Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-20

Continued From First Page.)
fire on G street during most of the night,
when they, too, were again summoned to
participate In the task OF extinguishing the
fire in the commission houses. Altogether
fifteen companies were called out by Chief
Belt to fight this last of the series of three
bazes. The chief himself, as he expressed
1t, was nearly all i'm because of the strain
incident to directing the arduous work of
his men at three successive fires
When the firemen reached the scene they
fully realized that they were confronted by
blaze that would give them considerable
trouble and that might get Roadway enough
to consume every building on the square.
scarcely gotten back into quarters and
placed dry hose on their reels and crept
into dry clothing when the call for this
later conflagration was received. Half
dozen other companies had been at the big
The absence of a high wind was In their
favor, and this alone, 1t Is believed. saved
the Majestic Theater. 1t was the work of
but a few minutes for the blaze to follow
The cornice from the building in which the
hire started 10 the thea.er building, and 1T
was difficult for the firemen to check 1t at
the west wall of the theater. Several
streams were kept at work about the wall,
and while the smoke seemed to indicate
that the blaze had reached a point east of
the wall the firemen were happy to learn
that such was not the case. On the upper
floors of the several buildings the work of
the flremen appeared slow, but all that
could be done by them was 10 pour water
through the windows and afterward
through the roof that had burned and fall
en-. Occasionally a blaze would break out
in new place and would be followed by
the large crowd of spectators shouting to
the firemen. While the hremen were doing
their best to check the progress of the
flames, the work of removing merchandise
from several of the stores was carried on.
The water in the cutters on Louisiana ave
nue. and C street was over the curbing. and
apples and oranges that were carried away
attracted the attention of the boys who
had congregated upon the streets.
While the smashing OF few panes of
glass was the only damage done to the Ma
jestic Theater building, some water was
poured into the building and a little dam
age was caused The pouring of water
through the window was the result OF the
turning on of the electric lights on the
stage, causing the fremen to believe that
there was blaze in the building. Watch
man Scott. who was making his rounds on
the outside of the building at the time the
fire started, hurried into the building to see
II there was any possibility Of any damage
being done there There was no smoke in
the auditorium. but smoke behind the cur
tain caused the belief that a closer invesu-
cation was needed. Turning switch II, that
connected the bunch light on the stage. the
bright light attracted the attention of sew
eral firemen who were handling hose line.
They thought that the blaze had attacked
the interior Of the theater building, and
turned the stream Of water against the
window. Then there was a crashing of
glass, the plano was ruined and the stage
was covered with wafer More water man
aged to enter through the two big skylights,
and employees of the theater were kept busy
for short time to prevent the water from
reaching the auditorium.
Two Chickens Killed by Smoke.
There was a fatality in the theater that
was caused by the fire, two ROSTERS that
had been purchased to take part In the show
next week having been suffocated
When Watchnan Scott realized that the
turning on Of the electric light had caused
the f1remen to, pour water into the building
he Immediately turned off the current and
then shouted to the firemen that there was
caused in the building did not put the struc-
ture in bad shape, and no interruption was
caused to the show.
An amusing incident occurred at the
theater this morning. when one OF the col
ored charwomen started through the lines
to gosto her place of employment
Step back there" commanded one of
Major Sylvester's policemen, waving his
hand at the woman.
Indeed, l am going to keep on steppine
forward" she told him.
But" added the policeman, "you~can't
go through the lines"
Look here" said the colored woman, IT
work In the theater. and in there I'm go
ing
She warned the policeman that he would
better not put his hands upon her, and he
let her pass through the lines
Estimating the Damage.
All day long the crowd of spectators re-
mained on Louisiana avenue Firemen re-
manned about the scene of the damaged
buildings all day. Chief Belt sending one
company home at a time, being careful to
let those go first who had been in almost
continuous service since an early morning
fire yesterday.
This afternoon the merchants were any
1ous to get their insurance adjusted in time
TO permit them to go about the work of get
tug things In readiness for the Christmas
holiday. Some OF them however will make
no such attempt. The commission mer-
chants are. anticipating the arrival of ship
ments of fowls for the holiday trade an nd
want to be In shape to handle them. The
police reserves from the several precincts
responded to the alarms and performed
duty protecting the property and keeping
the crowds from interfering with the fire.
men.
THIS afternoon the FIRE marshal statsa
that he thought the losses by fire would be
about what he had predicted In the morn
ing. In addition to the losses sustained by
the occupants OF the five buildings that
were wrecked the stock Of potatoes of NJ
]. Ward & Co. and the stock of fruits of
Joseph Di Georgia were damaged The fire
marshal said he thought that the damage
to the buildings was more than two-thirds
covered by insurance, and that the stocks
in the stores were also well insured One
OF the burned buildings was owned by Mrs,
Rachael Kinsolying. another by c. D. Jew
ell and the Others by John A. Baker.
Coffee for Firefghters.
The coffee fund OF the fire department
was saved from serious inroads upon 1t BY.
the Maryland quick lunch on Pennsyiva-