The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-02-09

prevented from leaping Jones Falis and placing the efk es city Tint of tLere tp Jeopardy. Al Sesfiek that bulletin waf confirmed. A score Of times flames from the fire were found tapping te sides of lumber piles on the east bank of the falls. LUMBER WAS THROWN
 INTO THE WATER.
 In some instances the lumber was tossed into the falls, and in similar eases heroic efforts stayed the onward sweep of the flames. Throughout the district in which firemen worked for supremacy, they were handicapped by n gale which carried burning brands over the hoads of the workers and beyond the reach of the hundreds of streams of water poured into the raging furnaces.
 But for the work of volunteers in seek ing out and extinguishing these embers. it is almost certain the burned area would have been twice larger than 1t is About seventy-five squares, or 40 acres are In ashes.
 Insurance companies have opened tenn porary offices in the Lexington hotel, but their representatives decline to es- innate the loss. The answer of one is typical of all: "It's too big. We have no figures to describe it. Make it above one hundred million; that's the best we can do"
 The same indecision was true with re- gard to estimates concerning insurance.
 The city was early placed under mar tial law and thus all danger of footing in the doomed district was eliminated. Word was received tonight that General Corbin of New York would be here to- morrow 10 take command of the Federal troops. The presence of two regiments of militia as an adjunct to the police, which were augmented by details from Philadelphia and Washington, resulted in the maintenance of the best of order. FIERCE STRUGGLE HAS
 GONE ON ALL DAY.
 No one dares to guess at what would nave happened had the flames jumped the falls. The struggle today has been with the one end of confnlng the fire to the west side of the muddy stream That this effort was successful, is merely the result of the fire burning itself out, and coming in contact with the concentrated labor of nearly hundred fire companies. aided by the powerful fire tug. The cata- ract.
 Again and again the terrible heat driven from the burning district across Jones Falls ignited buildings and lumber piles. Furious hand to hand fights ocurred which, fortunately for the residents of East Baltimore, were won by the iremen. ifuchsL DIiBdueb were formed to prevent the destructive leap of the flames across the narrow stream Had the fire gained a foothoh in the east side lumber yards 1t is conceded nothing could have stopped the onslaught, and the departments would have been powerless to prevent damage as great, if not greater thar the Chicago fire.
 Dynamite explosions have been frequent today. The plan adopted last night of blowing up buildings in attempts to stay the progress of the flames was continued until the fire was under control Then the dynamiters turned their attention to raising totterng walls which threatened to collapse The result was almost con- stant cannonading and the detonation was was heard in all parts of the city. RUINS ARE TERRIBLE IN
 PYRoTEcHNlc GRANDEUR.
 With the fire under control the blacken- ed waste which Hes in the wake of the sea of flames presents a view terrible m it's pyrotechnic grandeur. It can be iiken- ed best to oceans of great coke ovens, each shooting out its thousand tongues of flames from pyramids of brick. stone and cement Where the fire has died out nothing remains but blackened waste from which rise hundreds of towering, inse- cure shafts of the same color These are all that is left of what were once hand some office buildings. storage. wholesale and business houses of all kinds.
 The loss will not be accurately est- mated for weeks, for business men, pros- porous yesterday morning, are poor to.
 (Continued on S-coid Pagel