Omaha daily bee., 1906-04-23

Capp and thence along the west line Of
Capp.
some BuTdinEs spared.
In this immediate district It was noted
that the block bounded by Seventeenth
and Eighteenth and Howard and Shot
well. though spared by the flames. had
been terribly shaken by the quake. In
some instances the houses were mass
of ruins, II being thought that all Of the
buildings in that block the only two that
might be saved from the wrecker, were
those of Lawyer w. c. Graces at 1888
Howard. Even the Catholic church Of
st. Charles at Corwell and Eighteenth
appeared to be unsafe. The streets In
this vicinity were sunk from six to eight
feet in places and the earth opened in
great gaps, while the rails OF the street
railroad system were twisted and broken.
In its progress the confagration con-
sumed all the dwellings along the west
line of Capp to a point half way between
Nineteenth and Twentieth. leaving intact
the row Of residences fronting on the
northerly line OF Twentieth between Capp
and the Mission, thence IL burned along
| the north line of Twentieth to Dolores,
at which point it was stayed by the great
! openings which were formerly the Jew
| ish cemeteries of this city, but which
| have been within few years purchased
| by the municipality and were in process
of being converted into pleasure ground.
Here are encamped some of the many
| thousands who are homeless.
Early Fire subdued.
Before leaving this district 1t might be
! mentioned that an Independent fire was
started Wednesday morning Immediately
after the tremblor in the dry goods store
of Lipman at the corner Of Twenty-second
| and Mission streets. This fire burned over
an area of 15Ox9OO feet, but. there being
water in the mains at that time, was
| checked. Travelling northerly on Dolores
| from Twentieth street there was nothing
but waste to be seen on the east line
Of Dolores, scarcely a vestige remaining
| Of the handsome structure erected by the
sisters Of Notre Dame. At the northerly
end of Dolores. where Il meets the extern
| sion OF Market street, the flames were d.
verted by the great. bare cut at that place,
| eating easterly along the southern line of
Clinton Park to Guerrero. along the east
line Of Guerrero. running In their course the
half constructed hospital of st. Catharine
to Market whence they spread along the
southerly side OF that thoroughfare east
| erly to Cough; thence along the east line
| Of Cough to Pearce to the north line of
Page, half way to Octavia, sparing the
| row OF buildings along the easterly line
| of Octavia as far as Fell, where they
reached to the easterly line Of Octavia and
| along that line northerly to Fulton, where
on the west side they were fronted by a
| half-burned block that had been consumed
by fire started by an overturned lamp
on the morning of the earthquake. Along
the southerly line Of McAllister the flames
|
enough to consume the northwest corner
Of Cough and McAllster; thence along the
easterly line Of Cough to Golden Gate ave-
nue.: thence along the southerly line of
Golden Gate avenue to Van Ness and along
the easteriy line of Van Ness to Suffer-,
where they crossed to the west side and
burned the blocks from the north line OF
Suffer and the east line Of Franklin
through to Clay
Many of City's Finest Mansions.
In this district were included some most
splendid mansions of the city, chief among
which was the majestic home of Claus
Spreckles at the southwest corner of Clay
| and Van Ness. This splendid piece of ar
| chitecture. done in brown stone in the
! chateau style and adorned with all that
wealth and taste could gather, still stands,
wealth blackened by the ordeal and Invested
OF all it's beauty, melancholy testimony
Of the futility CT human endeavor.
Still burning along the easterly side OF
Van Ness toward Fort Mason the fire
reached Greenwich, along the south line
of which II spread to LarlSin and along
the cast line OF LarSin to Lombard; then
along the south line of Lombard to Hyde
and along the esat line of Hyde to Chest
NUT thence from the south line of Chest
nut to Taylor thence to Bay. to Masor
and down the east side of Mason to the
II city front.
Within the vast waste Of smolderns
embers were found three GASES, where
human beings still have their habitats as
before the great cahfasration. One Of these