The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-04-14
BIC FIRE IN ROCHESTER Flames Uncomfortable
 in Gale. LOSS WILL BE HALF MILLION Militia Ordered Out to Police Burn
 ing District. One Girl Became yioIently Iusane From Fear and Was Takea To
 the state HespstaI for tho
 Insane.

gale. fire today destroyed several sec- tions of the city and did damage esti- mated at half a million dollars.
 For q time 1t was thought that q great portion of the city would be swept away and aid was summoned 1y and promptly the out of town ire. men with their appahatus responded. but ere they reached the scene the heroic work of the local department and of volunteers had got the flames under check and their assistance was not required. One hundred families tonight are homeless and militiamen are in the affected sections guarding what little the people saved of their
 Mayor Edgerton has issued a call for relief funds for these families. Some of them are auartered in precinct houses and a large number are spend- Ing the night in a public school A heavy rain set in at o'clock tonight. and while It helped In extinguishing the smouldering ruins. 1t was a hard- ship on the homeless and especially those whose household effects are in the open. Thieving. which started early in the day, has been stopped by the presence of the militia.
 Because of the numerous fires which Rochester has had lately the Board of Fire Underwriters has increased rates on all buildings except dwellings, 26 cents on every sf00. The increase went into effect at o'clock today.
 The Palmer building. a fonr-story brick structure devoted to mnnufactur- ing interests ct Main and Gibbs Street. was the starting point of the confiae- ration. which spread over wide area and then jumped nearly mile and started a second series of fires Of such proportions that aid was summoned from Buffalo and Syracuse. By the time the out-of-town hremen arrived, however. the local firemen were mas ters in both Ire areas.
 k Although accurate estfmetes cannot be made at this time. the loss is estt- mated at at least s5oo.ooo. This in- elpdes fee.p0e on the Paimer building. Ste0 COG sun the Hunting c6mpsny, nna1- ufactnrers of plripbsrs apppliAs. saas- 1o5 qss the beantifu1 Jewish tenpls. Berlin Kedessi wiii tss n fnsI1Hs and cd among faanafacttrers house owft- CTS and tenants.
 Buiidinss which were destroyed, in addition to about fifty residences. were the Palmer building, Temple Berith Kodesh. First Reformed Church of America. the Ward apartmehts ana the f3r4t German Lutheran Zion Church. |. The st Peters Presbyterian Church. the Palmer Lumber Yards and some aged.
 Several firemen were injured by fail- ing walls or were overcome by smoke. but none was seriously hurt.
 The origin of the fire. which start ed In the Palmer building. has not been determined. The spread of the flames, once they had gotten Q good start in at. Nz.R A..ta and there sparks. carried byl the swift wind kindled new fires. Residents be- came panic stricken. Apparently ali reason was lost and there was but one thought--the city was doomed. Some of the women threw from the window of houses not yet burning. beds. bu- reeus. tables and all sorts of articles of furniture and personal property. In this way considerable property was neediessiy destroyed. The fires broke out so frequently in the northeastefn part of the city that compsnies could not be despatched to all of them, but volunteer brigades helped in keeping down the fire loss.
 From the Palmer ire the sparks car fied a mile and set the First Reformed Church of America ablaze. completely paid to the new fire at first but soon alarms sounded from half a dozen boxes in the same vicinity. Jets of fire were beginning to appear on build inkB scattered over A wide area. The Reformed Church fire, aided by the wind, helped to spread the destruction. The entire district rapidly became a scene, of confusion and calls for addi. tlonal aid were sent in. Chief Little then sent three companies away from the main fire.
 Recognizing the seriousness of the situation, Chief Little held confer- ence with the fire underwriters. and it was decided to appeal to Buffalo and Syracuse for aid. The Chatham, Mas sau and Kelley Street section is in the Jewish district of the city. This is the last day of the feast of the passover and many of the Polish Hebrews. see- ing the pail of smoke and the fire fali- ing on all sides, interpreted the situa- ton as the outward, visible sign of the second coming of the Messiah. Men, women and children tore their hair and knelt ffi the street to pray. Their shouts were terrifying. One woman, Mary Rirschnamsky went violently in- sane.
 Draymen reaped a harvest. large number Of rigs of every description in- vaded the district and offered for $5, $10, or more, to remove goods to places of safety. Any amount asked was giv- en Dy the nal1 CraEe0 HoilSn JeWS, ana they stored as many of their goods as possible on the wagons, never knowing even their destination.
 From house to house, through street after street the fires leaped along. burning buildings on Chatham. Nas- sau, Kelly, Baden, Oregon and Harri- son Streets. and Hudson Avenue until the stand by the firemen at Kelly Street was successful in stopping them. The total number of houses destroyed is about fifty, in addition to which sev- era1 times as many more have been damaged. Tonight Rochester Is ter ror- stricken. Today's confiagration was the continuation of an uninter- rupted seties of Ares of weeks. many of which have been charged to incen- diarism. Added to this natural fear is the fact that although both Of today's fires have been under control since 3 o'clock this afternoon the flames are stiir smouldering in dozens of places. The wind Is increasing fin velocity and a close watch Is being kept in those districts which are in It's path.
 Bremen and police, reserve force and all, will do all night duty. augmented by the three companies of local mih- tia.
 Maehlna shops Burned.
 Hone Valley R. L. April iSy--Firo to-