The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-09-15
DANGER FROM
BROKEN PLUG
Delay in Getting Water Nearly
Causes Serious Loss by
Fire.

The breaking of fire plug at the
corner of Kawaiahao lane and King
street yesterday morning when the fire.
men sought to turn on the water to ex-
tinguish a blaze that had burst out in
a small shack near the corner of King
and South streets, caused delay that,
had it not been for extraordinary good
luck, the lack Of any wind, and the
strenuous exertions of the fire laddies,
might have resulted in serious con
fagration and the possible loss of life.
An alarm was turned in from the
corner of King and Alapai streets about
ten O'Clock The fire department made
a good run, and in few minutes had
several lines of hose laid and the noz,
zles pointed toward the fercely blazing
building. But the hose laid fat and
lifeless on the ground. There was no
| water. Firemen and policemen ran
frantically about yelling, "Water, water
why in blazes doesn It that water
Gomez" but there was nothing doing
1t was over ten minutes before a stream
could be directed against the flames. 1t
was learned later that when the fire.
men attempted to turn the water on
the spindle of the oldfashioned freplug
broke, and it was impossible to do any
thing with it. 1t was necessary to
carry the hose to the next plug some
distance up the street.
The shack which was afre was only
a small one and did not amount to much.
But it stood next to and almost up
against the Langton block-the long
tenement house, the lower floor of which
is used chiefly for shops and the upper
| floor for living rooms by a large num-
Der of Hawaiian families. 1t is won
| der that this building did not 60, as it
| is of wood, dry as finder, and there
| was nothing to protect it for ten or
| fifteen minutes but the little stream
| from a chemical engine. The walls
were smoking and in spots blazing be-
| fore water came, and the Hawaiian and
| japanese inhabitants were running
about distractedly, bundling their small
| possessions out of windows and over
| the upper veranda into the street.
| number of the women and children
| were wailing and shrieking as if they
were actually being burned alive. Two
| firemen were on the blazing roof of the
small building doing everything in their
| power to prevent the flames extending
| to the Langton block. 1t was only a
| question of minutes before the Waikiki
| end of the latter would have been a
| roaring furnace, when finally the water
| came and the flames were quickly
i brought under subsection. The build
| ing in which the fire started was de-
| stroyed, but little damage was done to
| the adjoining structure beyond the
| breaking of windows and the blistering
| of the walls
The fire caused the shutting off of all
| telephone communication with the
| Kaimuki. Waikiki and Manoa districts
| of the city because of the fact that
fifty feet of the 200-wire cable, which
| runs along the front of the burned
| building, was destroyed. The telephone
| company Immediately put a force OF
men at work, promising to keep them
| on the job until connection is once
more established, which is expected to
| be some time this morning.
The total damage done by the fire
aside from the injury to the telephone
system, is estimated at not to exceed
$500
The origin of the fire is unknown,
though il is suspected that the blaze
was started by a cigarette stubb thrown
into a pile of shavings in the small
! building, which was occupied by a
| japanese painter and paperhanger. He
| was not in when the fire was first dis
| covered by woman passing along the
| street.