Bisbee daily review., 1906-06-10
LANDMARK FIRED Flames Threaten Destruction of Oldest Structure in
 Mule Pass. SPARK FROM ENGINE
 STARTED BAD BLAZE
Fortunately Little Damage Be- yond Hole in Roof Was Done Fire Extinguished Before Arrival of Chemical Engine,

Fire. broke out on. sae roof of the old custom house oeiow the slag dump shortly after o'clock last eve ming as the result Of flying sparks from an El Paso & Southwestern en- zine.
 A rapid run to the scene of the blaze was made by the chemical company of the fire department, but willing hands had extinguished the blaze when 1t had done little more than burn a hole, through the rooi of the building.
 The old custom house. as the oulio- ing is best known. stands beneath the level of the railroad tracks pc low the city. II is built of adobe ana has withstood the elements for nearly , thirty years. IL Is now the oldest building In Mule GIlch Pass and US walls have sheltered the earliest pio- neers of the camp. If they could talk. wouid-be historians would be content to be good listeners, SD long has the old place been n part of the canyon.
 1l the early days 1t served alter nateiy as custom house and general office for the Neptune Mining com nany. from whom the Phelps-Dodge company purchased part of their holdings
 In the days when the mountains
 sN-I about here were infested with wild Apaches, it's walls often furnished safe refuge for the intrepid whites who prospected the mountains or looked after the boundary rights of Uncte sam.
 It Is peculiarly built structure. nestIing close under the North side of Sacramento Hill. having two wings, each at right angles to the other, making it peculiarly well adapted to resisting an attack.
 Portholes. long since filled in with the same material used in the con struction of the building attract the atteption of all passsrsby. especially from the railroad side of the build ing. It Is battle-scarred old veteran of the primeval wars waged between the natives and the whites who came to claim and conquer the country for it's mineral wealth.
 There were quartered the officers of the United States Government who patrolied the border on the hunt for smugglers and it has many times act l.. ha Fl- wary who made their ffyIng smuggi- ing across the border mescai. Mexi- can wines and fine. laces, all contra band then as they are now.
 It has not been used much as an office building since the advent of the Pheips-Dodge interests. that com pany moving Its offices further up the guich to where they now stand.
 For the past decade it has been used as a dwelling and lodging house and to this day serves that purpose.
 It is the property Of the Copper Queen Consolidated Mining company and stands on ground owned and mined by them.
 Such an historical interest attach 4es to the old structure that it is doubtful If even the progress. Of in dustry will shove it out of existence and it's destruction by fire would be lamented by all who still have in their hearts any of the seutiment that us uaIly holds for the antique
 After having withstood the rav- ages of the clements and the attack of the destructive Indians, it would. indeed. be pity were it to fall d prey to accident or the act of provi- dence-