Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-12-29
SIX FAMILIES MADE
HOMELESS BY BLAZE
Their Dwellings, Near the Works,
Fell Prey TO Flames and Were
Destroyed.
F|REMEN WORKED
: UNDER DIFFICULTIES
Claim There Were Not Enough
Fire Plugs IN the 1mmc-
diate Vicinity.
ORIGIN OF THE BLAZE
NOT DEFINITELY KNOWN

In what was the costlcst and most
arc ,tacular fire ever seen IN this CITY. the
mammoth nlant 81 the Wilmington
Leather Go AZ second street and Green
huh avenue. was completely wiped out by
ire which started az BIS o clock vester-
dav afternoon IN a dryIng room N one 81
the old buildings on Webb street ncar
THIRD Spreading rapidly - the ten
adjoining buildings. and despite The best
effort. 81 the fire companies of Whining
Ton the cnttre plant vas a mass of ruin
bv midnight
James / Neutrality-suspicious. of tho vii
ninrton Leather Co AZ noon today piac-
"a the loss of tho company at between
e. 500 600 aud 80 000.000 When asked
whether or not steps would bc taken 70
rebuild Mr. O Nell said 1T Is impossible
cor me to state at this time just what ac-
iton will be taken bv the company. N
fact the decision of the members will not
IL known until meeting IS called The
resident stated that he believed the loss
would reach the three million maJk.
The company war organized IN 1905
with lance + 0'Neill Of this city as pres
dent. and did business Of s5,00O,0m
yearly
The rral estate Of the Wilmington
Leather Co was assessed AZ Sl20,S25.
Besides the huildingS consumed, valu
ahl stock Of raw partly finished and
manufactured leather was destroyed All
hat remained Of the IL buildings Of the
preat plant was small warehouse and
xorkshop set apart from the mann build-
fngs six families IN the vicinity Of the
plant were made homeless through the
destruction of their dwellings Famed by
f strong north wind the sparks from the
larrc buildings were carried TO the roofs of
he frame dwellings and within n short
time they lav mass of ruins and debris
The occupants had time TO get out and
save some % their effects
lust how tho FIRE started may never be
determined The police report attributes
Il % an electric wire The drylng loft is on
the third floor Of ono Of the old buildings
on Webb street The first alarm was turn
ed in by Daniel Adams. watchman. Dos
Ford avenue. from box 53, az Second and
Hswlev streets J Victor Dorrell, 2419
West Second street. turned in an alarm al
a. The Union Flrc Co. was summoned
nv phone and an alarm Of FIRE was also
turned m from the box directly in front Of
the Darrell home Several Of the fire
comnanies had been held up IN their ar
rival hv answering an alarm Of FIRE from
Wawaset Park. about half mile from the
scene az the blaze Bv the time these fire
companies arrived the buildings on Webb
street we're a saething mass Of flames as
far as Second street.
rTREMEN HAD TFFICULTY.
Great difficulty was experienced by
the fircmen in attaching their hose at
advantageous points. After the arrival
nf the companies on the first alarm, a gen.
eral alarm was sent in and ten fire com
names of Wilmington responded Chief
Engineer William J. Lutz arrived shortly
after the first alarm and he quickly reallz-
ed that the firemen had a real task How
over every possible effort was made 70
subdue and save some OF the buildings.
The Weccacoc Fire Co found its place
~ Third and Greenhill avenue and the
Union Co at Second and Greenhlll. In
Greenhill avenue there Is a fire plug at
Third street, one at Second and one IN the
middle OF the block
CITY Councilman Alexander Abrahams,
who was also az the Scene Of the fre, ella lrns
that the fire plug were all In good working
condition However, there did not seem to
be enough plugs 10 supply water for a fire
af such magnitude. Man of the firemen
were obliged 10 connect their hose at a
distance OF l.50O feet rom the burning
buildings Within 30 minutes Of the ar
Ival of the firemen It was practically GER
tain that most Of the plant was doomed
The reInen experienced grea difficulty
IN battling with the fla es. for the reason
gwen above. In some instance more
than one line of hose was attached to a
single plug In some instances It was neces-
arv 10 attach three to one plug
When the blaze was at It's height, at z
o clock. 10 streams were being used. OF
this number. however, four or FIVE were
practically useless and the force developed
was not sufil lent TO reach the building
The heat was so great that IT was almost
impossible for the freInen to get near
enough 20 the buildings TO work effective
lv az times. Several sections Of hose were
burned bv the intense heat.
Chief Lutz. when asked about the mat
Ter. sal There was no difficulty in get
ling pressure at the mains. There was
diac lty IN breaking the wire glass in the
new building, so that the fremen were
lampered in getting into that structure.
SIX FAMILIES HOMELESS
The flames worked their way from the
Colinued on page u