New-York tribune., 1909-12-31
BIG EXPRESS FIRE
AMERICAN OFFICES
BURNED OUT.
Three Men Mjured-H
Million in Furs SaUed,
but Loss Is Heauy.

Fire late last night completely de-
stroyed the office building OF the Amer'-
can Express Company. which was once
the Church of the Heavenly Rest' at
47th street and Madison avenue, ana
burned part of the warehouse oil tne
building Shortly before > O'Clock IL
company. which adjoins the office build
ing The loss was estimated at nearly
S50O.OOO.
Three men were injured. Fireman
Philbin. of the East 5lst street engine
house. was knocked down by an ex-
nlcsion in the warehouse while chopping
his way through the door. He sustained
a scalp wound.
Two porters of the American Express
COMPANY were burned about the face
and hands while saving consignment
of furs in the warehouse. This Is the
most valuable consignment ever shipped
by the express company and is worth
100000. The porters were Peter Schil-
Ter and Michael Mcnamara. Both were
taken to Flower Hospital after they had
dragged the furs out of danger.
A man riding past the building in
Madison avenue car saw. flames In the
vestibule of the warehouse and turned
in an alarm. The strong north wind
whisked the fire from this vestibule to
the Office building. which Is next to the
warehouse. and separated by an alley
of about ten feet BY the time the fire.
men arrived on the first alarm the
flames had gained great headway in the
office building. and it was apparent that
it could not be saved A second alarm
was turned in Immediately.
1t was feared the fire would spread to
the New York Central baggage room,
Just behind the warehouse, and lines of
hose were stretched through the room,
completely tying up the work of ham
ding baggage. The fire was fought from
the baggage room, the firemen getting
In this way to the rear of the American
Express Companys warehouse, which is
one story building occupying more
than half a block of space The Adams
Express Company's building is next to
The Americans office building, to the
north. For time this was threatened
|. and firemen went TO work to save IT.
Several times the woodwork ST the win
dows caught fire.
There were about a hundred mon
working IN the rear of the big warehouse
When the fire, which is believed to have
been due to an explosion. started The
cause of the explosion is mystery.
1here was second explosion later.
which resulted in the injury Of Fireman
Philbin
The two porters who were injured
were in the gang working in the ware
house when the fire occurred. They
knew OF the valuable consignment of
furs and ran at once to drag them out
of the path of the fire. The flames
spread so rapidly that both men were
burned. although they managed to drag
the furs into corner of the building
furthest from the fire.
When the fire fighters reached the
scene they were at first hampered by
finding the fire plugs partly frozen The
streams that came from the nozzles We're
weak. and it was necessary for the fire
men to hold burning wood under several
of them before they got free flow.
The third rail of the New York Cen
trail Railroad was cut off from receiving
power, and the fremen had dozen lines
of hose stretched through the yards.
No trains were scheduled either to en-
ter or leave the yard at that hour
Several large piles of beated Christ
mas packages were piled up in one cor
ner of the warehouse annex. They were
delayed because of the Christmas rush
of shipping. All We're destroyed.
The guests of the Hotel Weston. near
by. were aroused and rushed to- the
street to witness the fire. Among them
was Mrs. Matthew Astor Wilkes. daueh-
ter of Mrs. Hetty Green Because of the
number of people who were on hand the
police had considerable difficulty in
maintaining the fire lines
The fire was well under control at .. ~
O'Clock this morning.