Bryan morning eagle. [volume] (Bryan, Tex.) 1898-1909, 1905-02-28
LOSS ABOUT FIVE
MILLION DOLLARS.
Vast Freight Terminals OF rNis
Central Railway Burn.
DOZENS OF WHARVES
AND ELEVATORS GO.
Hundreds Of Cars Loaded With Much
Freight and Thousands Of Bales
Of Cotton Consumed at the
Crescent City.


New Orleans. Feb. 27.--Fire involv-
ing i5.00O.O0O loss In physical prop
erty and that strikes serious tenn
porary blow To the immense export
trade Of New Orleans. swept the river
front Sunday night and wiped out the
vast freight terminals OF the Illinois
Central known as the stuysevant
docks. Nearly half dozen squares OF
modern wharves and freight sheds.
two magnificent freight elevators. hun
dreds OF loaded cars and vast quanti-
ties OF freight, together with large
number Of small residences.
The stuysevant docks extend from
Louisiana avenue almost 10 Napoleon
avenue. a distance Of twelve squares.
The wharves between those points
were covered with miles OF trackage
and steel an iron sheds ran the whole
distance. The two grain elevators were
Of the most modern construction. the
upper one having "A capacity of i.OO0
600 bushels. Thousands of bales Of
cotton. several hundred thousand pack
ages OF sugar. great quantities Of cos
ton seed oil and oil cake. lumber and
every conceivable variety of freight
filled the warehouses and sheds Prac-
tically all the export business handled
by the Illinois Central vas put aboard
ships az the docks The docks have
been under construction for ten years
elaborate extensions and immense In
vestments having beee made after .
constitutional convention of 1898 made
u possible for the road 20 invest per.
mnnently at this point
The fire was discovered shortly after
O'Clock II was said TO have resulted
from journal that had not been sur
hciently oiled. The whole plaut Was
equipped with gigantic water tanks
and FIRE extinguishing apparatus. but
the blaze small ut first almost n.
stantly got beyond control. commuuI-
calling through the ccnveyers 20 tho
lower elevator and some OF the sheds
The response of the fire DEPARTMENT
was prompt but owing 10 the fact
a .
owing TO fences and tracks the engines
found difficulty Ia reaching the flames
In half an hour the hre covered two
squares ans the lower elevator was
practically consumed
AZ midnight more than nine squares
~ the terminals had been COMPLETELY
destroyed, and % seemed unlikely that
The fire would b. checked until u
reached Napoleon avenue. which Is
also a very broad street. During tho
IRE heavy wind blew and the blaze
was or lndescribable fury. CARVING
brands To great distance. moving
back the crowds ~ sirhtseers I'm
mense pieces of corrugated iron. torn
from the SIDES Of the upper elevator.
we're carried through the air as n they
were feathers. and dropping In every
direction. constantly endangered the
lives OF FIRE men ana spectators.
The weather was bright and warm
and probably $4,000 people visited the
scene during the progress of the fire.
Aside from the tremendous loss in
volved In the destruction OF property
the fire is q calamity 10 New Orleans
In the temporary abatement of the i'm
mense port business Of the Illinois
Central. particularly Ia the matter OF
grain shipments
As soon as IL b,cams known that
the scene OF the IRE was the stuyve-
SAINT docks. harbor tugs FASTENED to
the wharves and vessels that wer.
moorcd there were pulled out into the
river
Switch engines were rushed to the
wharves and hundreds ~ cars loaded
with freight were drawn 10 points
above the upper end OF the terminals
before the IRE behind them. Many
hundreds more however were con-
sumed
The wind was blowing down the
river when the blaze began and the
flre spread with greater speed in that
direction. BY o'clock the lower ele-
vator and sheds and wharves from
Amelia street TO Louisiana avenue. a
distance Of six squares had fallen In.
Fortunately Louisiana avenue Il n
very broad thoroughfare. and tho fur
ther spread of the flre 20 the residence
section was checked. Between those
r.,Frfa Fha naf,aa atrat.f In .a,,,,,faf. a.