Omaha daily bee., 1912-02-22
Hundreds Of Houses ana Many Fac
tories in Houston, Tex, Are
Destroyed by Fire.
LARGE AREA IS BURNED OVER
All Structures on twenty-five
Squares Are Gone.
FLAMES ARE CHECKED AT BAYOU
Firemen Succeed in Keeping Fire
from. Main City.
CONGRESSES AND WAREHOUSES
Forty-Five Thousand Bales OF Cot
ton, worth Two Million Dollars,
Arc Gone-Number Of Per-
sons Are Injured.

HOUSTON. Tex. Feb. 2l-Impelled by 9
gale that swept in with one of the coides
northers Of the winter. flames swep
through the eastern section Of Houston
early today. wiped out twenty-five block'
Of the city and caused a loss set at from
s6.0Oo,0oo TO sl00ooOOo
Scores of cottages were destroyed, a,
well as a number of big manufacturing
plants and thousands of persons wer,
made homeless.
The greater part Of the loss is con
fined to the lumber and cotton industries
Forty-fiSe thousand bales Of cotton stored
In warehouses and congresses wer,
burned. This item alone represents a los,
Of s2,c0ooOo.
The fire started in a cottage near tho
Southern Pacific railroad tracks soor
after midnight. Its origin has not beer
definitely established. A heavy wind
picked up the flames and hurled them tC
nearby cottages and boarding houses. In
flash they ignited. spouting great col
umns of sparks. SEEKING these the forty,
mile gale carried them blocks away and
within half an hour after the fire broke
out, a great area Of small residences was
IN flames.
Fire Spreads to Factories.
The fire spread rapidly to manufacturing
plants that bordered on cottages and
boarding houses where hundreds OF work
lngmen lived. The fire spread SO rap
idly that firenen for the tins abandoned
attempts to check the flames. instead de-
voting their energies TO warning house.
holders. Possible loss OF life was thus
averted.
At the big manufacturing plants and
cotton congresses city firemen and vol
unteers had organized TO fight the on
rushing flames. Walls and roofs OF the
plants were water soaked. This water
was licked up in the flash OF an eye
by the advance guard OF sparks. and
when the great columns OF flames
reached the factories they succumbed as
essiig as the rows Of nuttagcs -
Flames Checkea at nnyeu.
An hour after the flames began their
advance. the firemen organized for a
final stand at Buffalo bayou. a small
stream that divides the eastern part OF
the city from the main section. and every
piece OF fire fighting apparatus was sta
toned along the bank Of this stream,
II the fire lesped the bayou, II meant
the destruction of the entire city.
As the advancing towers OF flame
began to HES toward the bayou banks,
hundreds OF streams OF water were
hurled Into them. checking, little by lit
tie. their progress. Al some OF the mar
rover portions Of the stream the flames
leaped across. but the more substantial
buildings they reached did not afford the
tnderlike fuel heretofore encountered.
and the spread Of the fire was prevented
Thousands of persons were driven from
their homes. In the cold OF the norther
they suffered slightly from exposure. Re-
lief work was at once set under way,
however, and food and clothing provided
for the refugees.
Many persons were hurt during the fire,
but so far as can be determined there
were no casualties.
Large Area swept Clean.
The burned area is at least mile and
half long and at points a quarter OF a
mile wide. 1t embraces the ashes OF long
rows of cottages and solid streets OF
manufacturing plants. II was swept
clean by the flames. Nothing was saved.
One of the first Of the more preten-
tious buildings attacked was the brick
star and Crescent hotel. Inmates had
been warned Of the oncoming flames and
all escaped without injury.
The flames roar gave warning Of their
coming, and hundreds OF persons. giving
no heed TO the chilling wind. dashed
from their homes clad only in their
night clothes as they heard II. Women
carrying babies; women at whose skirts
small chiludren chung. gathered in homes
Of nearby neighbors for refuge. only to
be driven out few minutes later by the
further progress Of the fire.
Homeless Are Cared For.
Firemen appointed leaders among the
men Of the flame-swept district. and
they, marshalling the refugees, led them
to the rear Of the flames and out OF dan
ger. Homes we're quickly provided for
the stricken people In other residence
sections Of the city. Clothing and food
was prepared by a relief committee and
there was comparatively little suffering
Among the mills, factories and plants
either totally destroyed or seriously dam
aged by the fire are the MeFadden South
ern Compress and Warehouse company.
Rogers Paint company, Hudson's Pencil
factory, Houston Packing company,
slightly damaged; I'D II. Farrell lumber
yards. Standard Compress company, the
Cooperative Manufacturing company.
Acme mill. 81. Patrick's Roman CATHOLIC
church and a school operated in eonJunc-
ton with the church.
Cleveland compress and cotton ware
house. McIihenney cotton pickery. Texas
Timers supply company. Industrial Rice
Milling company's plant Southwestern
Rice company's mill, Hoosier Vinegar
company's plant and a number Of lesser
mills we're also destroyed.
Besides the 500 bales Of cotton de-
stroyed with the STANDARD compress.
thIrty-xIx Southern Pacific cars loaded
with cotton bales were burned.
The number Of homes and stores burned
amounts to more than 20