The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-09-24

Crawford's opera house. s12 and 614
Kansas avenue. was destroyed by fire
following an explosion OF natural gas
this afternoon and the Crawford block
which included Monitt's furniture store
the Union Pacific tea store and rooms
occupied by tenants, is wreck The
loss is about $4,000.
The insurance approximately is as fol-
lows.
Crawford opera house. 600
Dfoffitt's furniture store. $500
Union Pacific tea stock.--...--... $500
Total ..... ................ss SIS. 600
An explosion Of natural gas at 1925
this morning wrecked the interior Of the
Crawford theater at 612-614 Kansas ave
nue. and the fire which followed destroy
ed the building, entailing a loss of up
wards Of $4,000
The theater was only partially covered
b. insurance Two stocks carried in
stores beneath the theater added to the
losses incurred by the fire The Moffitt
Furniture company which occupied the
number at 612 Kansas avenue with
stock OF furniture and the Grand Union
Tea company at 614 Kansas avenue are
heavy losers. Mr.. Frank Smith, a mem
Der of the MOffitt Furniture company,
said that his firm carried a stock Of
S25. 900 with insurance of about $500,
C. n. Meachem, manager OF the Grand
Union Tea store. places the valde Of
his stock at $4,000 with amount Of in
suTance unknown. Both Of these stocks
are almost total loss
The explosion took place in the base
ment of the theater- All the adjoining
buildings trembled from the force of the
explosion. but the greater part Of the
force seemed to be backward toward the
alley and the windows and plate
glass fronts were shaken but unbroken
with the exception Of the nog11 part OF
the building where the glass was thrown
down inward into the building
Within less than one minute the fire
had followed the detOnatiOn and was
eating its way to the entrance of the
building. on the edge Of the steps on the
main passage way to the parquet. Dense
smoke filed every recess of the building
as well as the adjoining rooms
Calls Out All Fireinen-
An alarm Of fire was turned in at
1890 shortly followed by a general
alarm which brought out every COM
pany in the city The big steamer was
set 10 working at Sixth and Kansas
avenues. The companies from num-
Der station. which is just around the
corner were the first on the scene,
quickly followed by stations number
3. and l. An attempt was made to
fight the fire from the front of the
building first. but this was given over
and most of the attention was devoted
TO the rear and the north sides which
were nearest the scene Of the fire.
Three lines of hose and a chemical
line were run to the rear and eight
more to the front part of the build
ing following the concentration of the
fight on the rear of the building. The
aerial truck was used to scale the
front of the building.
1t was not until II o'clock that the
fire department seemed to have the
fire under control The character of
the building with its many rooms and
crannies made fire fighting extremely
difficult. The smoke was intense and
Lewis Knott Of truck company num-
Der 9, was overcome by smoke and
nearly suffocated. He was brought
down stairs by Policeman Charles
Smith and revived after several min
utes-
The explosion occurred at 1925 this
morning and the fire seemed to bulge
out the whole Of the front Of the
buildings The origin of the explosion
could not be at first located and oc-
cupants of the buildings adjacent to
the scene of the fire were at a loss to
account for what had happened. Sew
eral y7luahle minutes were lost in the
failure to turn IN an alarm of fire and
not until Roy Crawford rushed into the
entrance of the theater and came run
ming out ceiling fire were the people
who had gathered in front Of the
building aware Of what had taken
place. The only occupants of the
building at the time were roomers who
occupied number Of rooms in the
q 2nt part Of the theater, members OF
The Armin stock company, who were
Fehearsing their Ines preparatory ia