New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-02-08
FIRE DEPARTMENT HELPLESS BEFORE FLAMES
rRT TELEGRAPH To The TRIRUNEl

rRT TELEGRAPH To The TRrRUxEI
Baltimore. Feb. THE heart Of the whole
sale business section of Baltimore swept by
flames to-day. and tonight covering
twenty blocks is mass Of ruins. The losses will
aggregate more than s25OooOcO 1t is the worst
confagration in the history CT the city. and will
pa-alyze business interests for months. and
probably bring financial ruin 10 many. Five or
six buildings. including some Of the most valu-
able structures in the blazing district. were
blown down with dynamite in effort to check
the wild sweep of the fire, ard the terrific
plosions caused terror throughout the city.
Tonight the nremen are exhausted num-
Der have been injured Others have been partly
suffocated by smoke. and Chief Horton has
impressed into service many volunteers. 1t viii
re twentyfou hours before the fire will be
tirely extinguished. and an accurate list of
| losses and assurances made up. At one time
forty buildings. including banks wholesale dry
goods establishments. drug houses and factories
were a seethng furnace. In all. more than two
hundred buildings were destroyed. and many
others damaged.
Driven by the high southwest wind. blazing
brands were carried a quarter of a mile and
further. Showers of flaming faggots fell upon
| the crowds Of people in the streets near the
burning section. and the hats and wraps OF
number OF women were set on fire. At several
congested points the sudden showers of fire
caused small panics. and many PERSONS cloth
ing were torn in the mad rush for safety
When the flames seemed beyond the control of
tn. Baltimore Fire Department. considered one
OF the most efficient in the country. Chief Hor-
ton appealed TO Washington. and three COM
panies. with engines and apparatus. made the
to Baltimore in thrty-eight minutes. Sew
eral engine companies from Wilmington and
Philadelphia also arrived this evening. The fire.
men were greatly handicapped by networks of
wires and also by the flames breaking out at
points blocks away from the centre of the con-
nagration. All the big buildings the trust COM
pani.s and downtown hotels. like the Carrollton
and the Rennert. had large forces at work ex-
tinguishing fires started by flying brands some
of which were hurled through the top windows
of several Of the skyscrapers
The burned blocks are included in the section
bounded by Charles. Lombard, Fayette and
Howard SITS.
The fire started I'm the basement OF John E
Hurst & Co.'S building at Hopkins Place and
German-st the largest wholesale drygoods
house south OF Philadelphia. and carrying a
stock worth more than S1.OOoO0O.
An automatic fire alarm equipment in the
ered al ar 10-SS nd
In minute the salvage corps. which is only
a block away was on the scene. ahead of the
city department Captain Gordon that the
flames had already got a fierce headway. There
was no delay in the arrival of the frehghters.
but for some reason the flames got away from
them.
What appeared to be an explosion Of gas oc-
CURED in the Hurst Building about IL o'clock. |
A terrific roar was followed by a whistling |
sound The churches in the central section Of
the city were filled with worshlppers, many Of |
whom became frightened. and. while no panics /
ensued hundreds of men and women hurried !
from the services. other explosions followed |
when the flames wrapped the drug houses Of A. /
r Myer & Co, the Carrollton Chemical Com |
panv. the Stanley & Brown Drug Company and |
other big warehouses filed with chemicals and |
other infanmabIe materials. The frernen and /
nolice lodged into doorways for shelter from the /
rain of hot missiles Crash after crash could be l
heard within the burning districts. bu; even the l
aren,en could not tell from which buildings they /
nrooeeded and the brave fellows were constantly
g., IN. greatest peril Walls and flooring fell in /
,bunderous roars that echoed for blocks.
TWO banks both handsome buildings, the
,Jo,kins Savings Bank and the National Ex-
change Bank in Hopkins Place. were burned out.
,o,b,ne being left except the stone walls and
-. rauIts The reported amount of cash on
h.,a IN these institutions was: Hopkins Saw
,r,. Rank S217 1000: National Exchange Bank.
$3.50 oOo The money is believed to be safe in
,h. ,.yl,. or at least IN such q condition that
II can be redeemed
,u,linss the finest hotel building in Balti-
r,ore-st wa. destroyed. All the guests escaped
and saved their belongings
At this point the Western Union Telegraph
counany which had been driven from It's
driven from that Office also by the flames. Sto-
rtes of the fire cut off in the middle Of
sentences and IL not known when COM
r,unicaton could be resumed At o'clock this
morning according TO The Associated Press the
nre still dened all efforts to extinguish II. and