Los Angeles herald., 1906-01-12

natural fue had the fire managed
to work to It, saved a greater portion
Of the upper floor from complete de-
struction. During the entire fire the
water was kept in play on this defense
and in that way it was saved. But
hours afterward the tiling was so hot
that it steamed.
The terrific heat of the fire could
easily be seen by the way in which the
heavy iron girders of the building were
bent and twisted.
While their companions were busy
on the upper floors the fire laddes on
the third, fourth and fifth floors were
busy with the work of salvage, and
valuable papers were carried down the
steps and ladders by the firemen, while
the frantic occupants Of the offices
begged that their priceless documents
be saved.
The offices OF Attorney Isadore
Dockweiler were entirely destroyed,
his law library burned and his legal
documents ruined Hundreds of other
office suffered in similar fashion and
of the hundred and fifty offices on the
three upper floors none escaped with
out damage. The damage on the fifth
floor to the offices, furnishings, val
liable surgical and dental sets was
complete, while the fourth floor was
also entirely destroyed. Tons of water
poured down from floor to floor, ruin
ing everything in it's way and prac-
tically wrecking all the finishings in
the building
BY the natural bending of heavy
girders above the stores on the first
floor, the water pouring down from
the upper stories found q natural dam
surrounding the ticket offices of the
Southern Pacific and the Montgomery
jewelry store, and in this way the
water was diverted almost entirely
into the N. b. Blackstone dry goods
store.
The chief damage to the railroad
company was in the destruction of
fixtures, tickets and railroad literature.
The water in the ticket office was
quickly drawn off under the direction
of Traffic Manager White and the
office was opened for business within
an hour after the fire had been put
under control.
Shortly after the fire was discovered
| many of the tenants of the building
were on the scene begging to have
their business ledgers and papers
saved.
Police Are Heroes
In this line Police Sergeant Craig
and his squad were the heroes of the
| day. Nearly dozen times the SER
|
upper floors of the building and fought
his way through the flames and smoke
! to the different Offices, returning each
| time with heavy bundles of Bapers aud
documents. He was thoroughly
drenched and nearly Suffocated, but he
went to his home, secured q change
of clothing and returned to the build
| ing, where he stationed his officers
and took charge of protecting prop
erty.
Insurance representatives and sal
wage corps made a desperate attempt
| to save some of the, stock of the n.
| b. Blackstone company, but, although
| all of the stock was covered with tar
paulins and oil cloth within two hours
after the engines reached the place,
| the water had already reached the fine
silks, satins. laces and linens and Il
| total loss from damage by smoke and
| water resulted.
A crew of wreckers was put to work
on the building yesterday and the
debris is rapidly being cleared away.
| The building will be restored as quick
ly as possible and in the meantime
| many of the tenants will conduct thelt
| business in other nearby office build
| ings
AS reward for the services of the
| fircmen in saving property a subscrip-
fund is being taken up by the business
men OF the Douglas building.
Tenants of Building
The principal damage in the Doug
| las building was sustained by the ten
ants of the offices ON the fifth floor
where the fire had IL clean sweer
| through the halls. Following is the
list of those occupying offices in the
Douglas building, with the lumber OF
the office occupied by them; j. a
Armitage, 434; Dr.. w. w. Appel, 412
w. II. Allen & Son, PIG; r. 7. Archer
403; Alpine Plaster company 525; DIR
G.. w. Burleigh, 21S; Board of Fire I'm
derwriters for the Pacific coast, 447
l.. Blankenhorn, Ill; Bowen & Bolton
440; f. w. Burnett, 1923; J. H. Bohon
221; William Bayly, 410; w. H. Beman
430; Bonton, 522; DR.. F. F. Barnard
443; Blaisdell Filtration company, 22S:
c. II. Bareford, 302; j. w. Creede, 2S6;
Croake & McCann 235: f. o. Cass, 1874
| I VI To