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Ravaged By Flames

Ravaged By Flames image
Parent Issue
Day
29
Month
January
Year
1897
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

Philadelphia, Jan. 26. - The most disastrous conflagration that has visited this city in recent years broke out shortly before 7 o'clock Tuesday mornIng in the rear of the basement of the big grocery store of Hanscom Bros., 1317 Market street, and before the dames were gotten under control, property amounting in value to $2,500,000 or more had been destroyed. The flames were tïrst discevered by John Wagner. a reserve policeman who was' passing the big building at 6:30 o'clock. He imnediately turned in an alarm. Before ;he ensdnes reached the scène the entire rear portion of the Hanscom & Dentiett's big restaurant was ablaze. A secoud alarm was then sent in, and a few mnments later a general alarm was sounded. Immediately adjoining Hanscom Bros. on the west, was the flve story building occupied by Blum Bros., manufacturera of ladies' cloaks. The fla;nfi! spread with almust liqhtning :-apidity and Blum Bro.' building was Boon a mass of ñames. The water seemed almost to freeze before ït touched the buildings, so bitter cold -ai the weather. Other Buildings Calch Fire. The next building on the west to be eaten up by the raging fire was that occupied by George Marshall as a restaurant; then came the manufactory of George B. Wells at 1323, and the rear of the Wholesale grocery of Showell & Fryer at 1325 Market street. While the llames were sweeping west on Market street, the umbrella manufactory of Hirsch Bros., the largest in the world, which adjoined Dennett's restaurant, caught fire. The inflammable nature of the immense stock of light silks added fuel to the seething flames, and in half an hour the beautiful eightstory building extending from 1309 to 1315 Market street, was a mass of flames. On the east of the Hirsch building, between 1309 and 1301 Market street, were the following tenants: The Mizpah restaurant, 1307; Sterner & Ba 11, wholesale and retail cigar factory, 1305; wholesale and retail confectionery of A. Nickolacky, 1303, and the big drug store of H. Hillman at 1301, the upper story of which was occupied by Potter Bros. as a photograph gallery. Big Printing House Gutted. On the north side of Hirsch Bros.' factory, immediately across Silver street, stood the new seven-story building of Dunlap Bros., the only printinj; flrm in the state with a capacity for printing the big blanket Australian ballons. This building extended from 1306 to 1310 Filbert street, and was 100 feet deep. The first floors were occupied by the Collins Carriage company. The flames swept through this big structure and g-utted it completely. The small buildings on Silver street, which runs west from Thirteenth to Juniper, were all gutted. The shop of Contractor Lewis Havens caught fire from the rear of Blum Bros., and three firemen were caught by a falling wall. Frank Piper of engine company 30 was the only rnan seriously injured. At 8:15 a. m. fire was discovered in the tower of John Wanamaker's big dry goods store. A stream of water from one of the water towers was run up to the burning structure, but the supply of water was either too small or the apparatus defective, as the stream would not reach. The tower contained a handsome clock and chimes. Collapse of tlie Tower. At 9 o'clock the entire tow'er collapsed, the clock falling through to the first floor. Two lines of hose were then gotten on top of the gigantic structure and the flames which had threatened to destroy Philadelphia's most famous store was soon under control. The fire had been confined entirely. to the Market street front and the loss sustained by Mr. Wanamaker was principally !n the destruction of his clock and chimes, and the breaking of all the large plate glass windows on Market street. The roof of the building was ablaze at one time and it seemed as though the entire structure was doomed, but the hose operated by the employés of the big establishment kept the fire within bounds.

Article

Subjects
Ann Arbor Argus
Old News