The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1919-10-31

IL.
that prevailed famed the FIRE with
fury that for two days swept al pc
fore it, until, in the words of Fred
erick Law Olmstead, 1t was pos
sible from the top OF an omnibus to
see men standing on the ground three
miles away, across what was once
the densest. Hottest and most SUD-
stsntial part of the city"
that the only fragment saved from
the large stock OF the Chlcaso view
company was charred Bible found
open at the first chapter 81 lhe
Lamentations of jeremiah, begin
ming: Glow doth the city sit soil
tary. that was full Of people! How
is she become a widow! +"@ She
weepeth sore in the night, ana her
tears are on her cheek.
Baltimore's conflasration.
The Baltimore fire of 1904 Is be-
lieyed to have developed from an un-
usual accident. The fire stated N
the basement of six-story wholesale
dry goods house where there was
stored a quantity of blankets apc
cotton goods. The basement ran out
under the street and partial nght
was secured by means of the faminat
patented glass sidewalk. in which u
lis said. some Of the bulls eyes
were missing. 1t is thought that
passerby cast away match or
cigarette end, which fell through an
opening and ignited the stock men
toned. Go
From this small beginning hre
started that continued for two GAYS,
devastating an area OF l4e acres
COMPRISING some eighty city plocAs
The confederation involved NANNY
the business section of the city, ana
with the machinery of trade a.m"ss !
completely paralyzed, the people OF
baltimore were panic stricken ne
| city was placed under military con-
| troll and in order to aid in restoring
confidence, the insurance interests az
ionce opened emergency offlces SO the
claims might be filed and losses
settled in the shortest feasible tlnle.
| re there had been no earthquaEe IN
San Francisco on April 1s, l9oo' IL
ia probable that the $350,OOOOoo con
ifagration which followed would not
{haye occurred so soon. The city was
doomed to be visited by fire, now
ever. and the earthquake merely mast
ened the day The engineers or the
national board, after visiting san
Francisco in the fall of 1905, SAID:
I'm view of exceptionally large
areas, great heights, numerous un
protected openings general absence
of fire breaks or stops, highly com
bustibIe nature of the buildings
frequency of light wells and
the presence of interspersed franc
buildings" combined with the al
most total lack of sprinklers ano
Iabsence of modern protective devices
generally, numerous conhagra
ton breeders, high winds and com
paratively narrow streets, make tnt
probability of confagration alarm
ingly severe"
The terrible holocaust that shocked
the world within six months afte'
this report appeared is a matter o
history. In less than a day 1t oDllt
Grated the work of fifty years. Ih'
San Francisco fire was the creates
disaster ever experienced by the In
surance companies, but only twent.
were forced to the wall and mum
; her of these afterward resumed oper
ations. The stronger organizations
with the stability of widely scattere'
risks. managed to weather the storm
. This single conflagration, however
wiped out every dollar OF proht tn
, corporations had made out of under
; writing since 1860 and cost then
797OS,174 besides.
, The earthquake caused the start O
this fire, but it was not the reason
, for it's spread The confagrat1on en-
, sued because of certain factors tina
: Twill be mentioned later. When
T drenching rain occurred on the fourt
| |day and extinguished the remalnln
) embers it was found that $40 blocR
; containing $4,000 buildings, and II
!. Guiding many in the finest portion Q
r the city, had been devastated by tn
! flames.
V Temperatures experienced in thi
) fire were tho highest ever known I
!. any con1agration, the maximum, las
a ling for a few minutes in each loca
f iity. having been estimated at fro1
5000 degrees to 1900 degrees +
: with an average Of about 1900 az
i grees. The heat was so intense, tn
). limited States Geographical Surve
e reported, that sash-weights and will
b dow glass melted and ran togethe
n In some places the tin coating
n piles of timed plate volatilized, eve
s in the middle of the piles, and nal
}, were softened sufficiently to wei
; together.
!. On August 27, 1908, August
e Georgia, had conhagration with
q Unusual origin The river rose an
n flooded the cellars of houses whei
n there was quantity of unslake
/. lime. The shaking process thereupc
a begun, generated sufficient heat
start the fire Three days later Ne
a, Orleans was the scene of a confla
r, ration of incendiary origin. The pr
Le prietors of a glass concern desire
o ''to sell their business to the unde
s, writer's" and in their endeavor to
Is so caused confiagration. In Il
ID same year the East Boston dock ii
is occurred because, it is believed,
e careless smoker cast aside his cigs
f. cite where it ignited combustih
10 material. When Fort Worth, Texs
had a confagration on April 3, 1sC
Dallas, thirty miles away, at on