Los Angeles herald., 1905-01-30
FIRE DESTROYS
FRAME BUILDINGS
FLAMES MAKE SHORT WORK OF
HALF A BLOCK
Eighth Street Blaze Eats over Three
Thousand Dollars Worth
Of Property

Fire which broke out at Z o'clock last
evening in the Joliet restaurant at
sO2 South Spring street, in the forty
FIVE minutes which 1t burned, gutted
the three one-story frame buildings,
commencing at the corner of Eighth
and Springs streets and extending
through to Main.
An explosion of gasoline in the kitch-
en- is given as the cause of the fire
which in the few minutes between its
discovery and the arrival Of company
nine from the Ninth and Santee sta
tion, with great rapidity spread to the
adjoining buildings. The total loss to
the buildings and their contents will
aggregate more than $4,000 with a
partial insurance by the different oc-
cupants. w. T. Hancock is the lessee
of the buildings.
| The occupants and their estimated
losses are as follows: sol Main street,
United States Stove and Metal works,
S. L. Hall, proprietor, loss S4OO; in
sured. S03 Main street, E. f. Moore
house carpenter shop, loss $10O; in
sured. sos Main street, Ross barber
shop, e. B.. Ross, proprietor; loss, $40.
800 Spring street, unoccupied. S02 Jol-
let, restaurant, J. r. Hall, proprietor;
loss $500, covered by insurance. S04,
Austin and Drummond bicycle shop
loss. $400: insurance, $500.
How long the fire was smouldering in
the rear of the restaurant can only
| be surmised as the place had been
locked up at IL O'Clock Sunday morning.
AS the place where the blaze started
was almost in the center of the burned
section it had spread to the adjoining
buildings before it broke out through
the roofs.
Three alarms were turned in within
few minutes of each other, the first
being a telephone call from the Rich
mond stables, from where one of the
employees saw the fire after it had eat
en- it's way through into the Moorehouse
carpenter shop. Following this,
alarms were turned in from Fifth and
Broadway and from Sixth and Main.
Engine company number nine from
the station at Santee and Ninth
streets saw the flames before the ex-
istence of a fire was made known tc
and it had the first stream of water
playing on the burning buildings.
Within few minutes, companies
three and four arrived on the scene
and soon afterward were reinforced by
company number five.
For a few minutes it appeared as #
the entire block of frame buildings
was to be consumed and eight horses
belonging to the Elysian Water COM
pany were hurriedly removed from
their stable which is in the rear of the
company's office at S06 Spring street.
A report that there was a quantity
of powder stored in the carpenter
shop kept the vicinity of the place free
from spectators, and when a dozen
cartridges exploded there was scram-
BILE for safety by those in proximity
to the shop.
Attracted by the glow Of the flames
from the highest buildings, thousands
of persons gathered along Spring,
Eighth and Main streets, seriously in
terfering with the work of the fire
men, who as a last resort directed a
stream of water on a group Of the more
inquisitive.
In spite of the fact that the fire
had gained great headway and was
difficult to reach on account of its To-
cation, fast progress was made in sub
DUNG the flames and within forty-five
minutes after the first alarm had been
turned in the fire was practically ex-
tinguished.
| -4$4
| NO OPIUM