The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-01-06
Of THE
CLUBHOUSE
The Particulars OF the
Washington
Fire.

entertained in Washington by tn
Metropolitan Club will be interested
I in the following account of the fir
which deprived the club of its home;
WASHINGTON, Dec. 22.-The Metro
| no1itan Club House at Seventeenth ant
II streets northwest. famous as toIn'
of mon prominent in social and ON
cfal life. was burned early yesterday
morning. entailing loss conservative
w estimated at $4,000, partially Gov
cred by insurance
The fire was caused by a defective
| electric light wire in the basement OF
| the building, near the elevator shaft
and the flames, which broke out at
o'clock made such rapid Roadway
| famed by a strong wind, that before
| the arrival of the firemen, the club
| house was doomed.
None of the members of the club
were in the building at the time. the
| only occupants being the Waterman
| steward and two other employees, al
| of whom escaped without difficulty, eX-
| cept the Waterman, Martin Depon1a
| who gave the alarm and was after
ward overcome by smoke. He soon
| recovered and turned in an alarm from
an automatic box in the office. A libra
| ry estimated to be worth upward OF
| 5000. escaped practically uninjured,
| and the flames did not reach the wine
! cellar. Many valuable pictures were
saved.
The smoking ruins were the object
| of much interest throughout the day,
and thousands of people visited the
place. The pressure to gain admission
to the interior of the clubhouse to view
the once magnificent furnishings be-
came so great it was found necessary
to station an employe at the entrance
with orders to admit none but men,
bers
DISCOVERED BY WATCHMAN.
The fire. which originated near the
freight elevator shaft on the Seven
teenth street side, was discovered by
Night Waterman Deponia, who. seeing
smoke issuing from the stairway,
which leads to the entrance used in
delivering goods, investigated to as
certain the cause, and on opening a
door at the foot of the stairs was met
by an outburst of smoke and flame
which nearly overcame him. After
staggering up the steps, to the office
floor, Deponia fell unconscious, but
soon recovering he ru~hed into the Of
flee and broke the glass of the auto
matte fire alarm box. From the Office
he went to the library. on the second
floor. where he broke another.
1t is not known who first saw the
fire from the outside, and turned in
an alarm from the street box on the
corner, but it was noticed shortly after
it started, by Mr.. Lee Phillips, mem
Der of the club who resides opposite
the burned building.
The first alarm received by the fire
department was from box No. 800,
located at the corner of Seventeenth
and H streets, which called Engine
Companies 1, and Is. Truck Company
B. and Assistant Chief a. J. Sullivan.
When Capt O'Connor. of No. COM
pany arrived he ordered a second
alarm struck, calling out another de-
tachment of the department. On the
arrival of Assistant Chief Sullivan the
fire had gained such Roadway that the
assistant chief sent in an additional
alarm, which brought the chief en-
gineer and several more engines. When
Chief Belt reached the burning build
ing he Immediately saw that there was
Itol fliISeI OI IL SeIlOuS CbIIIoSid-
ton, which caused him to send for all
the fire-fighting apparatus available. i
STRONG FORCE OF FIREMEN.
Within thirty minutes from the time
the fire was discovered there We're
eleven engine companies, five trucks,
three fuel wagons, the chief engineer,
the deputy chief, and two assistant
chiefs on the ground. and the work of
saving that part of the property which
had not been reached by the flames
was commenced
After reaching the elevator shaft the
flames ascended to the top of the
building, and in a short while were
issuing from the roof and the win
dOwS of the top story, making it very
difficult for the department to reach
them. The water tower, which had
been called out by the third alarm,
played an important part in attacking
the fire on the roof, while a number
OF the firemen, under the leadership
of Deputy Chief Wagner, made their
way through the lower floors.
A number of the members of the
club, having been called out by the
swiftly circulated report that the club
house was on fire, entered the build
ing and endeavored to save the most
valuable of the clubs property They
directed their attention to the library,
which is considered one of the finest
Of it's kind in the world, having been
collected after years of research by
Mr.. Lee Phillips, of the Congressional
and presented by him to the
club. The efforts of these members
and of the fremen prevented the de-
struction of any of the volumes, and
beyond slight damage by water the
books We're not injured. This party
vas also able to save a number of {
are and costly ornaments that had I
,een in the posses sion of the club since
Is forma ton.
The deluge of water poured on the
upper floor, where the flames did the
most damage ran down the steps and
through the ceilings to the rooms be- Z
ow, running utterly the valuable car s
ets and furniture.