The San Francisco call., 1904-02-09
HISTORIC BUILDINGS FALL.
Many of BaItimore's Oldest Land
marks Raced by the Flames.

Many OF BaltlmOreS Oldest Land
marks Razed by the Flames.
BALTIMORE. Feb. SIN its account
of the fire the News Union said to-day:
To describe in detail The fire. which
will go down in the history of the world
as one of it's greatest disasters, is sim
ply an impossibility. just as it is inn
possible at this time to give an ade-
quate idea of the loss, the number of
buildings destroyed or the firms that
have gone out of business. These are
facts that will not develop for days to
come.
Baltimore's equipment of twenty-five
engines was almost useless. Rein
forced by four companies from Wash
ington, as many more from Philadel-
phia, two more from Wilmington and
another from Chester, Pa. it was still
unable TO check in any way during the
night the progress of the flames. This
morning a half dozen of New York
City's most powerful steamers arrived
by special train and their coming gave
new impetus to the effort to check the
flames by putting fresh men into the
fight, the Baltimore firemen as well as
the out-of-town men who arrived ear
lier having been exhausted by their all
night struggle against such terrific
odds.
At midnight the wind, which had
been blowing strongly from the south
west with a tendency to switch to the
westward, began to come in a gale
from the northwest At that hour the
flames were headed directly for the
tenement districts, across the falls,
where frightened foreigners were run
ming like demons to save their house
hold effects.
Temporarily the change in the wind
saved them, for the flames were driven
toward the water front, and all build
ings from Baltimore street down to
Pratt street soon were a roaring mass
of fire. From then on Pratt street
became the center OF the fire, which
burned block after block of business
structures on that thoroughfare from
Charles street eastward to the falls.
Roughly speaking. the fire in it's
course described half circle on its
northern and western edges, curving
from Lombard and Liberty streets to
Fayette and st. Paul strets, and then
sweeping around toward Market space
and Lombard street.
The whole effect Of this course Of the
fire was to describe an immense ques-
tion mark.
Among the out-of-town fire depart
ments which responded were two COM
panies from Wilmington, Del. While
fighting the flames in Won Boldens
wharf the Wilmington flremen found
ofP hxy oxnlOeinT, 81 f1,a
Standard OIL Company's warehouse. A
panic ensued and the flremen yelled
for assistance. Several tugs came to
their rescue and they were taken off,
abandoning their engine. A few min
utes later the entire wharf was a mass
of flames Among the principal build
ings which were RACED to the ground
in this neighborhood were the Standard
Oil Company, the Patasco Oil Com
pany, the United States Fruit Com
pany, the Baltimore Fruit Company, ].
j. Underhill. w. c. Robinson, Bau-
ghanes & Son and n. Frank & Sons
Dynamite proved most useless last
night, when building after building in
the neighborhood of Charles and Bal
timore streets was blown up in order
to. stay the flames. 1t seemed as if
the fire fiend laughed at such paltry
efforts, for the flames simply jumped
these vacant spaces and licked UP the
buildings on the far side.
From a point near the corner of
Charles and Fayette streets the scene
of utter devastation presented is alb
solutely appalling. Both buildings at
the corner-Hall, Headington & Co. and
]. w. Puts & Co.-are in ruins, moth
ing but few walls less than ten feet
high being left standing.
From the corner Of Liberty and Bal