The Topeka state journal., 1906-04-23
A SEA OF FIRE.
In 1t Strong Men Battled Seven
Hours.
Fate of Two Hundred Million
Dollars the Stake.
SAVE THE BUILDING.
Stands Alone as Monument to
Heroic Persistence.
One of Workers Tells Story of
Contest With Flames.
SAVE THE BUILDING.

San Francisco, April 23.-A land
mark Of San Francisco that escaped
destruction though every building sur
rounding it was destroyed. IS the
United States mint. at the corner OF
Fifth and Mission streets. Harold
French, an employe of the mint, gave
graphic account of how the flames
were successfully fought. He said:
Nearly two hundred million dol
lars in coin and bullion are stored in
the vaults of the mint and for the
preservation of this prize a devoted
band of employees. REINFORCED by reg
ular soldiers, fought until the bafHed
flames fed to the conquest of stately
blocks of so called fire proof buildings
For seven hours a sea of fire
surged around this grand old federal
edifice, attacking it on all sides with
waves of fierce heat Its little garrison
was cut off from retreat for hours at
time, had such course been
thought of by those on guard. The
United States mint was constructed
in 1874 of granite and sandstone
blocks, massive monohths, we'll calcu-
lated to resist fire from without.
Within, however, were enough in
fammable materials to feed a lively
conhagration. Iron shutters shielded
the lower floors, but the windows of
the upper stories, on which are To-
Gated the refinery and assay Offices,
were exposed Also a tarred roof over
the refinery constituted a weak spot
in the defense. Tanks of wood and
other infammable material scattered
about the roof and upper story were
serious menace.
AFTER the fire had swept past the
Mission street side and the certainty
of its returning from the north be-
came apparent, Captain of the Watch
HaWs ordered everything on the roof
that would burn thrown into the yard
| Soldiers and mint employees worked
with utmost haste throwing great
timbers and tanks slaves into the
court. Here are located some thirty
tanks of blue vitriol, the surfaces of
which soon were covered with debris
/ into which increasing showers of elm
ders fell. Fortunately the mint pos
/ sesses a good we'll. and Engineer
Brady, at his post, pumped water to
the fire fighters assembled on the roof.
/ OF these, forty were mint employees.
and they were aided by a company of
coast artillery.
Heat Was Intense.
"As the fire swept up Fifth street
/ the heat increased to a dangerous de-
gree as one by one, the Metropolitan
! hall and the historic Lincoln school
/ burst into flames, re-enforced by the
roaring furnace Of the Emporium. on
the west the block bounded by Sixth
and Market streets on the north, gave
4 the gravest concern, for from this
quarter the fire was certain to rage in
! its fury. Famed by roaring north
erly wind, the flames rioted through
/ the structures stretching from the
/ Windsor hotel to the Emma Spreckies
building; sheets of fire 200 feet high
1 licked up the intervening houses on
/ Mint avenue. Augmented by these
/ tinder boxes, the blast of fire burst on
the northwest corner Of the Mint like
the breath of a second PeIee.
A few desperate fighters under ex-
Chief Kennedy Of Oakland were driven
from between the tottering chimneys.
under whose twin terrors they had
struggled to the last. throwing buckets
Of water upon the blazing roof over the
refinery. It is largely due to the ex-
perience of former Chief Kennedy that
this tar-covered roof. the weakest spot
of all was saturated with sufficient wa
ter to sta the flames.
When the fire leaped Mint avenue in
solid masses of fame the refinery men
stuck to their windows as long as the
! glass remained In the frames Seventy
five feet of an inch hose played slen-
/ der stream upon the blazing window
| sill, while the floor was awash with di-
luted sulphic acid. Ankle deep in this
soldiers and employees stood to the floor
! until the windows were shattered. With
a roar the tongues of fire licked greed
| lily the inner walls. Binding and suf-
| locating smoke necc5siIated the aban-
/ donment of the hose and the fighters re-
treated to the floor below. The roar of
| falling walls. the thunder of bursting
blocks of stone lne din Of crashing
glass; swelIed to an unearthly diapason-
If Is inch shells were crashing against
the mint walls, the deafening detona-
tions and the force of their impact
Of the attack. Down in the deeps where
untold wea.+h is so well safeguarded, ar
| tillerymen, ringed with blanket rolls
| and leaning on their rifles, coughed in
the strangling smoke. Then came
q lull the walls of brick buildings across
the street had all fallen. There was yet
a fighting chance. so back to the upper
story the fire fighters returned, led by
Supe--ltendent Leach who by example
/ and words encouraged his men to ex-
| the refinery.
Swept Roof With Hose.
THE roof was next swept by a hose,
/ cooling the copper sheathed surface un-
til it became passable for wet acid
/ soaked feet An army officer axe IN
hand tore up sections Of blazing tar
roof beneath which a stream of water
was directed. At lengtha as four o'clock
drew near, the mint was pronounced
out Of danger and a handful of exhaust
Ell Dut GAUAtdl4l S-AAP4OSGS stu1uDlCQ Ofll
on the hot cobble stones to learn the
I fate OF some of their homes
THE mint presents a scorched and
glassless front on the north and west
and the towering smokestacks are to be
torn down. but the building IS intact
and the plant is unharmed and ready
for q resumption Of work.
There were sensational rumors of an
attack - thieves upon the mint in
which Il were killed in the atetnpt, but
It IS needless to say that the garrison
Of the n1int is equal to any emergency
that may arise
Millionaire Tobacconist Dead.
Wheeling. W. Va. April 2s.-August
Pollock the millionaire tobacconfst