Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-12-08
High Pressure Under Supreme
Test in New York.
FIFTH ALARM NOT NEEDED
49,, 900 Gallons an Hour Poured
Over Raging Blaze.
LOSS IS KEPT AT A MINIMUM
Neighboring Buildings Saved From
Fire, But F1ooded-Chief
Croker Elated by Results.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK. December S.-A supreme
test was successfully met by the high
pressure water system this morning. The
situation was handled with only half the
pumps working, too.
There was a fire in the seven-story
building at 152-154 Franklin street. So
fiercely did 1t lay hold of the structure
at the outset that the firemen were sure
fifth alarm would have been necessary
under the old system In order to gel
engines enough to pump a sufficient guam.
tity OF water.
The fire was handled without engines
A second alarm complement turned out
but the engines were sent home.
In their stead fifteen lines. attached tc
three pumps. half Of the number which
supply the district, sent into the inferno
of flame 1900 gallons Of water minute
or 432, 600 gallons an hour. In addition
to this the flames were kept from get
ting into two tall whisky houses thanking
the building at the east and the west
1t was the biggest fire New York had
seen in many moons. And the way the
high pressure flooded the bed of fire made
the heart Of Chief Croker glad.
Few Five-Alarm Fires.
The fire was devoid Of much pictur-
esqueness which would have obtained
had It been an old-style fifth alarm.
There haven't been many fifth-alarm
fires. comparatively speaking. The fire
in the Parker building on 4th avenue.
where three firemen persisted. was about
the last OF the fifth-alarm affairs.
It meant the turning out of score OF
engines and the moving of many other
engines to cover the points left uncovered
by those companies which had gone to the
fire. 1t meant that for blocks around
there were throbbing. spark-spouting ma
chimes with polished nickel stacks. and
that the roadways were webbed with hose
which often burst, sending geysers into
the air.
The fire of this morning was in a build.
ing occupied by the Western Union Teie.
graph Company. In 1t were stored al
the paper supplies for the various offices
Night Waterman Thomas Townsend
just before the discovery of the fire, heard
He ran to the east side of the building
where there are elevators. Looking
down one, he found 1t all aglow with
flames creeping up the sides.
Flames Gain Quickly.
a block away are the quarters of engine
II. The firemen reached the burning
building on the jump. So fast had the
flames spread that the corrugated iror
shutters protecting the ground floor win
dows were red hot.
A second alarm was turned In then
Croker whizzed down town.
It Is hazardous district to keep the
flames within bounds. The hremen
fought It from all quarters. Front and
rear, north and south strong forces OF
men were posted. A detachment of men
took lines Of hose In through the rear OF
Moore street. and mounted to the roof.
A water tower attacked the fire from
in front, training its battery Of five lines
into the heart of the furnace. The
streams that poured forth from the fif-
teen lines Of hose were as solid as iron
bars. After the first hour the pressure
was increased to 1900 gallons a minute.
The fire loss will amount to fully $110,
600. It would have been much greater
under the old system. The water loss
will be enormous in adjoining buildings.
Chief Croker Elated.
When Croker saw how the high-pres-
sure system worked he sent the engines
back to quarters.
IF It HAD not been for the high pres
sure the building would have been razee
long since,' said the chief in elation.
A cable Office on the ground floor Of the
building was burned out and a large stock
Of pads. telegraph supplies and paper
consumed.
At $50 o'clock, five hours after the
first alarm. the flremen were still pump.
ing 1900 gallons of water a minute into
the wreck Of the building. Floods II
cellars Of adjoining buildings still rose
Employees of the paper warehouse had
organised a bucket brigade and were do
ing their best to bail the cellar out.
The blaze was being drowned out stead.
lily. The chief would not allow any OF
his men to enter the building, and said II
would be many hours before any OF them
could do so.
The fire was practically over at 1C
o'clock, at whk'h time Chief Croker esti-
mated the damages at from $4,000 to
500 600