New-York tribune., 1905-02-03
MARBLE COLLEGIATE FIRE.
CHURCH D4M1GE, 50, 900.
Quests at Holland House and Other
Hotels alarmed.

Fire damaged the Marble Collegiate Church
''th-ave. and 29th-st. to the extent of about
5000 shortly after 4 O'Clock last evening The
oiang os the engines and the smoke alarmed the
guests in tie rooms on the south side Of the
Holland Ho-se at Jth-ave. and 30th-st., and
brought many OF the guests of the Hotel Bres-
lin in Broadway their windows to watch the
excitement. l'or time 1t looked as if the
church would be injured materially. The fire.
men quickly attacked the flames and put the:.,
out
: From the interior of the Holland House it
looked as if the hotel itself was on fire A
panic was narrowly averted among the guests.
Several ran out OF their rooms and out of the
corridors into the street There was a slight
commotion in the dining room. which was
crowded. At the GiIsey House and the Breslin
the guests slightly alarmed by the smoke
and the gathering of engines and fire apparatus
outside their doors. The police stretched fire
lines across ath-ave., blocking all traffic in
that thoroughfare At that hour 5th-ave. is
crowded with carriages, and these were forced
TO stop shor' at 29th-st and turn down side
streets. Considerable confusion was caused.
Broadway traffic, too. blocked.
No one, far as is known, was in the church
when the fire was discovered. 1t is supposed to
have been caused by an overheated furnace in
the cellar at the From pipes it is sup
posed, the frame work and beams of the
structure were ignited.
BY the time Patrolman Stadtmuller, of the
West 3Oth-st. station discovered the smoke
pouring out of the windows at the rear on the
29th-st. side, the fire had eaten it's way through
the floor of the basement into the Sunday
schooi class rooms. and thence 10 the story
above, where the meeting rooms of the Christian
Endeavor Society are
Under the lead OF Deputy Chief Langford and
Battalion Chief Howe, the 1remen broke in the
heavy doors on the 29th-st side of the building.
leading to the chapel. and turned on streams
through n stained glass window on the street
side This window destroyed The flames
were kept from breaking through the roof. but
of the church had TO he torn UP to give free
play to the efforts of the firemen.
The Rev. Dr. David j. Burren is the pastor
of the church His assistants the Rev.
Alfred z. Myers and the Rev. Otto L. F. Mohn.
The Marble Collegiate Church is of the Re
formed Church in America The building is
fifty years old. The congregation only recently
celebrated its semt-centennal The church
ganfzatton is 276 years old.
The stained glass window. cracked by the fire
men in backing ladder against 1t, was WORTH
according to DR.. Bunnell, at least $1,000. The
church numbers many wealthy persons among
its congrega tion.
Dr. Burrell does not live near the church, his
home being at No. PAS West 75th-st. He was
at home when the fire occurred, and did not
learn of it until 1t all over, when he was
told over the telephone by a Tribune reporter
He immediate tey hurried to the church to in
vestigate the damage. He said he feared that
this would prove much greater than the Fire
Department thought.