co. structure and next to it
that of S. Hecht, Jr., & Sons, was in
flames. Adjoining was a large building
owned by the William Koch Importing
company, which also quickly was de-
stroyed.
Across the street the Stanley & Brown
Drug company building fell sudden
prey, while fronting on the Baltimore
street side of this block were the Rox-
bury Rye Distilling company, the build
ing occupied by SHERMAN & Todes, the
house of Allen Sons & Co., which had
hardly been completed, while next to it
was the establishment of M. Moses &
Co. On the corner was the building oc-
cupied by Messrs Sugar & Shear and
e
these were swallowed up in flames, and,
) in fact, the whole block was nothing but
cauldron of fire
At 1 80 o'clock Mullins hotel, sew
en-story structure at Liberty and Bal
tir1ore streets, was il flames from gar
ret to cellar, and its great height and
narrowness acted as a sort of flue, which
converted the doomed building into a
huge and dreadful torch. All the guests
had been ordered out of the building
shortly after the fire broke out in John
E. Hurst's place. There was no panic or
confusion, and none were injured
Though every bit of fire fighting ap-
paratus in the city was called into requi-
sition as the flames continued to spread
the fremen realized that they had task
before them which was too great for
them to combat. kilograms for fire en-
Rines were sent to Washington and
Philadelphia, and about o'clock six
engines arrived from Washington and
four from Philadelphia and Joined in
the battle with the flames.
Engines from stations in Baltimore
Howard, Anne Arundel and Hartford
counties also. arrived as soon as posi-
bic, some of the apparatus travelling a
distance of thirty miles and more.
Water plugs in every section within
radius of half mile from the fire
were in use, and it is roughly estimated
that there were $50 hose all playing al
one time upon different parts of the
conhagration.
With loud roars wall after wall top
pied into the streets and 6remen ran fol
their lives.
Two fire trucks burned and an engine
was buried by falling wan
The whole city was notified of thu
confagration by terrific explosion
which occurred some minutes after II
o'clock. A sharp splitting roar went up
with reverberations like thunder. Thi.
was followed by peculiar wh:stlinf
noise, like that made by shrill wind
The churches in the central section O
the city were filled with worshippers
many of whom became frightened. ane
while no panics ensued hundreds of mel
and women left their seats and went out
side to see what had happened. In ;
few moments the streets and pavement
~. u