The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 31, 1902, Page 9

{BE SAN 1RANCIECO CALL, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1902 PARTY IN HONOR OF MIG5 PARDEE ey BACON BLOCK IS DESTROYED BY FIRE 100 MANY HEADS - THAT STARTS IN BASEMENT OF STORE SPOIL THE BROTH Eldest Daughter of Gov- ernor-Elect Given a Surprise. Three School Mates Prepare Jolly Entertainment for Friend. | el s Oskland Office San Francisce Call, 1118 Broadway, Dec. 30. | Miss Florence Pardee, the eldest daugh- ter of Governor-elect and Mrs. George C. | Pardee, was the guest, of honor last night a surprise y ¥ given by three of her | Miss via Salinger, Ruth Gretchen Kuerzel, at the res- A M nger, 93 Filbert e arrangements had all been can- | | h the utmost secrecy and not | | of the affair reached the hon- "clock Miss Florence was en- the Salinger home on some pre-|j | s she entered the front door all over the house were | on, disciEing a merry | ung people, who were clap- nds and laughing at the great ie latter outlining the iich were scattered in- red hearts. | after midnight before the -makers dispersed and bade rewell to their playmate, | ve her old home and sidence in the cap- | ung h Misses list of of | Gladys esses, Kuerzel, the he names ffin, deliffe, G || McElrath, Amy D! | son, Gertrude iy Healey, Ruth Salinger, | George Davis, Geoffrey Eugene V: | gelow, Russell Westoy ! Hildebrand, Harry Armstrong, Basse Lloyd English, Donald | | George Bigelow, S8am Dinkel- nd, Wa and Gordon Gillespy FAMILY FEUD OVER THE SANITY OF OLD MARINER Ay T J-z,sJ;r_zs'.:' FROFE . TEEROUGA Captain Charles Anéerson Accuses His Wife of Railroading Him to the Asylnm‘ pending | is put- AKLAND, Dec. 30.—The flimsy to save him- stucco building at the southeast . e < corner of Washington end ht ,Pt: \;;i.u,;né_‘, h’;‘: Twelfth streets, owned by the s H. Anderson, and his Bacon Land and Loan Company, , N. Kirsch. Mrs. Anna An- | was destroyed this afternoon by a fire e of the alleged insane man, is | that started in the basement of Smith her husband of ulterior mo- | Bros’. large stationery, .book and picture n attempting to send him to the | jiore, swept through the shell-like struc- n ture and burned out a setre of merchants while off the coast of South- p aska, was wrecked in 1599, while | and professional men, causing a loss es- | the master of the James A.|timated at $160,000. The fire burned four His subsequeni sufferings are |hours. The heaviest sufferers by the de- cged by the wife to have affected his | gtructive blaze, one of the worst the de- partment has had to fight for years, are ABSENT-MINDED MAN the Bacon Land and Loan Compauny, the heirs of the late Henry D. Bacon, and WALKS IN FRONT OF CAR Thomas Holliday of Concord Knocked Down and Severely Injured on Lower Broadway. 'J,»‘s]\'LA.\'Ih Dec. 30.—Thomas Holliday, or, is an absent-mind- H(— showed that to-dav when e walked right in front of a fast-running ectric car at Third street and Broad- | Smith Bros. These losses wil figure close to $140.000, with about $70.000 insurance. The other losers are the smail merchant and .office occupants of the first and sec- end stories of the building. The scene cf the fire was the heart of the business sec- tion. That the block bounded by Wash- ington, Broadway, Eleventh and Twelfth streets was ot swept clean’ was due to the well directed efforts of the fire de- partment, absence of wind and a couple . He was thinking heavily of some- | of thin brick walls on the east and south g else when he stepped on the track | sides of the Bacon building. was knocked down. The car pushed | MARKET STRUCTURE ESC. PES. along for some distance, finally| giretching along Eleventh street is a throwing him to one side out of the Way | ong wooden market structure, old. di- of the wheels. He was taken to the Re-|j,;idated and inflammable, occupied by ing Hospital, where a number of a large number of produce merchants. A narrow alley runs between the Bacon bullding and this target for fire. As the flames increased the firemen bent therr efforts to stay the progress and to save the wooden buflding. If that had caught and got beyond control the business dis- trict must have been at the mercy of the Hames. But the fire was confined to the building in which’ it started, and for that bruises and contusions were treated. The doctors are awalting developments to see if he is internally inj The motorman on the car said he sup- posed Holliday saw the car and intended to stop until it passed by. When tie man walked in front of the car it was then too late to avoid hitting him. SATISFY DEMANDS BY A CLEVER MOVE Town Trustees Obey Plumbers’ Man- date by Removing Office From Their Hands. BERKELEY, Dec. 30.—An informal meeting of the Town Board was held last night to discuss the appointment of a sanitary inspector to succeed F. Thompson, recently deccased. The pro- which has been unofficially received from the Master Plumbers’ Association protesting against the appointment of any contracting plumber who might profit by his office appeared as a conflicting prob- lem in the case. As the easiest means out of the difficulty it was practically decided to create a new office of sewer inspector, making his du- ties cover all of those formerly devolving upon the sanitary inspector and to pre- vent friction. Fire Chief James Kenney will probably be the man appointed to fill this office. —————— Licensed to Marry. OAELAND, Dec. 30.—The following marriage licenses were issued to-day: Jokn H. Sheehan, aged 22, and Frances Kaname, 15, both of Oakland; Henry Guth, 38, San Francisco, and Eveline \\'ood , 26, Santa Cruz; John V. Tres- 4, San Francisco, and Lucy M. Chapman, %, Oakland; Antonio Cordano, %, and Eugenia Pezzolo, 24, both of Oak- hd; Charles G. Dorman, 20, and Wini- fried A. Story, 20, both of Oakiand; James Biackledge, over 40, Sonora, and Kathar- ine T. Blackledge, over 4, San Francisco; bur R. Hughes 35, and Maria K. Ber- telsen, 24, both of San Francisco; Peter C. Weber, over 21, and Alice du Rose, over both of Oakmnd; Jacob. Knutte, 26, Jejo, and Charlotte 1. Amazeen, 20, Richmond. ———— Federal Union Elects Officers. OAKLAND, Dec. 30.—The Federal Labor {nion has elected the following new offi- cers: Presiaent, Charles L. Plerce; vice president, Hugh O'Neill; secretary and treasurer, James H. Hurlburt; guide, J. 7. Armstrong: guardian, T. J. Allen; trustees, E. Stearns, D. A. Sinclair and 3. W. Waish. ceive full credit, for they seriously from the start. It was an hour before sufficient water was at hand. Hosemen stood by with | the merest semblance of a stream from the nozzles. The engines sucked water pntil the mains seemed to run dry. Ei- fcrts to siamese the streams in order to throw the water into the building failed until late during the progress of the fiames. An engine pumping at Fourteenth street, two blocks from the building, sent a stream that barely left the hose nozzie. And on top of that, the fire was behind thick clouds of smoke, so dense and suf- focating that the men got in with their linés at utmost peril. 1t svas an hour after the first alarm was sounded at 1 o'clock that the flames be- gan to flare through the black clouds that were pouring from every crevice in the building. When the firemen at last workeg into the place, the heart of the big block was a furnace of flame that swept through the Jight and flimsy wood- | work as if it were tinder. SERIOUS MENACES. By 4 o'clock the building was in ruins, but the destruction had been confined within the block, much to the relief of hundreds of merchants and lhopkeepers in the neighborhood. The Bacon block, with the nelghboring produce market building, both owned by the Bacon Land and Loan Company, had been considered menaces from the fire point of view. The Bacon block, formerly a wooden structure, erected twenty-five or thirty years ago and known as Cav- elry Hall, was remodeled two years ago and converted into an office building. The exterior was covered with a shoddy sheathing of laths and rabbit-proof wire neiting, upon which a cement wash was stuccoed. A lot of gingerbread ornamen- tation was plastered on the facades, forming an imitation of Moorish architec- ture, but leaving the bullding as danger- ousSa fire trap as ever. It was that sort of construction which invited the work cf the flames. It was a minute or two before 1 o'cloek this afternoon when Miss M. Dexter, g saleswoman in Smiths' store, discoverad a fire in the basement of the store among a pile of rubbish and stuff-which was col- lected , for removal after the loliday were hampered test result Chief Ball and his men have to re- | Loss to Owners of Building and Merchants Is Estimated at $140,000. clean-up.» Almost simultaneously Dr. A. W. Merrill, ocupying an upstairs office, | saw the smoke, which quickly began to pour out of the cellar. Miss Dexter alarmed the Smiths, Charles and John F. Smith, the proprietors, rushed down- stairs into the basement with fire extin- guishers, but both men were driven -back. | John Smith was badly singed about the face and head, while his'brother was cut by broken glass on the hafds in the fight to stop the progress of the fire. Mean- while, a passing pedestrian saw the smoke and turned in the first alarm from | box 6at the corner of Twelfth street and Broadway : OVERCOME BY SMOKE. The firemen began their fight on the | Twelfth-street side of the building, direct- ing their streams into the basement and | trying to flood the mass of inflammable | goods that were stored there. Headway was Slow and it was impossible for a time |to get within striking distance. Time after time the men pressed in with their Lose lines, only to be driven back by the smoke. Chief Ball and Assistant Chief George McDonald, the latter just out | from a sickbed, headed the men, but with a lack of water at the outset and in the blinding smoke the men were dlmo!t help- {less. * .At the beginning the fire though burn- ng seriously, was slow in getting into the ipper portion of the buflding. It was not | until then that the structure succumbed. For that reason many of the small shop- | keepers along Twelfth street had a chance to save a porticn of their stocks. Plenty of volunteers aided in the work |and hundreds of dollars’ worth of mer- chandise was carried to Broadway, where the sidewalks were blocked for hours, and expressmen did a thriving business hauling the wares to places of safety. | _It was while- dragging out stock ,that Walter - Thelin, employe of the Keystone Tea Company, 469 Twelfth street, was overcome by smoke and was suffocated. He was saved by Fireman Sam Short, as- sisted by Judge W. J.. Geary, County Clerk-elect J. P. Cook and his dep- uty, George S. Plerce, who saw the young man’s plight and got him out of the burn- ing store. Thelin was revived at the Re- ceiving Hospital after hard work and re- moved to his residence, 840 Fallon street. NILE CLUB BURNED OUT. The delay gave some of the physicians occupying the upper floor a chance to save gsome of their instruments and their office fittings, The Sunset Telephone and Telegraph Company’s business office in the second story was burned out, but the office pecords and movable fixtures were saved. Clarence Crowell, Dr. Harry Travers, Ben Woolner, Jack Cook, Ray Baker, Walter Manuel, Frank Mott, Beach Dean and a ‘mumber of others saved much of the valuable bric-a-brac and furnishings of the Nile Club, which occupied the southwest corner of the up- per floor. The valuable painting, ‘‘The Lion at Rest,” owned by Harry Belden, that hung on the club walls, was saved. The club lost a piano; billiard and pool table. In the heat of the fire-fighting there WETe numerous narrow escapes from in- Jury. George Sorenson, a telephone com- pany - lineman, was cutting Wh’ei on a pole in front of the burning block. when a big section of stucco cornice fell, scat- tering brands and cinders all over him. He sheltered himself as best he could and escaped serious injury. ‘While the men of hose company No. 3 were sending a stream into the building at the middle of the Twelfth-street side, a section of roof copifig, all afire, fell with a crash. The flying ruins hit E. J. Bar- ron, an extraman, hurling him a dozen feet. He fell into the mass of embers, but was rescued by Extraman Wille- brandt and saved from bad injuries. FIREMAN IS INJURED. Jack Dolan, an extraman on truck 1, while working on the east side wall. was struck on the head by a falling brick, which laid open his scalp. He was sent to the Receiving Hospitsl Live electric wires werc croszed with telcohcne and telegraph wires, causing .';.. THOTO PHOTOGRAPHS OF SCENES AT THE FIRE THAT DESTRBYED THE BACON BLOCK IN OAKLAND YESTERDAY, AND VIEWS OF THE SCHOOLHOUSE THAT WAS BURNED MONDAY. Market Structure on Eleventh Street Barely Escapes Being Wiped Out. - =P numerous light shocks to be received, net only by firemen, but by occupants of buildings near the scene. Dr. O. D. Ham- lin, whose offices are at Twelfth street and Broadway, was among those hit. Hi was not seriously hurt. Before the fire had burned long, Chief Ball saw he had a hard battle on his hénds, and he sent in a general alarm that called out all the apparatus in the city. During the end of the fight he had eight streams of water on the build- ing. The men fought ‘the, fire along Twelfth street to Washington, where they centered for a time in Bernauer's glove' store, which was south .of the ‘Washington-street entrance to the up- per floor. There the smoke poured out as if through a funnel, and it was-there that the firemen got a taste of the flames that were steadily. eating out the heart of the building. While they were work- ing at that point there was a sudden burst of black smoke through the roof of the bullding, followed by a fiare of flames, &nd then the crackling warning came of the ‘doom of the old building. ATTACK FROM. ALL SIDES. ‘With fire visible it was now not so dif- ficult for the department. Steadily the -+ such other lines as were not blocked by the fire hose on Broadway, Washington and Twelfth streets. The Oakland Gas, Light and Heat Company jut on a large gang of linemen and by 5:30 o'clock had new circuits established. The inflammable nature of Smith Broth- ers’ ‘stock made it an easy prey for the flames. There was not enough left in the big store that occupied a large section of the block to make the insurance adjusters much work. The spacious store was swept clean, The Smiths had closed up their big holi- day trade and were preparing for stock- taking. which was to commence to-mor- row morhing. Not only were both of the young men hurt in the fire, but Mrs. M. 8..Smith, their mother, had her face and hands singed while trying to save some of the account books of the firm. Most of these records were got out in safety and were not injured. Charles Smith said: * SMITH’S ESTIMATE LOSS. This fire hits us pretty hard, as our loss is practically {otal. We do not know low to account for it, except that there might have been defective electric wiring near the rub- men worked into the building, the smoke in the basement having found another and larger vent, and they simply sur- rounded the fire with water from all sides. ‘With _this outburst of fire there was a ery that the Eleventh street frontage was dcomed. The merchants there weré a-scramble in an instant. From butcher shops, poultry, fish, game, fruit and veg- etable stands were rushed out all manner of produce, while wagons were fllled with the wares that seemed endangered. But the scare wds only a scare, and af- ter several hours of waiting the produce people remoyed their merchandise to the hastily deserted shops and resumed busi- ness. Before dusk the Bacon block was a smoking shell, with its stucco walls bulg- ing and its frail cornices and copings falling in embers to the sireet. The up- per story was burned out, leaving only a few charred studding to mark the in- terior. The outer walls vere gone. On the street floor the fire played as much havoe within and if there was any stock that escaped the flames and water the smoke did the rest. PLAYS HAVOC WITH WIRES. After the fire was under. control Chief Ball had the dangerous hanging walls and brick work pulled down. The fire played |.. bish piles which had accumulated in the base- ment. e could not get seavengers to take the atiff sway gt chotgh. The estimbse of our loss is al We carried this aimount of stock In the. varjous ents of the store. Our insurance is about $28,000. I do not see much that can be saved from the ruins. Our stock was of such a character that what wasz not destroyed by fire was ruined by water and smoke, My brother and myself, with some clerk on the first cry of fire rushed to the basemen: with extinguishers, but’the flames had made to0_great. headway and we were beaten bacl Until matters setile down we cannot say what we will do about new quarters. Along Twelfth street, beginning at the east end of the Bacon block. the street floor was occupied by the following busi- ness firms, whose losses are herewith ap- proximated: i E L. ga it, !cwh‘lgnmleh'lnes. 463 Twelfth $1 E-nm tnmnt Company, 465 Twallth noco W H Co Io'rn . agency, ’soo rnell, real esta 100 Mrs. !'.m lzrnnlflénmlmury. 467 ’L‘wllf:-:' Keystone Tea Compan g m Georse & and I, P Natsmi wfl §250; vior, coel,” Twelfth, Smith Brothers' store runs 100 fet on Twelfth street to Washington and fifty feet on the latter street. 'l’he other losses were: x Beuuusr, gloves, 1066 Washington, er, Shhalee, 200 ‘Washington, 1062 Washt F | im such havoc with the electyic wires that"| for semé time in the business districts both light, power and considerable tele- phone service cut off. The Oakland Transit Consolidated shut down its Twelfth-street line for a while and changed its current circuits to operate e b-n 1060 Washin ntg C'B¥"Card, clgars. 1008 Wash 4 The losses by the tenants of the upper floor are: Nile Club, $3500; Merrill lr.!’!tllte for h‘umr.- g llul) Sunset m. Dr E. —‘D M uuza-.m ¢ ks akia Uit One Fireman Injured and Carried to Hospital. L . Dr. E. R. Sill, $500; Dr. Colégrove, $500; Dr. Lanz, $500; Oakland Hospital Ald Assoclation, ral Copying Company, $500. Most of these sufferers were insured for 50 per cent or a lttle more. HISTORY OF BACON BLOCK. The lpsses to the physicians and den- tists consisted principally of their office | furnishings and some of their instruments and other apparatus. The Bacon block was one of Oakland’s | famous bufldings. For many years it was | the rendezvous of the old Oakland Light Cavalry. The Oakland Guard also used the big drill hall, and later it became a theater, and after that was used for sev- eral years as a barracks by the Salvation Army. Stores occupled the street floor. The owners of the property are Mrs. Ella Soule, Miss Carrie Bacon and Frank Page Bacon, children of the late Henry D. Bacon, a pioneer capitalist of this eity. After the old building had passed through many vicissitudes that Bacon T.and and Loan Company, the corporate title of the heirs’ organization, decided two years ago to remodel the barnlike structure. Plans were prepared which provided for a recomstruction of the up- stairs portion into office apartments and the first floor into stores. INSURANCE ABOUT $80,000. Representatives of the owners went be- fore" the last City Council and, after a hard fight, secured permission to make the alterations. the exterior should be stuccoed. work, flimsy as it was, cost the company $35,000. There is just that amount of in- surance on the burned block. To the front there was a lath and wi face laid on the planking that was nailed to the studding. It was by no means a fireproof job, and the old building was as much a menace as ever, for it was frame throughout except for the one-brick fire- walls or the east and the south sides. The Bacon property, including the mar- ket building, occupies a frontage of 200 feet on Twelfth, Washington and Elev= enih streets. It is a very valuable hold- ing, so valuable in fact that the owners are now carrying a mortgage of $150,000 on the lot and improvements. Summed up, the estimate of insurance on all of the burned property runs to about $80,000, of which the Bacon Land and Loan Company holds 335,000, the Smith Brothers $28,000, and smaller losers 7,000. The valuable hdusehold effects owned by the Bacon family were stored in the block. These had been taken from the old Bacon homestead some time ago and temporarily placed in the building, while the family were awaiting completion of a new residence in Pledmont. RARE PAINTINGS BURNED. Among the destroyed treasures were a number of rare pieces of statuary, ofl paintings and old furniture, poss both heirloom and intrinsie value. Be- sides this there were two I safes in the building which were fllled with valua- ble silver and other household goods of worth. The safes’ contents, it is thought, are not injured. The loss on these eflem is estimated at $20,000. Of necessity, the Bacon heirs will ru- ‘build, but the new structure will have jo be of modern fireproof construction to meet the conditions in this city. Frank S. Page, cashier of the University Savings Bank of Berkeley and agent for the Ba- con heh; said: The property is so valuable that it will have to be ulfllld (ur a rew structure. It pays handsomely and one of the flnest income properties in o-khnd It is, however, early to say anything about future plans. are now too greatly in tryine to save rome of the Emity. Betrloors that were stored In the block, Whep e el abdut ¥ years ago we ¢ $35,000 on the building. You might add uo.oeo to_thia as the original cost, and that mu would about reach the loss. inst thll i Coupaita of the Ballding. ‘excspt exce) A“ ohington-strect stores. leased or rented 190 We | from ws. Smith Bros.” Was $800 .monn. e they subelet 1o the thres Washe storekeepers. ng was 2 Y natal metwn exup! BRI R alls st for e ere of one V pach? + Phockad tho. ”l': - Jn z;g’ and saved the produce brick thi south 'lll ‘materially direction CLERGYMAN . .Tn the excitement of the fire the Jice had to battle with throngs of n po- the It was also provided that | The Managers of the Dewey Theater Fall Out Over Play. One Wants “The Conquerors’ and Another “The Mouth of the Cannon.” Oakland Office San Francisco Call, 1118 Broadway, Dec. 30. There 18 a quarrel on between the pow- ers that manage the Dewey Theater. Too many heads is at the bottom of .it all. Matters came to such a pass last night that Ed Chapman, who owns half the theater and fills the important office of treasurer, and Erwin Blunkall, as the representative of Landers Stevens, the owner of the other half, nearly came to blows. The only thing that separated them was a barricade of stanchions, by means of which Chapman and six police- men were keeping Blunkall oytside the portals. . The trouble started over what play should be given. Blunkall got the rights to “The Conquerors” and he wanted to run it two weeks. Chapman wanted to play “The Mouth of the Cannon,” be- cause he didn’t think *“The Conquerors™ would stand another week. It was only a difference of opinion. Police Captain Petersen hove in sight while they were arguing over it, so they agreed upon him as arbitrator. They talked it over in the captain’s office and Chapman got the decision. But when Blunkall went bacic to the theater he couldn’t get in for ihe portaly had been barricaded. Blunkall had torn up a power of at- torney that Landers Stevens had given him in the captain’s office, but when he couldn’t get in he went back and pieced it together. It will be war now until one or the other gets out. Booker Washington to Speak. OAKLAND, Dfec. 30,—Booker T. Wash~ ington, the champion of the colored race, includés Oakland in the list of citles in which he will speak during his tour of California. He will speak on the evening of Sunday, January 11, in the First Con- gregational Church. His subject will be the educational work that is being ecar- ried on in the South for the benefit of the negroes. @ el @ curious, who encroached upon the space requiréd for the firemen. As soon as fire lines were strung the work became less difficult. Because he was net ready to move on quickly enough and became a bit belligerent the Rev. J. W. Phillips. pastor of the Second Congregational Ghurch, was arrested by Special Police- man Hodgkins. The clergyman was re- leased on bail. Chief Ball to-night said the cause of the fire was undoubtedly defective wiring of electric light lines in the basement of Smith Bros.’ store. He sald: One of the Smiths saw sparks shooting from mires in the basement. and it is practically certain that these sparks ignited riabbish and started the flames, Stored in the t where the fire started was a lot of tible materfal, including picturs frames, var- nish and the like. - It took but a mement to ignite this stuff and to start the fire Beyond ordinary control. When the department ar- rived the flames had gained big headway. Streams were kept playing on the ruins until late in the night. In the center of the block, where the fire had been hot- test, a great mass of burning materfal had piled, and cn it the water was directed. SCHOOL A TOTAL LOSS. Officials Survey Ruins and Plan for Makeshift Accommodations. OAKLAND, Dee. 3.—Survey of the ruins of the Frauklin Grammar School. which was burned last night, was- made to-day by the school department officials and the insurance adjusters, the result being that the building and its contents are accounted to _be a total loss. With the exception of possibly 100 desks out of $00 in the school. the interior ara beyond repair. The building is so Ldly gutted inside that it canmot be rebuilt. With this_condition confronting them, the School Directors held a spectal meet- ing to-night to provide ways and means for the temporary accommodation of the 600 to 700" pupils in the school. Principal J. F. Chandler reported upon the conditions and the Directors, after a general discussion, decided to make rangements to tdke care of four classes fu the Swett School, to secure two rooms in the old Irving School at Tenth avenue and East Fourteenth street for immediate occupancy, and to comstruct at once a nine room ‘“‘barracks” building on the Bast Fifteenth street frontage of the Franklin School lot for serwice as a schoolhouse. ‘The Swett School and the Irving Sehool rooms will be available by Monday, when the school$ reopen. 1t will require- three weeks’ time in which to complete the temporary structure on the Franklin school lot. As soon as th! is bullt the entire school enrollment will have been night’s fire a bust and a large Ml‘out the late President Willlam which had adorned the school w.lh. Both mementoes were found this Investigation has failed to disclose & cause for the fire. There remains the mys- tery surrounding the stranger who was encountered on fhe school stalrway by young Bert Valentine, Janitor D. A. Val- entine’s nephew, At this evening's m.eun. of the Board of Education Janitor Valentine his story of last night. He said: the building. Indications from the outside As there had been no fire inside since school closed a week last 1t ‘would seem anmuuzhtb to say At T . e cobtitioe Tt Sihe have been used by an incendiary.