Bisbee daily review., 1905-11-07
FL PASO OPERA
 HOUSE IS BURNED
One of Oldest and Largest Blocks in City Completely
 Destroyed


 srroyed by fire Saturday evening. the fire originating about o'clock The burned block was one of the oldest and largest in the city and 1t now lies In ashes The origin of the fire is uncertain but that 1t started in the bill room which was located just under The stage of the opera house, Is accepted IL was discovered shortly cfter 9I o'clock. For some minutes previous the occupants of the building smelled smoke and finally the suggestion of fire became so strong that J. J. Raster of the undertaking firm of Nagley < Raster, ran into the opera house to see from whence the smoke was com ing. A volume of smoke was seen to be rising from the stage and a close inspection revealed that the fire was under the floor of the stage in theI bill room. where all the advertising paper of the different theatrical com panies is kept. A bill poster who had quarters in the bill room was madly fighting a lot of blazing papers and was almost enveloped in flame and MT Raster hastily retraced his steps to the undertaking parlors and telephoned the fire department. In al few minutes some one else, discover ing the fire. turned in another alarm and the fire department was on theI scene post haste.
 Rapid Work by Fire.
 The fire by this time had eaten its way through the tinder-like material of the stage and was licking with a hungry tongue at the ceiling of theI opera house. Leaping to the tune of cracking timbers the flames soon found their way to the second floor of the building, and in less time al most than it takes 10 tell the story great flames were bursting througl the roof and Illuminating the sky with their lurid light.
 Narrow Escape for Roomere.
 In the second and third stories of the block was rooming house, con ducted by Miss Clark, and nearly every room in the building was iccu pied. Many of the roomers had re tired and some of them had narrow escapes from death and few of them escaping with their effects. The greatest excitement prevailed, as the occupants of the rooms scu-ried down stairs carrying what they could save from their rooms, and some of them were overcome by smoke and were staggering, almost exhausted as they reached the sidewalk.
 Falling Walls. After the fire had ragged for almost and hour and seemingly every yestige of woodwork and everything that re | sembled a support had been devoured | by the flames, the walls on Fl Paso streat began to tremble and wobble | rye imposing sign at the top of the | Building bearing the name. "Myar |,
  signifying the time it was built, | seemed to nod to the ground below l The police gave the alarm to those who stood across the street to place themselves out of harms way. The venturesome mdasured the distance with their eyes, and calculating that they were safe, stood still. The timid | ran all the way to Overland street | In a few minutes the expected came and with a crash the great wall swayed toward Fl Paso street and fell. Men scurried for safety like rats. and luckily no one was seriously hurt.
 Estimated Losses.
 Tha owner of the opera house house, Henry NJ Myar of Hot Springs Ark. carried s28, 900 insurance on the building. the opera house fixtures and some of the scenery. The building as it stood, was probably worth s40,0O0
 The other losses were, as nearly as could be learned last night, as fol lows:
 s. D. Clifford, s3OOO; 5000 insur ance
 Nagley & Kaster's loss in' the un dertaking parlors amounted to be- e-0On ee00n carried S7OOO insurance, but a part of this was on their hacks, hearses, etc, which were not in the fire.
 The NJ and NJ. Furniture Company s3O00; s160O insurance.
 The furniture in the rooming house on the second and third boors was owned by Miss Blanche Miller and isl valued at 5000. She carried 5000 insurance.
 Charles Zeigler used a part of theI first floor of the building for a store room and had about $500 with of stock stored therein, which is total loss and upon which there is no in suraace.
 L. N. Crawford, manager of the opera house, sustained in loss of fix lures, scenery and other material about s50OO, which was only partly covered by insurance.
 The loss to the Denver jewelry house. which was crushed by theI falling walls, was about S5000, half covered by insurance.
 c. L. Buquor's jewelry store, which is just north of the Denver jewelry store. was damaged some by the fall ing wall. Loss not estimated.
 The building has for some time past been regarded by insurance men as a bad risk. and carried a very high rate of insurance, which was s4.25 on thel sI00, and for this reason none of those who suffered loss last night were insured for anything like the value of their property.