The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1909-09-14
IRE. caused by crossed wires in
the battery room of the Western
" IIrninr, tn1nnrnr,l,

IRE, caused by crossed wires in
the battery room of the Western
Union telegraph office, last night
completely put out of commission the
wires and telegraph service in the
downtown office of the company and
damaged the p. H. Smith block and
the property of the telegraph COM
pany and the Theatorium to the ex.
tent of several hundred dollars For
tunately the fire, which originated in
the basement of the building where
the battery room is located, was prac-
tically confined to that floor of the
building and the damage to property
on the first and second floors was
caused entirely by smoke and little
water. The firemen were exceedingly
prompt in answering the alarm and
efficient in their work against the
flames, keeping the blaze in the
basement where it originated.
The fire was first noticed by Harold
McAusland, an employe of the Theato-
rum. McAusland, who plays the
drums at the moving picture house,
noticed traces of smoke in the room
as the last film of the program was
being run shortly before 10 o'clock,
and at once told Manager Bailey of it.
In speaking of the fire, Mr.. Bailey
said:
Il also noticed the smoke as soon
as the boy mentioned it and went to
the rear of the building to see if any
thing was wrong. The telegraph Of
flee adjoins the room 1 occupy and
just as reached the back door, the
fire, which was in the basement of the
telegraph office seemed to burst into
flames.
81 at once ran to the Mutual tele-
phone office and turned in an alarm,
then I came back to my place and
had the operator stop the moving
picture machine. We announced that
the program would have to be dis
continued as the machine had brok-
en- down, and the dozen or more peo-
pie who were in the room quietly
walked out. BY that time the alarm
had been sounded and the place was
rapidly filling with smoke. / went to
the back of the building and found
the flames shooting up several feet
dUONS taO tOp VI GuO Ud0OLuOlL
The blaze proved to be an exceed
ingly difficult one for the firemen to
fight and it was not untily after an
hour of hard work that the last spark
was extinguished. Guests of the Ell
Niblo, the rooming house located on
the second floor of the building,
rushed panic stricken to the street,
some of them making their departure
from the building in rather negligee
costume. Bystanders helped to re-
move trunks and clothing from the
hotel building and until it was appar-
ent that the fire was entirely in the
basement of the building there was
lively scramble to get furniture and
bedding out of the hotel.
The smoke, which had completely
filled the basement of the building
before it broke out, poured from
basement windows in volumes and re-
suited in the sounding of second
general alarm to call out all the vol
unteer firemen.
The flames broke through the first
floor of the building in two places;
the rear end of the telegraph office,
which was scorched, and in through
the sidewall of the Theatorium. The
interior of the battery room of the
telegraph office was thoroughly
burned and it was necessary to food
the basement under both the tele-
graph office and the Theatorium with
about two feet of water. Neither the
Stockwell employment office and store
nor the Purcell grocery were dam
aged, except from smoke and the
small volume of water which seeped
through the stone partition walls.
The telegraph company, who sus-
tanned the severest damage by the
fire, estimates its loss at about $500.
Nothing was stored in the basement
under the moving picture house, and