The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, October 14, 1901, Page 1

[EeR T dd - okl VOLUME XC-NO. 136. SAN FRANCISCO, MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1901. PRICE FIVE CENTS. RUINOUS FIRE VISITS THE TOWN OF LOS GATOS, DESTROYING A LARGE PART OF BUSINESS SECTION MAIN STREET IN LOS GATOS, LOOKING EAST, AS THIS PRINCIPAL THOROUGHFARE OF THE TOWN AP- PEARED BEFORE THE GREAT FIRE AT NIGHT WHICH DESTROYED ALL OF THE BUSINESS HOUSES AND CAI'SE.D A LOSS OF PROBABLY TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS. — O s b RACES ON THE ROCKS IN A SHIPWRECKING FOG Canadian’ Pacific’'s Steamer IHating Goes Ashore at Jervis Isl=nd, but the Passengers Are ! Special Dispatch to T7° OUVER, B. C., Oct. 13.—The | ter evening “two steamers ating, sister to the Islander of | ha » the rescue. There was e Canadian Pacific line of Skag- | nc ger for the passengers, amers, was wrecked yes-|a: robably all be in Van- afternoon at 2 o'clock. | hard and fast on the end of d, forty-nine miles north from | She had 175 passengers from aboard and all of them are nded on Lasquett! Island. extremely foggy at| Captain: Gosse c -morrow. as one of the finest boats n service. She was put on by the Canadian Pacific >r, which went to the bot- ourchased in Shanghai for th repairs was considered She was 250 feet long and weather was e time of the accident. wor bridge and Chief Officer Neu- | easily 7 the Skaguay trip at a speed te of the Islander, which sank | of sixt¢é®h knots per hour. months ago, was with him. The| The 13t€st reports from the steamer are, el is very nmarrow at this point and | to the 1at a big hole has been dis- s impossible to see a dozen feet| covere bottom. It is stated that at ide the gh the fog. stern is under seven feet of mer was going at half speed, about nine knots, when she k. Her nose bunted up on shore e was too fast fixed to be pulled | Captain Gosse hgers in perfect control e immediately landed. It| low tide, and the stern of the | wate vicTOR Wiliap@ IA, B. C., Oct. 13.—The steamer ft this evening to go to the : of the wrecked steamer Hating. et i rescus w steam. —_— La7g¢ Fund Raised for Missions. NE W YORK, Oct. 13.—As a result of the anny#l Mistionary sermon preached to- feet of water. | day !T' the Gospel Tabernacle by Dr. A. B. : 1myp “On. the missionary fund solicitor, th. in it was expected | Simp’’F y itor, the | sum Of 380,000 was collected during the day. The meeting was the last of the sank in seven de came she would be entirely covered. an hour after she struck a| = 1 conventions that have been held s crew, in charge of Pllot Guns, Was | throy £70ut the United States. The whole dispatched to Vancouver. After rowing|amou”' thus contributed for missionary 2 g urp B8 15 nes eses ann 1= &li night they arrived here late this af-| pury o SRR Two Hundred Thousand Dollars Estimated to Be the Sum That Will Cover the Damage Caused by the Devastating Flames. OS GATOS, Oct. 13.—This city was visited by the’ most destructive fire in its history at an early hour this morning, when the entire business section of the town was wiped out. The fire swept everything on both the north and south sides of Main street from the Soutnern Pacific Ralil- road tracks to the Los Gatos Creek. The area covered by the fire is estimated at about four acres. Property ~varlously estimated in value =t from $150,000 to $200,000 went up in smoke and all that is left to indicate where business blocks once stood are charred timbers, smolder- in> walls, a couple of brick ovens and the Commercial Bank vault. Everything else, even to the fire bell tower and the bir twenty-pound bell, has disappeared. It took little more than one hour for the flames to devour a dozen or more business blocks, several manufactories, a livery stable, a church and many dwell- ing houses. The fire department was ut- terly powerless to cope with the flames which, fanned by a strong southerly breeze, leaped from one building to an- other and stopped only when practically all the fuel at hanu had been exhausted. Injured During the Fire. No fatalities marked the progress of the conflagration. There were a number of persons injured, however. The man most seriously hurt is named Lloyd. He wis awakened from sleep in a small reom over Wood's second-hand store and found himself surrounded by fire. In making his way to the street he was frightfully burned about the head and back and and had to be taken to the County Hospital. A boy named See was watching the fire when an ammonia tank in Pepper’s butcher shop blew up. The boy was struck on both legs by flying Special Dispatch to The Call, fragments. He was carried into a drug store and his injurles were dressed. Dr. Rice, whose office was in the Commercial Bank building, had his right hand badly burned while moving personal effccts from his apartments. Jack Tudor was also burned while trying to get out his store fixtures. There were several se- vere explosions during the height of the fire. A big gasoline tank blew up with a report that could be heard for miles. The property owners have signified their intention of rebuilding immediately and undoubtedly the new buildings will be constructed of brick or other fireproot material. The only building that remains standing between the rallroad track and the creek is the public library. This seemed in danger at one time and all the books were taken out, but a change of the wind at an opportune moment saved the structure. Cause Is a Mystery. As yet no satisfactory conclusion has been arrived at as to the origin of the conflagration. The theory of incendiar- ism is advanced by some, as there was no fire kept in the building at that time of night, but so far nothing definite has been proved. Great credit is due the firemen for their successful efforts in saving the bridge. Had this been burned it would have been a severe loss to the town, as it affords the only connection over which teams can pass between the east and west side of town. This was the second conflagration in the town's history. The first occurred in July, 1891, when nearly all of the business hvuses on the east side of the bridge were destroyed. Since that time the greater part of the business of the town had been transacted on the west side. Among the buildings burned was the | Episcopal church. This edifice was | i valued at about $2000. The Gibson block | and the Commercial Bank building weve among the 'more prominent structures burned. The Commercial Bank building | was valued at $12,000. List of the Losers. The following is a list of the firms and buildings which suffered, together with an estimate of the losses: South side of Main street: Chinese dwelling, value $250, contents $50; Chinese laundry, $150, contents $500; Landers’ paint shop, $400, contents $50; Bradbury's black- smith shop, building and fixtures, $500; Tisdale's stable, building $2000, contents $1000; Covert's real estate office, $50; Mil- ler’'s saloon, $1000; Austin's real estate office, $250; Commercial Savings Bank | | building. $12,000; Drs. Rice and Bishop, second floor occupants, $250 and $500 each; Fietcher’s real estate office, $100; Pepper's meat market and cold storage plant, $2500; building, owned by John Linden, $1000; Martin's candy store, contents, $209, building, owned by John Linden, and val- ued at $1000; Mark’s general merchandise, contents $300, building owned by John Linden, value $300; Charles Wood's sec- ond hand clothing, $1000, building which in- cluded two stores, one of which was va- cant, valued at $500; Hunt's bakery, 31200, buflding $1000; A. Giampolli's fruit and grocery store, $500, building owned by W. C. Shore, $800; Williams’' plumbing and hardware store, $2000, bullding owned by ‘W. C. Shore, $1000; San Jose Water Com- pany, building and contents, $1000; Shore’s depot, $100; Vodden's shoe store, $100; Van Meter's furniture establishment, $700; Langford's paint and paper store, 3 L. A. Wilder's grocery store, $1500. CAPTURE OF ANARCHISTS IN HOME OF PRESIDENT SALLES OF BRAZIL ARIS, Oct. 13.—A telegram received at Lisbon from Rio Janeiro asserts that two Italians were arrested Friday last in the corridor of the Presideniial palace by an - officer of the guard. Both were armed with revolvers and daggers. In Rio Janeiro it is believed tha: they are anarchists and intended to assassinate President Campos Salles. —_— i wells on Spindle Top. LAWSON LOSES MILLIONS IN ATTALGAMATED COPPER Boston Man Says He Was Given False In- formation by “Insiders” Before the Recent Break in Prices. Bpecial Dispatch to The Call. OSTON, Oct. 13.—In an interview published here Thomas S. Law- son says the recent break in Amalgamated Copper represents to him a loss of about $7,000,000. He declares that he not only did not know the break was coming, but had been in- formed that the rumor that the extra div- idend would be passed was without foun- dation; that he did not sell a share of Amalgamated on account of the break; that he holds at the present time more than he had at the time of the break, and that these holdings amount to more than 142,000 shares. Lawson says he could not give his friends any advance information concern- ing this break for the simple reason that he did not possess the information; that certain directors and insiders of the Amal- gamated Company sold their holdings pre- vious to the announcement of the cut in the dividend. In his opinion the cut in the dividend was not compelled by any business neces- sity. Rumors to the contrary notwith- standing, says Lawson, he is not going to fail, but is in a financial condition to meet any exigencies which may arise. L o T S S o ) | THREE NEW OIL GUSHERS STRUCK ON SPINDLE TO® BEAUMONT, Tex., Oct. 13.—Three new gushers have’been added to the list of The Hogg-Swayne Syndicate's No. 4 came in late last night. The German-American Oil Company’s second well on Spindle Top came,in this morning, spouting a steady stream of oil, | and the Houston-Beaumont Oil Company | brought in a gusher late this afternoon. The flow cf oil from the latter, which was allowed to escape through a horizontal pipe, was tremendous, tearing loose one joint of the hose on the air pipe and throwing it asids STABBED BY STRANGER ON SAN JOSE STREET SAN JOSE, Oct. 13.—John Anderson. a laborer from Milpitas, was fatally stabbed in the abdomen, at 10 o’clock to-night. While standing on the sidewalk In front of the Scandinavian Hotel, on El Dorado street, three men drove up to the curbing and without any provocation one of them jumped from the vehicle and buried a dagger in Anderson’s stomach. Anderson was taken to the Receiving Hospital and the police are now looking for the mem. Anderson will die,