The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1912-01-09

cult. and number OF applications
from other cities TO draw from.
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Cedar and Pine streots are mere alley
WAYS. through which two wagons can
rot pass each other IL was in these
Icanyons walled I'm on all sides by
mammoth skyscnlpers, that the fire.
men had to fight the fearful blaze that
blistered their faces i'm the narrow
confines in which they had to work.
Fire towers could hardly he raised in
the narrow pnssageways that are call
Cd streets and the fremen were COM
PEELED to approach within twenty feet
OF the flames II they entered any OF
the three streets Nround the building
Instances OF individual heroism palcd
| into insignihcance IN comp5 rlson with
the general conduct of the entire de-
partment. Though mammoth blocks
&C granite and mable fell constantly
about them, hremen plunged into the
maelstrom OF flames without a word.
AS the water left the hose It froze.
the fremen soon were encased In ice.
Their suffering was frightful.
Beginning at 500 the fire was be-
yond control and at o'clock Fire
Chief Kenlon called out all available
appartus from downtown Manhattan.
At o'clock fire apparatus was hastily
summoned from Brooklyn. while at 0
o'clock Kenlon for the first time in
the history OF New York, sounded a
'fve borough" alarm, calling to the
/ scene every piece of fire apparatus in
the five boroughs comprising New Yorl;
CITY. I.. ,.t
There were more than q billion dol-
lars worth of property endangered by
the flames at that hour. A high wind
was sweeping across from the west,
picking up great blocks OF burning
and charred wood and hu-ling them in
overv direction. Flrcmen were scat
tered throughout the entire financial:
districts, with the fire hose belonging
to each building. ready 20 quc'l from
the start any fire started by nying
fire brand. Moro than 5O000O office
men are employed in the buildings in
tho immediate vicinity OF the Equio9ble
Life building, in the hn9ncial district.
The body OF Conrad seibor was re-
covered at 9:i5,
1 W AtAl III NlAt NAlt LlhlilAlrs AiAt Huu-
way, surface ana q evaJed lines began
disgorglng their huge army in the vic
Unity Of the hrc II became necessary
20 call out the police reserves from ull
the downtown districts and tighten the
police lines to the point of mllitcry
severity.
The most thrilling rescue ever seen
az New York fire was that OF VIII
liam Giblin, president OF the Morcan-
tile Safe Deposit company. in the
Equitable bulding.
Giblin. driven out of the building
twice by firemen, returned the third
time to secue some OF the priceless pa
pers in his private desk. His egress
was cut off by the flames, With two
companions. whose names We're not
Learned up TO 9;15 he retreated into an
empty safe deposit vault. closing the
door, but calling 10 the firemen
through the grating.
Though tons OF debris We're falling
about them, and great flames licking
obout them. hundred volunteer fire.
men answered a call for volunteers
, for dangerous duty, seized axes and
crowbars and fought their way TO the
vaults smashing like madmen at the
grating 10 save the three men.
Their companions played water into
the vaults, submerging the imprisoned
men, and covering the rescuers with
sheets Of ice to keep them from burn
ing to death. For hours, cheered by a
hundred thousand men from n safe
distance, these heroes worked. Finally
the floors fell and Giblin, a little man
physically and badly burned, dragged
his unconscious or dead companions
into the main flocr, where "a few mo-
ments later, amid wild cheering. the
brave fremen fought their way and
dragged Giblin, dying, TO the street.
At that hour they had been unable to
find his companions and Fire Chief
l<enlon was considering calling the
heroes out Of the building, for the
danger Yves too great.
Gihlin was rushed to the Hudson
Street hospital where physicians said
he would die OF shock ana exposure.
AZ $3.50 it was discovered that Fire
Chief William X. Walsh, IN command
CT the second battalion. who was last
seen on the fourth floor of the burn
iNHr 'HiAttibg MNe iiiHSltlhs 1nAti AtH-
len ordered an immediate search for
him but no trace OF Walsh had been
found up TO $3.50 and It was feared
he was killed
AT $3.50 fire underwriters In the
vicinity Of the building declared tho
loss would range from S5,OO0,0O0 tt
S2O,OO0,0O0 or more, depending on tho
damage done to the vaults Of th'
banks and trust companies ana in
surance companies in the building. 4
was not known how many million dol
lars In actual money was stored In th'
vaults of the two big trust companies
but the intense heat to which the,
had been subjected made inuranc'
: men fear that the contents Nigh
, have been affected.
At 0;30 the New York clearing
! house association with offices In Pin'