The National tribune., 1904-02-11
BALTIMORE BURNING.
The Fifth Largest City In the Omitted states
ftreswspt and Almost Helpless.

J0e k1l6U 18IKe6t lily IN the U01te0 Bt8DD4
ftreswsps and Almost Heipiess.
From Feb. Z, 1904, Baltimore, Nd, will
figure in conaagratiou annals as having
suffered one Of the greatest fires In the his
tory of the world. About IL O'Clock a.
M, Feb. Z, fire broke out in the great
wholesale dry goods -esta blishment of
john Il. Hurst IL Co., right I'm the heart
of the business section of the city, and for
"a hours burned without let or hindrance.
Everything that human skill could do TO
check the flames was dene. Washington,
New York City, Philadelphia, Whining
ton and other great Eastern cities re-
sponded to the frenzied call for fre-engines
and fremen, till the wonder is where all
the great fre-fghting machines could find
Judgment in the narrow streets of the old
city; yet, with all this help, the city went
on burning like box of matches.
Acres upon acres in the heart of Bal
timore, densely populated, and enormously
valuable because of the great business in
terests centered there, have been burned to
cinders. Every newspaper building I'm the
city has crumb4ed like house of cards
before the awful wall of flames which
swept over and over the doomed city with
Il velocity that is said to be absolutely I'm
precedented in the history of fires. The
great daily newspapers which are without
a home are the Sun, American, Herald,
News, Record and World. All these news
papers have moved over to Washington,
where they are housed in the various news
paper buildings of this city and are get
ting out their regular editions. Some of
the editorial writer's remained at their
desks in Baltimore until the FIRE biistered
the yarnish on their desks and curled the
paper under their hands.
With the wind raging at 40 miles an
hour, and famed into even greater velocity
Al. Al. L L. - A.
FIRE monster seems hercuiean if not impos-
sible. When the advance was checked in
one direction, a perfect whirlpool of flames
would form, and then shoot off like the
spout of a cyclone cloud In an entirely diff
ferent direction, till the frightened resi-
dents of the fire-sfnitten town did not
where to go to seek safety.
Some of the eight, nine, IL and History
buildings built of stone and marble with
framework of iron, were licked up by the
flames like piece of oiled paper in fur
mace. A writer for the Sun says that the
great Calvert Building. one of the loftiest
marble structures in the city, supposed to
be freproof, collapsed within FIVE minutes
after the wall of fame swept across the
street. 1T went down before my eyes
almost before / could breathe he de-
clared. And so it was with everything that
the fire struck Flames were carried half
paratiyely safe districts.
Baltimore is one of the older cities in
the United States 1t has narrow. tortu-
Gus streets. and the older portion, where
the fire has fed the heaviest, presented that
peculiar picture of great wealth and grow
eiling squalor and grinding poverty which
characterizes but one other city in the
United States, in all probability, and that
is New York City. The slams of old Bal
or al-ah la
wiped out. Mary of the buildings upon
which the flames worked so easily have
been standing the storms of Winter and
Summer for over 100 years. Amidst these
antiquated ire-traps were some of the
finest buildings i'm the United States. The
enormous losses are covered by insurance
but it is feared that the great insurance
companies will be crippled by the disaster
and unable to pay claims.
Baltimore, founded i'm 1850, was named
for Cecilius Calvert, Lord Baltimore. In
1859 Baltimore had population Of 200
souls and contained % houses. To-day
Baltimore ranks as the sixth city in sizs i'm
the United States with a population of
50S.957.
is defended by Fort McHenry, and IL was
at this point that COL Armistead and the
force under his command defended the city
successfully against the British In 1914.
Francis Scott Key, resident of Balti-
more, q prisoner in one of the British ships
in that harbor, wrote the ''Star-Spangled
Banner as he watched this fight.
1t was in Baltimore that the Congress
of the United States took refuge when
Philadelphia was taken by the British i'm
1776. John Adams in his journal describes
the building as follows: 1.-THE Congress
sits i'm the last house at the west end OF
Market street tas Baltimore street was
formerly known, on the south side Of the
street in long chamber with two Ere
places, two large closets and two doors.
The house belongs to Quaker Jacob
Fites) and was built for tavern"
This place, now in the very heart Of the
city, Is in the burned district
All the telegraph and telephone build
ings went down ut midnight Sunday, so
that the stricken city was cut off from
with the outside world ex-
cept by messenger and trim service.
AT the hour of going to press the resi.
denee portion OF the city is in flames and
There seems to be no hope OF checking
Them until the river is reached
The loss mp to this time II estimated at
over $100. 600 GOO, and growing.
The greatest ere. in the history ct the
world was that In Chicago IN 0ctOassr,
1871 There were z f60sac~px burned over