Milford chronicle., 1904-02-12
HEART OF
BALTIMORE
BURNT OUT
Business Section Swept
by Awful Fire.
Is BLOCKS DESTROYED
Flames Ragged Unchecked Until Thev
Burned Out
THE LOSS IS OVER sl2aOOO,OOO

Baltimore, Nd, Feb. 9.-Rltimore is
staggering under the fire loss which mn
ene has the temerity to put into figures
me important commercial district is
blackened ruins. laid bare by a con6a-
sration which ragged without a mo-
mentary check from 1045 a. m. Sunday
until late yesterday afternoon. At 2
o'clock the city officials again breatbed
4 was agreed the flames were under
control. They had ragged for % hours
IN spite of almost superhuman efforts
put forth by the best fighting forces
winch more than half a dozen cities
we're able to muster.
The city is overcast with gloom The
stores are closed in nearly every street
apparently Ghere is but one cause for
siadness, and that Is that there are no
homeless The residence section of rho
city escaped. This phase of the situa-
uon relieved the officials from any
tnought other than the saving of prom
erty.
throughout the terrible contest I'm
winch hremen and fire waged for su-
premacy, humanity was handicapued
oy 3 gale which carried burning brands
iaf over the heads of the workers and
beyond the reach of the hundreds of
streams of water poured into the ran-
ing furnaces. But for the work of vol
unfeers in seeking out and ext5nguish.
ing these 'enlbars it is almost certain
that the burned area would have ;beep
Twice larger than it is. About "a
SQUARES or about 140 acres are in ashes
extending from Lexington street IN
The north, to Pratt street, on the south
and from Liberty street, on the west 1
70 Jones Falls, on the east.
COLONEL j. Frank Supplee. a e,omDn-i i
tent authority on factory statistics. Is. s
umates that the number of Dersonsl c
tnroWn out of employment Will reacbl T
sy'vO0 others have estimated the eli o
toIce0 ldleness at greatly more. s
Not a Single life has been lost. and %
not human being has been even "
dangerously injured. The hospital d
llsts consist Of minor burns, with tho ia
sAeeptlon of Jacob ngenfritz a fire. al
man from York. Pa. He has a frac. lDi
Iured Seg and is badly burned. oi
Many Bindings Blown Up. ca
Dynamite explosions were constant fla
me program adopted Sunday night NJ tn
lowing uD buildings in an attenrpt IN ra
lay the progress of the flames ,vas re
ontinued until Ehe fire was underaon-
rot Then the dynamiters turned Pr
nelr attention to razing tottering walls de
'nich threatened to collapse. The re- no
ait was almost constant cannonadipa pla
nd the 1etOnating was heard in ali All
arts of the city. ne;
With the fire under control rbs fro
ackened waste which lies in fbe wake ave
the sea of flames presents a view. tab
frible In its pyIotechnfc grandeur anC
can be dkened best to oceans of Coo
cay coke ovens, each shooting ont lars
thousand tongues of flame from Cor
famlds Of brick, stone and cement ! ave
mere the fire has died out nothing The
mains but waste, from which rise hot,
nareds Of towering, insecure shafts sire
tne same color. These are all that tel
leIt o. what were once handsome Of stor
buildings. storage, wholesale and Boy
mess houses of all kinds. II
ne loss viii not be accurately es4i- stoly
ted Tor weeks, for business men. bard
sperous Sunday morning. are poor half
ay. Expressions heard among these vaul
q as they peer into their COLLAPSED TIL
pertles reveal an astounding num- ings
VINO were only poorly protected slider
b Insurance. their