Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-07-09
FLAMES EAT MILLIONS
Two Large Hotels Burned at
Coney Island.
QUARTER OF MILLION LOSS
Boston Confagration Destroys Piers
and Warehouses.
TWO DIE IN GOTHAM FIRE
$780, 900 Blaze at College Point, L.
1.-Panic in orphanage-Three
Lives Lost.
QUARTER OF MILLION LOSS
TWO DIE IN GOTHAM FIRE

NEW YORK. July 9.-Fire which caused
. loss OF quarter of a million dollars at
Coney Island early today destroyed two
large hotels and for time threatened the
destruction of Luna Park. Dreamland
and Steeplechase Park.
Fire Chief Lally of Brooklyn made
flying trip from his headquarters in an
automobile, covering nearly ten miles in
twelve minutes. He arrived as the flames
leaped over to the tower of the Culver
line station of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit
system. and ordered into service the new
high-pressure system, using saltwater
mains. The system worked perfectly and
greatly aided in checking the flames that
were famed by q strong east wind.
Water was thrown on nearby buildings,
and Dreamland and Luna Park were del
uged to prevent further spread of the
flames.
The flre was under control In two hours,
and big force Of police was guarding
( the ruins from looters Twenty-Five
thousand persons watched the IRE rapidly
devour the frame structures and saw
many guests In scanty attire leap from
hotel windows.
Mrs. Lillian Hennigs was overcome by
smoke in Vanderveer's Hotel, and was
rescued with difficulty by policeman.
The fire started In Pabst's Loop Hotel.
which was totally destroyed. Mrs. Frank
Clayton. wife of the proprietor. left dia-
monds valued at several thousand dollars
In her apartment as she rushed from the
burning building and men wers late,
gems.
There were about 100 guests and en-
ployes In the Pabst, all of whom escaped
in safety. while forty guests at Wander
with the exception Of Mrs Hennigs, whom
the police rescued.
After the nremen had been hard at
work for nearly an hour a sudden veering
Island was saved from what threatened
to be one Of it's worst fires According to
the manager of Pabst's Loop Hotel, the
loss on that structure is 100000. and
Vanderveer's loss Is fixed at $5OOOO. The
damage on the Culver station was not
heavy.
BOSTON. Mass. July GA fire. believed
TO have been caused by spontaneous COM
bustion or a locomotive spark. and famed
by brisk northwest wind. swept nearly
a quarter mile of the harbor front of East
Boston late yesterday, causing a prop
erty loss estimated at nearly Il SOC, OOO
Much of the loss falls upon the Boston
and Albany railroad.
Two persons were reported missing. and
it is thought that both persisted in the
flames. One of them was Daniel Sulli-
wan. a Waterman at the Cunard Line
pier. and the other was Miss Sadie
Arnold, a clerk employed by the Cunard
Steamship Company.
1t was the biggest and most destructive
fire that has broken out along the harbor
front for many years. The flames spread
with remarkable rapidity. and by the
time the first f1re-fghting apparatus ar
rived on the scene they were beyond con-
tr M,, and , lea from pier to pier
was discovered four piers, three ware
houses. grain elevator containing $4,000
bushels of grain and many loaded freight
cars had been destroyed.
Several vessels and lighters narrowly
escaped destruction.
The burned area includes piers Nos
! and z of the Grand Junction docks and
the pier on which stood the big grain ele-
vator. all owned by the Boston and AL
bany Railroad Company and used by the
steamers of the Cunard Line, and pier
No. g. owned by the Leyland Line. This
property extends along the water front
Wharf Company. which adjoins the East
Boston ferry slip of the Boston, Revere
Beach and Lynn railroad, commonly
known as the Narrow Gauge"
The piers destroyed were each about 500
feet long and from 200 to 800 feet wide
Piers Nos. 1. and were each covered
by a large warehouse. Between piers z
and was the pier upon which the ele-
vator stood. The fire started in the ware
house of pier No. /, Grand junction docks
The Boston and Albany railroad. New
York Central and Hudson River railroad,
lessees. are the greatest losers. 1t is es-
timated that the railroads loss is 81 600
600. covered by blanket insurance. The
loss of freight and grain burned is placed
at fully $4OOOO0. Practically all OF the