Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1904-02-12
SWEPT BY FLAMES.
Baltimore's Business Section Is
Reduced to Ashes.
The Fire LASTED 2S Hours and tha
Loss Will Far Exceed sIoO,OOO,-
900 Seventy-five Squares OF
Buildings Were Burned
Up No Lives Lost. "a

out few minutes before IL o'clock
Sunday morning in the wholesale dry
goods house of John +. Hurst & Co.,.
has ragged with unrestrained fury
continuously ever since, and at mid
night it was unchecked and was
steadily eating its way eastward on
Baltimore street, after having de-
stroyed all of the large stores and
warehouses in the wholesale district,
around Hopkins place and all the
buildings on both sides of Baltimore.
street from Howard to Holiday
streets, from Charles and Baltimore
to Charles and Lexington, and on
Fayette street from Charles to Holli
day, including a total of about 20
blocks of the most modern and sub
stantial buildings in Baltimore, in
volving loss which cannot now be
estimated,
Though every bit of fire fighting
apparatus in the city was called into
requisition, as the flames continued
to spread the firemen realized that.
they had a task before them which
was too great for them to combat
kilograms for fire engines were sent
to Washington and Philadelphia and
about l o'clock six engines arrived
from Washington and four from Phil
adelphia and joined in the battle with
the flames.
Baltimore, Feb. 9.-Baltimore is.
staggering under fire loss which no
one has the temerity to put in fig
ures. The commercial district is
blackened ruins, laid bare by a con-
fiagration which ragged without a
momentary check from 10:45 a. M
Sunday until late Monday afternoon
AT 3 o'clock it was agreed that the
flames were under control. They had
ragged 2S hours, in spite of almost
superhuman efforts put forth by the
best fighting forces which more than
half dozen cities were able to mus
ter.
The city is overcast with gloom
The only lights in the burned dis
trict are those from the smoldering
ruins. The only lights in that Sec
tion which escaped destruction are
from corner gas lamps. The stores
are closed in nearly every street
The darkened avenues are full of
jostling people talking of one sub
ject. Apparently there is but one.
cause for gladness and that is that
there are no homeless. The residence
section of the city escaped.
At . p. m. the Associated Press sent
out bulletin saying the flames
would be held in check at the Union
docks and prevented from leaping
Jones Falls and placing the entire
city east of there in jeopardy. At 5
O'Clock that bulletin was confirmed
Insurance companies have opened
temporary offices in the Lexington
hotel, but their representatives de-
cline to estimate the loss. The an
swer of one rs typical of all: Its
too big. We have not figures to de-
scribe it. Make it above S1O0,O0O,OO0.
That's the best Ee can do"
The same indecision was true in re-
gard to estimates concerning insur-
ance.
The city was early placed under
martial law and thus all danger of
looting in the doomed district was
eliminated. Word was received lasr
night that Gen. Corbin, of New York,
would be here today to take COM
mand of the federal troops. The
presence of two regiments of militia
as an adjunct to the police, which
were augmented by details from
! Philadelphia and Washington, result
ed in the maintenance of the best of
order.
Dynamite explosions were constant
yesterday. The program adopted
Sunday night of blowing up buildings
in an attempt to stay the progress of
the flames was continued until the
fire was under control. Then the
| dynamiters turned their attention
to razing tottering walls which
threatened to collapse. The result
was almost constant cannonading
and the decorating was heard in all
parts of the city.
With the fire under control, the
blackened waste which lies in the
wake of the sea of flames presents a.
view terrible in its pyrotechnic-
! grandeur. 1t can be likened best to
| oceans of great coke ovens, each
shooting out its thousand tongues of
flame from pyramids of brick, stone
and cement.
Throughout the terrible contest i'm
which firemen and fire battled for
supremacy, humanity was handicap
ped by gale which carried burning
brands far over the heads of this
workers and beyond the reach of the,
hundreds of streams of water poured
into the raging furnaces. But for
the work of volunteers in seeking out.
and extinguishing these embers it is
almost certain the burned area would
have been twice larger than it is
About rs squares, or 14o acres, are in.
ashes.
Inspector of Buildings Preston, af-
ter making a careful study of the,
burned district, placed the building
loss alone at $150,G0O,0OO.
1t is said that no great fire in this
country can show smaller list of
dead or injured. Up to last night.
not one person was reported killed
and the number treated in the hos
pitals will not be more than so.
James M. Colgate Dies.
Yonkers, N. y, Feb. s.-James NJ
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