Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1904-06-17
In a SubCeIIar


no EAR the close OF December,
I'M 1894. Oliver Martin. young
man twenty-six years old, was
engaged as assistant bookkeeper by a
Wholesale house dealing In paints, oils
and varnlshes in one Of our large East
ern cities.
The Arm was busy at all seasons, but
particularly so In the spring. Martins
FIRST April In the city found the store
heavily stocked with goods; every day
considerable shipments came from the
manufacturers, and almost equally
large ones were sent out to Gus
toners.
All the clerks had to work overtime
to keep up with the volume of trade.
Martin found 1t impossible to balance
his books without coming back after
supper, and often 1t was late In the
evening before his duties were over
One night Mt nine Martin was the
only man in the store. The Office was
situated in the rear OF the ground
floor, and was separated from the main
room by glass partitions.
As he pored over his columns,
slight explosion in the direction of the
street fell upon his eyes. CHANGING
hastily through the counting room
window, he saw dull red flicker Just
outside.
When a connagratlon starts among
paints and oils It must be checked i'm
AL IL. l.,
store for the fire department Martin
sprang from his stool and rushed out
OF the office Already the flames had
made startling Roadway. The rapidl-
ty with which they darted along the
floor was almost inconceivable. The
bookkeeper had known that the goods
were lnfiammable, hut not that they
were anything like this. Before he
had gone twenty feet sea OF fire
surged round him, barring escape by
the windows or the street entrance
Close at hand was door leading to
the basement That offered, Mt least,
a respite. Martin pulled 1t open and
closed 1t behind him, almost falling
head first downstairs In his haste
His intention was to escape through
the back basement door which opened
upon the street below. and to ring in
an alarm from the nearest box. Every
second OF delay meant dollars to the
Arm and their insurance company
But when Martin tried the lower
door he found to his alarm that II
was bolted and locked. and remem-
bered with a sudden sinking of heart
that the key hung above his desk in
the office.
To ascend those stairs and cross the
hoor above was absolutely impossible;
he would have persisted before travers-
ing half the distance. How. then,
should he get out? The heavy door
opened inward and was set in strong
castings. so that II was useless to at
tempt to batter hole through it or to
hammer hard enough to burst OF tho
lock The small high windows. deep
IN masonry close TO the ceiling. were
heavily barred with iron. There was
no exit through them.
The bookkeeper stood in hesitating
uibhhdN, uVt kuoWiuS WHICH way 10
turn. Just then the distant strokes of
the tire alarm broke upon his ears.
Some one. probably patroman, had
discovered the confiagra ton, and the
engines would soon be on the spot.
Meanwhile every minute added to his
own peril. and it behooved him to nut
forth all his powers TO extricate him
self
Round the walls he ran, like a rat in
q trap. seeking chance to escape, but
finding none. Louder and louder
roared the fire above him. the heat
began to strike down through the floor:
a strong, pungent smoke permeated the
air
There was rattle of wheels with
out; the engines and hose carts were
arriving. A confused hum of voices
told him that crowd had begun to
gather.
Martin pulled an empty box under
one of the windows, jumped on top OF
1t, dashed his elbow through the glass
and began to shout for help The