Evening star., 1909-05-03
blow SCHOOL MENACED
Colored Tenants of Neighborhood
Haul Furniture Into Streets,
BLAZE SPREAD BY HIGH WIND
Damage Is About SIS, 5,OOO-Water
Pressure Inadequate-Feath
ers Fly.

| Famed by high winds, fire that start
ed in a small way I'm a row Of frame
dwellings, at Goth and Rosedale streets.
or old Seaton street northeast about /
o'clock this afternoon spread with great
rapidity and quickly enveloped the whole
row in roaring flames.
! In less than ten minutes after the first
outbreak of flames at least six houses
were ablaze. Colored people form a ma
jority of the dwellers in the structures
in the fire zone, principally two-story
dwellings.
locality were threatened. Great showers
" sparks were driven by the wind di-
rectly toward the Blow Public School
building.
the police turned in a second and later a
third alarm. summoning fire apparatus
from all parts of the District.
| The damage Is between $4,000 and $2O.-
0OO AS far as can be learned nobody
is injured. Practically the entire block
is destroyed.
! Dense volumes of smoke arose as the
conflagration spread. Police reserves
from the ninth and fifth precincts hur-
ried to the place.
Children and Matches.
! Nobody seems to know exactly how the
fire started. Some colored people who
lived in the row think that children play
| ing with matches in one of the middle
houses started all the trouble.
Rosedale street is in the middle Of
Iway north of the Jail. The southwest
wind had a fine time tanning the first lit
| tie fame into q tremendous fire.
4 The first alarm was sounded about
to'clock. In half an hour the fire was SO
hot that it could be felt two blocks away.
/ Everybody in the block got out safely,
1t is believed. Persons who had house.
hold effects had to run a close race with
the flames.
They dragged out every conceivable
variety OF furniture, from clocks to
! fea ther beds. So quick were the flames
| that some of the bedding was burning
as the people in the house dragged it
| out
There was many an accident to feather
beds. Now and then a bolster or pill
low would strike against rusty nail or
be dragged through broken window.
Feathers would fly, carried high by the
wind, so that mingled with the black
| smoke was snOwStorm.
The people in the burning houses did
not seem to mind the fire half as much
as the people on Gales street. about
| block north across the common. The
wind was carrying the fire toward them.
Furniture Over Landscape.
Bits of burning wood and redhot ashes
were dropping upon them at danger
Gus rate Nearly everybody on the Gales
street block became panic-stricken and
began to drag their furniture out of the
front doors. neglecting precautions. leav-
ing back windows open for sparks to
| enter.
This made Chief Wagner angry. 1t
was enough for him to have to battle
| with one very bad fire without having to
keep his eye on a perspective fire behind
his back.
By the time the Gales street people
had spread their furniture all over the
neighborhood 1t was almost impossible
to walk about the place without stepping
on It.
dale street were burning at a tremendous
rate. Chimneys were falling in and three
quarters of the block was SO hot that the
firemen could not fight 1t from the front.
companies sent their crews. The fire
| might have been cOmbatted little more
successfully If 1t had not been for a
| rather light water pressure.
Houses Are Flooded.
| In order to keep the flames from spread
| ing down the entire block the chief sent
| a crew of men into one of the houses
! at the eastern end Of the block and told
| them to simply fill the place with water
to check the advance Of the flames. Even
at that they had hard time, and the
entire seven companies had to concentrate
| in keeping back the fire.
| The houses originally belonged to Mr..
Grasty, 7th street furniture dealer.
| The fire was discovered by Walter
Simms of 2O39 Rosedale street, who saw
| flames coming from the window of No
2O37 Rosedale street. He turned in an
alarm from the nearest box.
| One of the men who tried to pull his
furniture out of the house was Addison
| Jackson, who works at the crematory
The fire was fast that all he saved was
a sewing machine, two chairs and sofa
Frederick Falbush and his wife at 2O31
| Rosedale street lost all they owned ex-
cept pension papers. They owned their
house and carried about $500 Insurance.