The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1906-04-20

BLOW UP RESIDENCES
This Desperate bat uayaiiing Nam
ner III Eadeayoring so tLeca
tnr March of iery King
kesorted 10.

shCcttulnE nOur me devastation and
destruction In this city grows more
serious. Il seemed as If nothing
could save the comparatively small
portion OF the city yet unburned The
entire business and wholesale district
Is now only a glowing furnace. while
the giant tongues of fire have reached
to the westward far beyond vanness
avenue and are wiping out buildings
and seeking more to devour.
At O'Clock Mayor Schmitz and
Chief of Police Oman saw the only
hope OF saving the western addition
with It's forest of frame dwellings and
the Richmond districts with its
thousands of homes was to check the
cruel march of the wall of fire at
Vanness avenue, which crosses the
city from north to south, where the
retail stores and fine apartment hous-
es end, and where the residences be-
gin. This avenue is ninety feet wide
and the possibilities of checking the
march Of the flames here looked hope
full to those who were figuring ways
and means in the hour of awful hor-
ror, The orders were given to concen-
trate every fire engine in the city at
this avenue, to marshall troops there,
the police and all of the army of
workers and make one last stand to
save the remainder of the city
The artillery was secured and huge
cannons were drawn by horses to the
avenue to aid the dynamiters in blow
/ inc Of "a mi
| aires on the east side of Vanness ave
| nue. in order to prevent the flames
| from leaping across the highway and
! starting on their unrestrained sweep
across the western addition.
Every available pound of dynamite
was hauled to this point and the sight
! was one of stupendous and appalling
| havoc, as the cannon were trained
| on the palaces and the shot tore into
! the walls and toppled the buildings in
| crushing ruins. At other points the
dynamite was used and house after
house, the dwellings of millionaires,
were lifted into the air by the power
| full believing blast and dropped to the
! earth a mass of dust and debris.
| The work was necessarily danger
! GUS and many of the exhausted work
4 stretch of 40 hours without sleep and
scarcely any food, through force OF
instructive heroism alone, may have
been killed while making this las
desperate stand Many OF the work
ers in placing the blasts took chances
that spelled injury or death.
The fire line at s O'Clock extends
mile along the east side of Vannes
to Pacific avenue. All behind this. ex
cepting the Russian Hill region and ;
small district lying along the nortf
beach, has been swept clean by the
flames, and from the steel hulks OF
buildings and pipe and shafts and
spires have been dropped into the
molten mass of debris like so much
melted wax.
The steady booming of the artillery
and the roar of the dynamite above
the howl and cracking of the flames
continued with monotenous regular.
ity. Such noises have been lombard
ing the ears of the panic stricken
people since the earthquake of 4S
/ hours before They have not ceased to
heed the sound, and rush pellmell,
drowningt heir senses in a bedlam
! of their own creation. There seemed
to be an irresistible power behind the
flames that even the desperately he
roic measures being taken at Nanness
| avenue could not stay.
While the heroic frefighters were
making the last stand at the line of
Vanness avenue. panic reigned among
the survivors in oth@s parts of the city.
The intense heat and absence of water
ave been 40 terrible that scores have
become frantic and others have drop
,..d from extauetion In the streets