Albuquerque evening citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1905-1907, 1905-11-17
$4,000 BLAZE AT
LOCAL INDIAN SCHOOL
%COmmiSsary Building With
Contents Destroyed by
Fire Last Night.
BUILDING WILL BE REBUILT

A blaze which was discovered short
ly after Z o'clock last night in the
commissary building at the Indian
school near this city. destroyed that
building with all its contents, entail
ing a loss estimated at between
$4,000 and $4,000.
The origin of the fire is a mystery,
as there was no fire of any kind in
the building. Shortly after Z o'clock
one OF the Indian boys discovered
flames and smoke issuing from the
root of the structure near the middle
and he gave the alarm by ringing the
fire bell on the grounds. Superintend-
ent Allen appeared on the cen al
most Immediately after the turning
in of the alarm and ordered out the
fire brigade at the school. In the
meantime he. with several other Off
cials at the school, entered the build
ing, but there was not a trace of
fire on the first floor.
AS soon as the fire department at
the school got a line strung to the
burning building and a stream of wa
ter playing on the flames, MIR. Allen
sent in a telephone message to Chief
B~urtless, of the Albuquerque fire de-
partment, asking assistance. The To-
cal department responded n pro-
ceeded as far as Mountain road. Here
it was discovered that the plug con-
nections at the school were for one
and one-half inch hose, while the city
department only carried hose for a
two-inch connection, therefore IL
would have been useless for them to
proceed further and they returned TO
the hose house. However, Fire Chief
Burtless continued to the school and
rendered much assistance in direct
ing the school brigade how to fight the
flames.
Fire Burned Fiercely.
Owing to the infiammable contents
of the building, the fire burned fierce
w and the flames soon got beyond con-
troll. As the commissary building Is
situated quite a distance from the
main buildings danger from the fire
spreading was not great and all efforts
were turned toward trying to save at
least a portion of this building n its
contents. The fire fighting apparatus
and the water power were entirely
inadequate I o cope with the fire, how
ever, and it burneN throughout the
night and until late this morning.
The fire made a big blaze and could
be plainly seen from this city and
created no little excitement, as the
first report that was received was to
the effect that the Indian school was
in danger of being totally destroyed
Quite a number of people made the
trip of a mile and a half to e the
fire. while many walked up into the
Highlands where they could get q
good view of the burning building.
Loss Almost Total.
Superintendent Allen reported &c
The Citizen today that the loss OF
the building and contents would b'
almost total, as there was no lnsur
ance. The greatest loss, Mr.. AlleI
says, will be of clothing and subsis
tence, of which the building contain
ed practically a years supply, with
value of perhaps 5 $4,000. The building
was valued at $500. With white
coming on this loss will be keenly fel
until a new supply of clothing an
foodstuffs can be gotten in. There i
left on hand enough subsistence Il
last for a week or ten days and b!
that time the school authorities sa.
they will be able to get in more SUP
pies dDu ll6IG Will DS NJ uoh5Oi v
any suffering among the pupils at tn
school.
Today the boys at the school wer'
busy going over the ruins and saVlni
what they could. Quite a quantity o
canned goods of all kinds, beans CO.
fee. etc, was taken out of the uln
which had not been damaged in tn
least and this will aid much in he'll
ing out until the arrival of the neN
supplies.
Perfect Order Prevailed.
One thing worthy of more tina
passing note and which reflects grea
credit upon the school authorities
the perfect order that prevailed durin
the fire. When the alarm was turne
in the little tots at the institution ha
retired for the night. AS a |precautioI
airy measure they were awakened an
dressed and marched in perfect orde
from the dormitoTy to the yard, wheT
they remained for several hour
watching the fire. In every other d'
partment there was very little excite
ment and in no instance was Their
the least sign of a panic. The vaIu
OF the daily fire drills at the schoC
was plainly demonstrated last nigh
Superintendent Allen last night M
tilted the interior department by tel
graph of the burning of the buildin
and today received assurances thi
the building would at once he rebuff