The Cooperstown courier. (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., N.D.) 1902-1913, 1904-02-11
A TERRIBLE FIRE ~.
At BALTIMORE, ND,
Nearly all of the Business Portion
ofthe City Completely Wiped
Out Of Existence.
Tho Loss will Amount to Fully Forty MIL
lions. The Firemen were Utterly Help.
less Before the Roarins Furnace. Tho
Nearby Cities were Appealed to for
Help but Aid was Useless.

Baltimore, Feb. 8.-This most destruct-
I'VE conftagration i'll the history of Bal
tlnore ragged practically unchecked dur
ing many shours, 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
lanity it will be tomorrow before even
an approximate estimate can be made.
though it is certain that it has already
exceeded $5o,oco,o 900.
The fire broke out shortly before II
o'clock this morning in the wholesale
dry goods store of John E. Hurst & Co.,
on Hopkins Place, in the heart of the
business district, with series of loud
explosions whicll.were heard in remote
parts OF the city and spread with fear
full rapidity.
In half hour there were dozen BIG
warehouses in the wholesale dry goods
and notions district burning fiercely.
The 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 conhagration
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 Oehln's Acme hall burning
6ercely.
Meanwhile there were stores north of
Baltimore street being similarly con-
stunned. Mullins hotel caught and other
buildings near it. West of Liberty street,
on the south side of Baltimore, the block
was doomed, and the big Baltimore Bar
gain house also caught. Down in Hop
klns Place, where the conAagration start
ed. Hurst's building and the other whole
sale houses on both sides of the streets
crumbled and fell
The big dry goods houses of Daniel
Miller 4 Sons and r. NJ. Sutton & Co.
were soon aflame and along German,
east and west from the Hurst building,
there were dozen buildings burning
and scores were threatened. The spec
SoNAS "a AGiAA dllO uCSll 1IO10 9nV
point in these doomed blocks was
something terrifying.
Mass & Ken,per's big wholesale store
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
neighborhood.
On Hopkins Place the Hopkins Saw
ings bank and the National Exchange
bank were Quilted by flames, the few
streams of water that the 'fremen were
able to turn on them proving utterly
Intellectual to even halt the destruction.
Here were the ruins of the John E.
Hurst 4 Co. structure and next to it
that of S. Hecht, Jr., & Sons, was in
flames. Adjoining was large building
owned by the William Koch Importing
company, which also quickly was de-
stroved.
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 NJ, Moses &
Co. On the corner was the building oc-
cupied by Messrs. Sugar & Shear and
several other smaller concerns. All of
these were swallowed up in flames. and,
in fact, the whole block was nothing but
a cauldron of fire.
At 80 o'clock Mullins hotel, sew
en-story structure at Liberty and Bal
timore. streets, was in flames from gar
ret to cellar, and its great height and
narrowness acted as sort Of aue, which