Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-01-24

any further assistance. He waited about
| the 9th street entrance to the building
| reasonable length of time, and fearing the
| occupants of the rooms were too sleepy to
have realized the seriousn ,ss of their posi-
| ton, h. hurried back to their apartments,
being accompanied by :5ergt. Lehman. The
sergeant took charge of the two men, Po-
| liceman Johnson looking after Mrs. Stiehl.
! By that time the building was well filled
| with smoke, and it was with considerable
difficulty that the policemen were able to
| make their way through the cnse smoke
and get the three persons to sidewalk.
Mrs. Stiehl was excited and hardly real
lied what was happening. When Sergt.
Lehman reached point near the door with
the two men he indicated to them the way
out and returned to assist Policeman john
son with Mrs. Stehl.
| II forgot my BIRDS" Mrs. Stiehl said
| when she had reached the sidewalk, land
| l must go back and get them. l cannot
| let my pets die"
Effort to Save Pets.
She persisted in her efforts to return to
| save her birds to the extent that made
! it necessary for the policeman to restrain
\ her. Finally she realized that it would be
| useless to attempt to return to her apart
| ments, and then went to the house of a
| neighbor, where she was made comfortable.
| At 419 9th street, the home of Mrs. Mar
garet Smith, the occupants were awakened
| and told of the danger. They got their
| effects ready to be taken from the building,
but Mrs Smith became so excited that she
| was hardly able to do much more than to
| care for herself She displayed more anx-
| iety about her sixty canary birds than she
| did about her welfare, and She succeeded
| in getting assistance to remove the birds
across the street to the home of friends.
| Several of the birds died from the effects
| of the cold, but none of them suffo-
| Gated. From the houses of neighbors of
! Mrs. Smith children were taken out into
! the cold and hurried across the street, the
| little ones scarcely realizing what was go
| ing on. Most of them remained at the
| homes of friends until long after daybreak,
when they were returned to their own resi-
1 dences.
More than 300 horses were taken from the
| livery stables on 9Th street, it being feared
that the firemen would be unable to prevent
the flames from spreading to those struc-
| lures. The animals were taken only a
short distance from the stables, however,
| and as soon as the flames were under con-
| troll they were returned
Shortly after the fire started it was real
| lied that the firemen had a hard task
ahead of them. and cans Of hot coffee and
boxes of sandwiches were provided.
| Descent of Burning Mass.
| While the rescue work was in progress
outside the Academy building the fremen
/ were doing the best they could to save the
| doomed structure and other buildings. No
IA engine company was first to reach the
| burning building, and its members lost no
time in going to the stage entrance on the
9th street side of the building and forcing
| an opening. A heavy stream of water was
| sent up into the flies above the scenery
| bringing down mass of burning material
| The descent of thes burning mass gave the
| firemen the impression that one of the
walls was about to fall and they fell back
| toward the door.
Hold it, Chief Wagner called, and they
| remained fighting the fire over the stage.
| 1t was only a short while before the fire
| made it's way through the roof and sent a
mass Of flames high into the air. Smoke
poured from all the windows of the build
| Ing and the light that was seen through
| the openings caused the belief that the
| whole interior would be consumed. There
was no certainty that the outer walls of
| the building would remain intact, and
| those who fought the fire feared the walls
| might fall and sacrifice human life. The
| several companies of firemen remained at
| their posts, however, effective work being
done by the water tower and lines of hose
| that were used from the tops of ladders of
| the trucks.
| Chief Wagner had the water tower take
| position on the 9th street side of the build
| ing, the several streams from the tops of
| the ladders on d street having the effect of
| second tower. Other streams were sent
| through the windows, Chief Wagner being
|
men.
Blaze Spreads to Roof.
few minutes after the firemen reached
| the building the blaze spread to the roof
| and the volume of water sent inside the
| structure had the effect of preventing the
| flames from going to the lower part of the
| building. Soon some of the heavy timbers
| supporting the roof fell into the auditorium
and from time to time other timbers fell
1 he Anf ryao oafi Ilr- x,oI
During the progress of the fire the bursting
| of the hose line of one of the engine COM
| panies caused heavy stream of water to
1 be thrown upon the spectators. After day
| break the crowd of spectators increased
and in a short while several thousand per-
| sons were viewing the ruins. The specta-
| tors were more interested in the ice-cov-
| cred vehicles of the fire department than
| they were in the building, it being imposs.-
| BILE to see much of the ruins without going
| over the slippery pavement or wading
| through the slush. On D street in front of
| the theater building stood No. l truck,
icicles hanging from the ladders and other
portions of the vehicle, while on the 9th
| street side of the building the water tower
presented an almost equally attractive
sight. Firemen were running from place to
| place their clothing being frozen and icicles
| hanging from their boards and coats. Ropes
were stretched by the police to keep back
| the spectators. Both street car lines We're
| interrupted for a short while and it was
necessary for the companies to do Some
! switching of their cars at transfer points in
| order to get the government clerks and
| others to their places of employment on
time.
Lost by Theatrical Company.
| A ii. Woods, owner, and A. ]. Pollock,
| manager of the Secrets of the Police
| company, were at the building short time
| after the fire was discovered, having been
| sent for by some of those who were among
| the early arrivals.
| None of us was hurt Mr.. Pollock said,
| but we have lost everything we had We
! have lost SIS, coo worth of property. and not
one cent of insurance was carried on it..
/ A French spot light worth $1,000 was de-
| stroyed.
| Mr.. Pollock reached the building in time
| to drag out a small quantity of scenery,
| but il was so badly damaged that it is
| useless.
| I'VE will show in the Holiday Street
Theater Baltimore, next Monday, the same
as il no fire had occurred" the theatrical
manager explained. Our carpenter. prop
| erty man and electrician have gone TO Phil
adelphia. and they will have the staging
| ready by Monday
| Albert McGovern, the leading man in the
| play. who is Baltmorean, lost practically
| everything he had He was at the fire, but
| his wearing apparel was not such as a