Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1910-08-15
BELGIAN WHITE CITY
PREY 1O FLAMES
FIRE DESTROYS PORTION OF
WORLDS EXPOSITION AT
BRUSSELS.
HUNDRED THOUSAND PEOPLE
FIGHT WAY TO SAFETY
Belgian and British Sections Destroyed
and Many Valuable Treasures Are
Lost-American Section Escapes
With Slight Damase-Loss Will Be
Many Million Francs.

Brussels, Aug. 15.-1t Is impossible
at present to estimate closely the losses
In the fire which last night swept thru
the Belgian exposition, wipinS out
whole sections of the fairy-like archi-
lecture and causing a loss Of two lives,
but the damage will run into millions
Of francs. The losses however, Will
not be so great as at first believed.
when they were roughly estimated at
$100.000,O00.
The entire Belgian and British sec
tions: the whole Kermesse Of Brussels.
with water chutes, toboggan slides and
other special entertainments, and
everything west of the avenue Des Ma
tions, were destroyed, but by the heroic
work Of f1remen and troops and the
use Of dynamite in blowing up buidl-
ings in the path Of the flames, the fire
was checked
American Loss is Small.
The British loss alone is estimated
at 100000. Practically everything in
the American. Danish. Russian. Nor
wegian, Austrian. Japanese. Turkish
and Swiss sections was saved. Only
the facades of the italian and Spanish
sections and about one-third of the
the entire French section, the latter
containing a valuable art collection.
were burned.
Art Treasures Saved.
Fortunately the most priceless art
treasures, which had been loaned to
the exposition or acquired by 1t, in
Guiding 5000 valuable bobelin tapes
tries, large 5exhibition of tewelry.
many paintings marbles and ancient
furniture, were removed beyond the
reach Of the flames and OF the pillag-
ing criminals who attempted to take
advantage Of sthef disaster.
The reproduction of the house of
Rubens> at Antwerp, containing mas
terpieces ofsFIemish art of the Rubens
period collected. from the. galleries OF
the world. was not even 'scorched by
the flames.
Flames Spread Rapidly.
In the Belgian and British sections
flames spread with such extraordinary
rapidly that nothing was saved ex-
eept the PLAN of the coming interna-
tional expedition at Turin. Italy in
1911. A strong gale carried. the con-
f1agration thru the ,kermesse,. with it's
Sunday crowd OF nearly 100000 at the
time of the outbreak. with such speed
that 1t is considered a miracle the
panicstricken masses were gotten out
with a loss no greater than two killed
and thirty injured.
British Loss Heavy.
The British loss is very heavy. 1t
includes the Tudor panelings from the
Toronto museum, costly Morlaix tap
estries and priceless furniture from the
collections of Bernard More. on which
he refused to set any price. They were
insured for 100000. Most OF the goods
in the French dressmakers' exposition,
insured for millions, were saved.
A few of the wild beasts in the
menagerfe which escaped suffocation in
the flames which drove back soldiers
and attendants endeavoring to put
them out of their misery. were shot
down by troops who found them cow
ar;ns.in fright in various parts Of the
grounds.
Hiah Wind Fans Flames.
The fire originated while there was
the usual large Sunday crowd outside
the Belgian building to look at the
fireworks It seems the electric wires
leading into the temporary postoff1ce
in the Belgian section became short
circuited and within few minutes the
office was a mass Of flames. This was
about o'clock last evening.
A few minutes after the fire was dis
covered the blaze was running f1ercely
along the facade, whichis the most
striking feature of this section. The
facade was made of substances which
were much more unsubstantial than
those usually used in such construction.
AS a result the building soon was de-
stroyed
The weather had been warm and
sunny of late and. as consequence
the material in the building was ex-
ceedingly dry. This caused the fire to
burn with great ferceness. FanTed
by strong wind, the flames rapidly
leaped from one building to another.
The Girmesse, representation of an
old fair in Brussels, was quickly ablaze.
This was a sort of Belgian Coney Is
land with water chutes, toboggan
slides, and scores of sideshows. This
place was alive with Sunday scowds,
and before they could be gotten out
with any semblance of order the Kir-
messe was af1re.
Men Fight MadIy in Panic.
The crowds became panic stricken,
and men, women and children fought
madly to escape. The exits became
choked with the struggling masses, and
men used their fists to clear the path
way. Many were trampled under feet
and badly injured.
When the crowd watching the fire.
works learned Of the fire they rushed
to the scene, blocking the way and
hindering the firemen at their work. 1t
is doubtful, however, considering the
infiamma BILE material, whether the fire.
men could have checked the progress OF
the fire.
The whole facade Of the Kirmesse
soon was a heap Of glowing ruins and
the entire Belgian section was in
@velvad
!. Then tho wind drove torrent OF