The Washington herald., 1908-07-13
Did Not Believe Children'S
Alarm Of Fire.
BLAZE ARoUsEs NEIGHBoRHOOD
sunday Morning Slumbers Disturbed
by smoke and Frightened Horses i'm
at 324 II Street SouthweSt-BuiId-
inEs Destroyed; Animals saved.


tis. aged five and six years respectively /
climbed from their beds and went out
into the alley in front Of their home. 1t
was about $40 o'clock yesterday morn !
Ing. and. with the exception OF tho two
children. no one was awake. or. at least /
the alley was deserted The night before
everybody had joined in the usual satur-
day night revelry made possible by the
weekly pay envelope.
The Two children played for little
while in front Of their home. and then
wandered down the alley. where they
found a barrel containing ashes. such as
delight all chlldren's hearts Pedro
climbed into the barrel and threw out the
| ashes to his sister who gathered them
in her outheld petticoat
Suddenly. as Pedro's head appeared
above the edge Of the ash barrel. an eN-
preston Of wonder came to his face. and
he pointed down the alley Francesca
looked, and saw smoke coming from be
meath the edges Of the tin roof on a large
stable She dropped the ashes, and Pedro
climbed out OF the barrel They ran
home and tried 20 awaken their father
and mother, but both parents, tired and
glad Of the opportunity to enjoy sun
day mornings sleep. paid no attention to
/ the children, and told them 10 go away
Running out into the alley again the
| boy and the girl saw more smoke arising
/ from the roof Of the stable. With wide
open mouths and wondering eyes, they
watched.
Twenty Horses Scent Danger.
While the fire IN the loft above rapidly
gained headway. twenty horses in the
stalls on the ground floor began TO grow
restiye and paved the ioor Of their stalls.
/ as the smoke came through an opening In
/ the floor above them.
Across the alley from the stable Aman-
da Henry. an old colored woman. lay
asleep i'm her bed. which was against the
wall nearest the burning stable. Without
knowing Wy. she suddenly awakened
and put her hand against the wall, which
felt warm.
Tom. Tom. wake up here; dere's some
/ ting wrOn-'
Her husband got out Of bed and went
TO the window
/ Dairy stable aHre." he yelled; and as
he went down the steps in his night
/ clothes. called over his shoulder. 'TWen-
/ ty horses in dat stable
In less than "a minute he had five or
six men trying 10 get into the stable.
Running around the corner of the alley,
where "A number Of men were sitting be-
meath a large sign. &C. Thompson-Sharon
Dairy" he called. 'Yo stables aiirc.
"Old Tom" as ne is known among the
Stablemon and wagon drivers, opened the
doors OF the stable with tho keys. OF
T4- d.. ra1. md f. felr
began 10 save the horses. As the mon
ran into the burning building. "a cloud -
black smoke blew IN their faces. bringing
tears TO their eyes and almost binding
/ them. But they. went ou through
10 the rear OF the stable 10 set
free the most endangered animals first.
Two horses had broken loose and were
running about maddeLed with fear. Dodg-
ing these. the men united the other eight
con, and one by one led all from the
stable BY this time the heat had broken
the glass window panes I'm the loft and
smoke and flames curled out and upward
in great volume.
Work to Save Contents.
Some one had the presence Of mind
10 turn I'm an alarm while the work Of
saving the horses was going on. and
nothing now remained to do save 20 take
out the Office furniture while waiting for
the fremen. Leaving the stable 10 its
fate. the men ran around to the Office at
324 street southwest, next 70 which is
the wagon entrance TO the stables Mix
cans and bottles. chairs. desks. anything
OF value and some things of no value that
could be moved were carried into the
street
While this work was I'm progress. a
man came running downstairs and said
the fire had leaped from the stable in
the rear TO the second story Of the Office
building. on the second floor was a safe
with thousands of dollars in Il.
Down the street the clang of fire-engine
bells was ieard. and in a moment the
hose carriage came around the corner OF
Four-and-a- half street. the driver urging
his horses to full speed. knowing the
possibility Of grave danger from a fire in
a neighborLood Of old structures. within
three or four blocks Of the United States
Capitol, and not much farther from Penn
: sylvania avenue.
Deputy Chief Wagner, who was in COM
, mand in the absence OF Chief Belt, who
is on vacation. arrived and made a hur-
ried investigation. Four minutes after he
jumped from his carriage and ran into
the burning building, a second alarm was
turned in
A crowd Of more than a thousand per
} sons, 3stly negroes and Italians. had
q gathered in the street and the network OF
! alleys surrounding the burning buildings
Z Lieut. Hollinburger. In command OF
police reserves from the First, Fourth
= and Fifth precincts, arrived shorty after
the fire chief and began the work OF
: clearing the streets of spectators, who So.
riously impeded the fre-fghters In thelI
\ work
Ammonia Tank In Danger.
Chief Wagner, on learning a large tank
OF ammonia in the ice plant was bcing
approached by the flames, ordered that
every effort should be made TO keep the
hre away from the tank. Streams were
played on nearby structures to keep the
fire from spreading, but the principal OBJ
ject was to keep the ammonia tank COO
with water, which was thrown on and
around it in tons.
II From the roof Of the Office building
4 Chief Wagner directed his men. Three
quarters of an hour after they arrived
the fremen had the blaze under control
4 which, Chief Wagner said. was remark
able. considering the difficulties encoun-
tered and the dangers attending a mis-
II take.
II It's a good thing I sent out that sec
A Ond ALARM he said. with satisfied
H smile. when he saw the fire was under
II control.
II There are FIVE alleys crisscrossing. thu
II block bounded by b, G, Third. and Four
II and-a-half streets. The burned stable Il
Il a hub for these alleys. and is In the mid
II die OF the block. Hundreds Of Italians
II Greeks, and negroes live in the alleys
III AAhnr1 H.. rrrl.r frnrr fhni