The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, June 28, 1895, Page 2

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, FRIDAY, JUNE 28, 1895 N 2 ff, saloon, insured; No. Shirley se, owned by John Shirley, loss $8000, 522, H. Grosman, 24, J. Judic, saloon, . 526, A. Wagner, pawn- nsurance $1200; No. 528, loss $1700, insurance isleh. coffee-house, in- ard Manning, Gardiner, D. F. Kenny, butcher, it EAST OF FOURTH. A Brick Building, a Space and a Bat- tle in the Center of a Block. The course of the fire up Freelon street was extremely rapid. This little thorough- fare, which runs from the middle of one block across Fourth street and half way across the next block, lay almost in the center of the path of the fire. The west- ern end of Freelon street reached into the nest of factories and lumber piles in the center of the block, which were first seized on by the flames. The street was: lined with cheap and generally old oneand two story houses tenanted by working people who wanted cheap rents. So fast did . the fire race up Freelon street to Fourth that few families had a chance to saveanything but themselves. The blaze ran as rapidly along Brannan to Fourth, and it also swept through the section of the same block between Freelon and Welsh streets, the latter being a little thoroughfa running a similar course with F on into the same two blocks. The fire rushed the firemen. police and others out of Freelon and Welsh streets into Fourth, and for a few moments only it seemed that the conflagration might be stayed at Fourth street. It wasbut a half hour after the first alarm was turned in that the flames were bur: g through the windows along the west side of Fourth street and wrapping the corners of the buildings. It seemed but a moment afterward that the fire burst into the street so fiercely that it was plainly seen in an instant that the opposite block would at least partly go. Two engines working on Fourth street were barely saved, and in three minutes from the time the fire reached Fourth street the opposite build- ings took fire and burned like tinder-boxes. The wind was then sweeping the fire e: ward, and engines were rushed to wind- ward. The main battle was transferred to the block bounded by Third, Fourth, Bryant and Brannan streets, and for a time it ned that the fight in that block would be as hopeless as it had been in the block already doomed. Freelon street was 1 the center of the course of the re eastward, and it was in that street that the hardest battle, and the successful one that finally checked the ation, was for of hose well as Welsh and Brannan, to meet the advan i and for a time the efforts of n were wholly futile. House e on Freelon street was gutted by the es, which seized the next one a few m s later, and it was not until the fire had made its way a third of the di aiter ho tance across the block that a successful stand was made. On Brannan street the big brick wine cellar on one side and a vacant space on the other enabled the firemen to check th ance of the fire along that re, and this made Freelon street al battle-ground, for it was rows of those same one and two houses in that street that the fire was cing through the block with the test danger. T ct Engineer Dough- realized the eritical situation and sent into a valiant battle. Strear ed on two houses on op- his men e lull in the wind, the fir ined trol at about 8:15 A similar battle with the fire had on Welsh street, though the had been kept on one side of this fire thor rs of Brannan and Fourth streets were fiercely abl. at the same time, i there, as on Freelon street, it seemed a time that the firemen had a s battle to w. On the south three wooden struc- ht the fire to the K wine-vaults it was this L saved the I Box the fi cannery and the other lary instries and buildings eastward on nan street. On the opposite si fortunate space be: treet there was a ween the buildings en the corner the three-story frame building occupied the Mechanics’ Hotel, and this space was another thing that enabled the firemen to stay the fire on Brannan street. rom the houses on Freelon, Welsh and ve street in that block families rushed yart of their household effects and made a picturesane scene of excitement and families w stain losses, , by the damage to furni- ng the residents on the half block of Freelon st burned out, 1 ning total or partial ses of household effects, are the follow- James Kemena, John Fleming, Mrs. {cGrath, Mrs. Keefe, C. Scowartz, Mrs, Sweiger, insured for $500; Mrs. Kease, owner of the house at 109 and 111 Freelon; Mrs. Deneen, grocery; Frank Cunet, Sev- == LOOKING NORTH ON FOURTH lon street, and, aided | west of Fourth, who were | | | [Sketehed for the Call”” by Fisher.] |SCENE ON FREELON STREET WITH HOUSEHOLDERS HURRYING FROM THEIR HOMES WITH SUCH FEW EFFECTS AS THEY COULD SAVE. eral of these residences were owned | Bovee, Toy & C | — | FOURTH STREET CROSSED. ! EEEE, The Flames Shoot Over the Thor- oughfare and Are Halted N There. Zoe street runs from Brannan to Bryant, between Third and Fourth. Freelon street | begins at Zoe and runs west, crossing Fourth. The fire ‘In its sweeping advance | crossed Fourth street, near Freelon, at 7:30 o'clock. The wind was high. The front of the flame was solid for nearly a block. | The Fire Department made a sort of rally | to fight the advancing flames, but the re- | sistance was ght. When a masterly effort was awaited the water was found | weak and insufficient, and so' the firemen | had to pull oui their engines, and the column of fire shot high up and backed | over across Fourth s#reet, sending in ad- | vance ignited fragments in the air to catch | and maintain a hold. Then the spectators said the fire would go io the bay and across Third street. There were two critical points at the One was at the Lachman wine- stantial brick building very | nearly adjoining the Pacific Improvement | Company’s stables on the lot of the com- | pany and the big brick building corner of | Fourth and Townsend streets. The other fighting point east of Fourth was at | Freelon street, where the fire was ult | mately conquered. b S POOR WATER SUPPLY. by What Fire Marshal Towe Says. Danger in the Trolley | Wires. Ever since the fire of 1876, when the Ger- { man Hospital was burned, the cry of the districts south of Market street has been for | water and increased facilities for conquer- |ing fire. The necd of larger mains has | been so often and repeatedly called to the | attention of the Supervisors.that the prop- | erty interests of this section bhas been about despaired of ever getting deserved recognition. The only main of anything like the necessary capacity is that on Fourth street, which measures ten inches and was STREET FROM THE CORN TRACKS WARPED BY THE HEAT AFTER TH put in shortly after the fire of 1876. It was next to impossible to get a full stream at any distance from the large main, there being no water on either Townsend, Ritch or Third streets, and for an hour and a half an engine was idle on Brannan street, near Third, unable to get water sufficient to keep the hose full. The mains on the streets, other than Fourth, range from 6 to 8§ inches, and when one or two engines have occasion to draw from the hydrants nearest the source of supply the pressure at the other hy- drants is at zero. Said Mr. Farnsworth, of the firm of Farnsworth & Ruggles, “We have plenty of hydrants, but of what use are they in a case like this? Give us larger mains.” While the fire was at its height Fire Marshal Towe called up Clerk Russell of the Board of Supervisors, the board being then in session, and said :\\*This is Fire Marshal Towe and I send you a message from Chief Sullivan. For God’s sake. send the board here at once that they may see what lack of water facilities is doing.” At this very time a letter was lying on Chief Suflivan’s desk that he had addressed to the Supervisors calling their attention to this very matter. By reason of the water supply being centered on the west side of the blocks bounded on the west by Fourth street it made it necessary for the firemen to follow the fire south rather than was the loss of many dwellings in the most thickly populated section of that neighbor- hood. The extra insurance rate charged for risks in this district would long since have paid for improvements that would render property here comparatively safe, Underwriters have long looked askance at these water arrangements and have charged accordingly. | Bt is true that there was a brisk breeze | blowing that aided the flames in their | march, but it was this same breeze that shifted around and enabled the firemen with the meager facilities at hand to make some headway. Fire Marshal Towe was very outspoken in his remarks, calling attention to the fact that this is the fourth big fire of this district and the greatest of them all, his estimate of the losses reaching the enor- mous sum of over a million and a half to catch it as it came east, and the result | dollars. He said he thought that this ought to be a lesson to the Supervisors, movement and a lief desired by the property-owners. Never was the danger of live trolley- wires more apparent than last night, when the streams from the hose and the wet voies caused a play of lightning-like flashes from every quarter. Had the trolley-poles been of wood in- stead of iron the deaths and casualties would have been appalling. The mass of telegraph and telephone wires on Fourth and on Bluxome streets that lead to the railroad buildings at Fourth and Town- send streets were a constant menace. In several instances the poles burned off and carried down by the weight of wire swung out into the streets and crossed with elec- | tric light and other wires, and that there were no accidents or deaths was due to a thoughtful police sergeant,who telephoned to the power-houses and had the current shut off. LOSSES AND The Property Burned Supposed to Be Worth Nearly $1,000,000. Insurance men are not willing to give much definite information regarding the | amount of money swallowed up, because INSURANCE. | anything like accurate figures will not be obtainable until the books of every com- pany are thoroughly gone over to-day. No estimate of the total loss, however, is far from $1,000,000, some going above and some as low as $780,000 or $800.000. The insurance on this is very variously put at from $200,000 to §250,000. The rule is that about one-fifth of the value of the property represents the amount of insur- ance. The losses, whatever they may amount to, are widely distributed among the com- panies and the heaviest individual losses, | so far ascan be estimated, will not reach | $30,000. The neighborhood with its ram- shackle buildings, its factories and stores of inflammable material was not a place in which any company wanted to risk very much. Reinsurance was there- fore the rule, and as a consequence, while there is not a company in the City which and be the cause of them taking some | once arrange for the re- | has not lost something, there are few who are deeply enough involved to\embarrass them. The London and Lancashire is one of the heavy losers. It carried about $18,000 in the burned district, mostly in small amounts, and none that were over $2500. This was a row of dwellings on Fourth, near Brannan. The Pheenix of London will lose about $5000, and the Providence perhaps not as much. The Westchester will be out from $5000 to $7000, all in small amounts. The North American will also lose about $5000, and the Union §7100. The Fireman’s Fund is a loser to the extent of something like $7500. The Palatine is another heavy loser, an estimate made late last night putting the figure at about $§10.000. The Palatine carried a good many risks down among the tenement houses along Fourth street, where the rate was low and insurance heavy. Where the fire started, too, up along Fifth street. the Palatine was much interested. It had §$20,000 on Morrison’s lumber-yard on Fifth and Brannan, but much of the property of the yard was saved. The company was also interested in St. Paul Church upon which it bhad 500 — §4000 on the church itself and $1500 on the parsonage. In the Norwich and Royal there will be about $7500 to pay. In the Prussian National $15,000 losses was ad- mitted, all in small amounts, the biggest being $2000 on some frame dwellings on Fourth street. Barthau's agency will lose $8750. ‘Of this $4000 is on the New Washington Ho- tel, on the corner of Fourth and Bluxome; 25,000 is on the Pacific Soda Works, on Bryant street, near Fifth; $1000 was on I. A. Carah & Co., 511 Fiith; $750 on the California Fence Company and $500 on Einstein & Levy’s on Fifth street. H. P. Umbsen, who represents the Lon- don Assurance Company, had about $50,000 placed in various companies. He had $6000 on the Del Monte Hotel and a con- siderable amount on the dwelling houses along Fourth street and among the small streets running from Fourth. He had placed most of the insurance on the Shirley House on Fourth and Welsh streets, and had some more in the factory district along Fifth street. /7N 2 SITREN [Sketched for the Call? by Van Harlingen.] ER OF BLUXOME, SHOWING E FIRE CAME UNDER CONTROL. i HE STREETCAR The Hamburg Bremen is known to be largely interested in the insurance among the tenements, and is supposed to have lost heavily. The Transatlantic too, and Helvetia Swiss and Dixon’s agency, the Continental of New York, the Commercial Union, the Niagara, the Hartford and the Liverpool, London and Globe are all deeply interested. As for the loses by the dwellers and workers in the ill-fated territory, they range from a few cents to thousands of dollars, and there were a great many, particularly those living in the tenements, who carried no insurance on their prop- erty. The Pacific Soda and Chem- ical Works, owned by J. Horstmann, shows probably the biggest single loss of any. He lost his entire stock and build- ings, valued at $60,000. They were insured for $15,000, carried by different companies. Carrick, Williams & Wright carried $14,- 000. They lost $23,000. TFuller's desk- works was heavily stocked, and the loss will be nearly $40,- 000. They were fully insured, or very mear il. Main & Winchester's saddle factory, on the corner of Fifth and Bryant streets, was valued at $15,000 and carried $10,000 insurance. H. Euler & Co.’s furniture factory, ualued at $30,000, was insured for $10,000. G. Diliman lost $15,000 and carried insurance to the extent of $7000. W. E. Stroit lost $15,000 and was insured for $10,000. The Spring Valley Water Company’s pipe storage-yard, on Bryant street, carried §5000 worth of property, very little of which was injured. The Humboldt Lumber Company lost $20,000 and was insured for $12,000. The Roman Catholic church and school were valued at $23,000, and were in- sured for $55 Snyder & Reichler’s furniture works lost $15,000. Lachman’s wine warehouse, on Bluxome street, was the most valuable building in the vicinity. Had it been burned nearly $800,000 worth of wine and property would have been destroyed and $350,000 more would have been added to the insurances, The losses as estimated by the owners of the burned property last night, in addition to those already mentioned, are as follows: On Bryant street—H. Washburne, horse market, total loss, $4500; George W. Phe- lan, carriage manufactory, partial loss, $7000; Humboldt Lumber Company, par- tial loss, $1500. On Fifth street—Kuhlen, tools, $500; Hubner, frame factory, $3500; John Hum. mel, saloon, $1000; J. Einstein, feed mill, $3000; Independent Tool Manufactory, $1200; W. Henneberg, tools, $1500; Outsen Feed Mills, $1500; Belmont Hotel, $7000; Scott & Van Arsdale, lumber, $3000; Pa- cific Iron Yard, sheds, $3500. On Brannan street—C. H. Small, ma- chine-shop, $3300; Bruce & Co., basket works, $1000: Newhaus, hard lumber, $15 000; saloon, $800; California Casket Com- pany of San Jose, $15,000; Steinmetz. paint- shop, $2500; Frank Huber, two-story sash and door factory, $7500; N. Hoffman, three-story power-house, $10,000; Green & Ce., planing-mill, $2600; Frank McMann, stairbuilder, $2000; D. M. Van Wart, artis- tic furniture, $3000; G. Brandeline, $7000; C. W. Burgess, planing-mill, two-story, $5000; J. Boller, stair factory, §2000; empty two-story building, S8an Francisco Lumber Company, $2600; Morgan & Cutter, black- smiths, $1000; Overland Transportation Company, sheds, trucks and blacksmith- shop, $9000. On Bluxome street—F. B. Joyce & Co. oil storehouse, $1000; C. L. Jung, machine- shop, $1500; H. W. Riee, engines and iron works, $6000; George Fuller & Co., office furniture, $15,000; several residences, etc., loss unknown. In all about 275 buildings of varicus kinds were destroyed. Of these nearly 200 were dwelling-houses, and there are certainly 400 families homeless, and many also with- out their household goods. The insurance men reckon about two families to every house in that district. T R INCIDENTS AND SCENES. Singular and Thrilling Experiences in the Burning Dis- trict. Daring the progress of the fire on Fourth street there was a terrific explosion that shook the buildings and staggered many in the assembled crowds. On investigat- ing, it was found to bea small steam boiler in a French laundry at 5356 Fourth street. The force of the expiosion sent about half a ton of the boiler flyimng through three buildings. This piece lodged in Shirley’s Hotel, on the corner of Walsh street. So great was the shock that all the windows not destroyed by the heat were blown into the street. A large number of the poor people who were homeless last night were among the 600 women and children employed at the Cali- fornia Cannery. Most of the employes of this cannery live in the neighborhood, and many have been waiting long for the can- nery to start up. Next month 1200 will be employed, and many more women and girls belonging to the burned-out families will be at work. As soon the critical time for the south side of Brannan street was passed, and the flames seemed under control, Isidor Jacobs, president of the California Cannery Company, announced that he would head with $100 a subscrip- tion for those who were made homeless. To-day is the weekly pay day of the can- nery, and $2800 will be distributed. The Pacific canneries, hke the Pacific Box Factory next to it on Brannan street, was saved from the effects of the showers of cinders by the hard efforts of a small army of employes and others. Isidor Ja- cobs, president of the company, was there when that block seemed certainly doomed, and quickly had fires going under the boilers with the result that steam fire- pumps were soon in operation. Before this was accomplished an 80,000-gallon tank of water on the roof was broken, quickly flooding the roof. A pitiful sight was witnessed by hun- dreds when the flames reached the three- story Shirley Hotel on Fourth street, Around the top of the mansard roof was a three-foot fancy iron railing. By some means a large turkey reached the roof, but it could not spring over the rail- ing. The frantic efforts of the poor bird to escape its terrible doom excited the sym- pathy of all. As the flames drew nearer its efforts became less, until finally it sank down and was roasted alive. Chief Sullivan implored his firemen to stand at their posts and prevent the fire from crossing Fourth street. He stood by himself and pulled their hats over their eyesas they fought at the Washi gton In the Morning At this season many people complain that fl?ey are tired, and that the night has not given them rest and sleep. It is because the blood is not in the right condition. It ahnulsi be purified, enriched ana vitalized and given nourishing power by the use of Hood’s Sarsaparilla whic_h is the one great blood purifier. By making pure, rich blood, Hood’s Sarsapa- rilla overcomes That Tired Feeling. Hood’s Pills the after-dinner pill and family cathartic. 25¢. | 1 | | | | | 8t. Ros: Hotel, nearly opposite the railroad build- ing, at Fourth and Tom}senfl streets. It did not cross at that point, but did sweep over at a point further north. ¢ J. A. Fillmore, general superintendentof the Southern Pacific, and W.G. Curtis, as- sistant manager, were on the ;.'ronm_l at Fourth and Townsend and got rolling- stock out of the way as soon as possible. Sixty horses in the Pacific improvement Company’s stable, near Fourth and Town- send streets, were taken to a place of safety before the tire crossed Fourth street. All the rolling-stock of the horsecar com- pany was saved. The fire of last night burned over part of the territory which was swept by the Braannan-street conflagration in 18! The fire of 1883 swept over twelve blocks. Sam Rainey could not keep away from the fire, and as a result of goingin got one hand badly burned. ‘When the hose was turned on a shed ad- joining the Lackman winenouse, the pressure was not sufficient to send the stream fifteen feet high. In several stores in the burned district large quantities of Fourth of July fireworks were stored and kept for sale. When the flames reached these stores there were pyrotechnic displays that would under aif- ferent circumstapces have caused great enthusiasm. Crackers and. bombs ex- ploded in a roar, und rockets and Roman candles could be seen flashing and dar about in the flames. The water-tower was early at the scene, but was not used. When the fire crossed Brannan street and threatened the four- story office building of the Southern Pacific Company and adjacent buildings of con- siderable height, it was stationed at Fourth and Townsend streets ready for an emer- gency. In addition to the plant and stock of the California Canneries Company, valued at $50,000, there were contracts for $250,000 worth of California canned fruits in danger when the south side of Brannan street, above Fourth, seemed doomed. Isidore Jacobs was more worried about the pros- pects of business losses than the danger to the actual property of the company. —_— HOW THE FIRE STARTEOD. ing W. J. Horstman Says the Blaze Be~ gan Behind the Box Factory. “We will lose at least $40,000 by the fire,” said W. J. Horstman of the soda and chemical works at 6 and 675 Bryant street. *‘Our insurance is only $13,000, but what with our machinery and the im- mense stock of soda we had on hand, our loss will easily mount up to the sum I bave mentioned over and above the in- surance. “The fire started about 5:35 p. M. in the rear of the Saun Francisco Box Factory’s engine-hou It was only asmall blaze at the start, and could eadily have been controlled had the firemen been able to get water.” e ST. ROSE’'S CHURCH. A Thrilling Scene While It and the Convent Were Burning. There was a thrilling scene while the convent and parochial school attached to ’s Church were in flames. A few moments before the roof fell ina boy was seen at one of the upper windows. A cry of horror went up from the crow d the firemen yelled to the boy to mp. A blanket was held out, but just tuen the flames and smoke enveloped the- building and the next moment the roof fell in with a crash. erybody thought the boy was lost. The firemen say the boy jumped, AGLESONacs FACTORY PRICE SALE OF Fancy Negligee and Outing Shirts 748 and 750 Market Street And 242 Montg_oynery Street. FIRE HOUSES FLATS : STORES LOFTS BUILDINGS With Power TO LET BAL%VVIN HAMMOND FOR SALE. Best Money-Naking Business. 10 MONTE'Y. 4() ACRES OF 17-YEAROLD VINEYARD, situated one mlle south of the thriving town ©of Sebastonol, Sonoma County, witn & 1ull equipped winery of 60,000 gallons capacity, underground cellars, ete. Winery surrounded 000 acres of Yinevards: only one more winery in the section. Must be seen 10 be appreciated. Terminus of R. R. one mile from the plac For further particulars address B., P. O. box 2t an Francisco, Cal., or E. SCHIRMER, Bellevué Vineyard, Sebastopol, Sonoma County, Cal. 7 ue Dr.Gibbon’s Dispensary, 623 MEARNY ST. Established in 18534 for the treatment of Private Disenses, Lost Munhood. Debllity o disease wearing on body and mind aud Skin Diseasen. The doctor cures when others fall. Try him. Charges low, Cures Aran Callor write. Dr. 3. F- glp!flfl-nox 1857, San Francisoo BRUSHES - =i i ouses, iard-tables, brewers, ~bookbinders, candy.makers, canners, dyers, flourmills, foundries, laundries, paper hangers, printers, painters, shoe factories, Stable- men, tar-roofers, {anners, illors, ctc. B ANAN Brush Manufacturers, 609 SacramentoSte UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. PERSQNS DESIRING TO SUBMIT PROPO- sals for painting the University buildings at Berkeley will receive specifications by add; the undemunesd, J. H. Ca BONTE, ecretary University of Calif Berkeley, June 25, 13"6. o i3 FOR BARBERS, BAK-