The Seattle Fire.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 5603, 14 August 1889, Page 3

The Seattle Fire.

Wo aro indebted to the Sau Francisco Bullotin for tho following account of this great firo : — Seattle, W.T., June 7.—Seattle has been swept by lire as Chicago was swept in 1871, and as Boston was swept in 1872. Not v business house of any consideration remains. The whole business section from Union street on the north to the upper end of the bay, and in some places as far back us Fifth street, is utterly swept out of existence. It only remains now to give the details of tho damage, the incidents of the great conflagration, and the reasons why it spread so far. There are several stories told as to how the fire originated. It broke out yesterday at 2.30 p.m. Some say it was started by an overturned glue pot in a furniture factory ; others say that some careless tinnors were responsible for it. It makes but little difference how it started. It soon spread so rapidly that tho firemen and tho thousands of excited citizens who came to their assistance utterly lost control of it. Tho Chief Firo Marshal was not in the city. If he had been he could probably havo been of but little service. Beforo the fire bad been burning an hour the water gave out, and the people were loft utterly helpless to control or stay it. It is explained that the idling and sawdust, with which many of the streets arc filled and through which the water mains arc laid, burned away rapidly, aud that tbe pipes burst and soon became empty. Whether or not this in the truo explanation, the fact remains that before tho firo reached tho Occidental Hotel there was no water left to fight it with, and the people wero compelled to stand idly by and sec their city bum.

The tire spread from the point of origin north of Union street, taking everything ou the west side of Front street- At tho Opera House it crossed to the east side of Front streot and swept everything in that block, and most of tho block at,"the north. A strong wind blew from the north, and the tide of fire sot rapidly in the opposite direction. By tho time the Occidental Hotel was involved the fiaiues had crossed Second street, and taken nearly everything south of the Boston Block. In a short time they had cleared away everything between the Ye.ter Mansion ou the hills and the bay. I'ioui Yester avenue south the names ex-

tended to Fifth street, taking everything in their way to the water's edge. Once the fire had crossed Gessler avenue into the thiokly built lodging-houses and the tenement region, its progress was terrifioally rapid. The wharves and warehouses of the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company and the "ther lines were soon involved, then the coal bunkers and all the mills, factories, and lumber yards on the wharves, as far south as the new warehouse of the Puget Sound Shore Railroad Company and the new dry docks. All this vast territory, from the line above described to tho uttermost end of the wharves and piers, everything that had not been reduced to aslm was burning. All night long the flames from the burning section lit up the city, making it almost as bright as day. People thronged the streets, but the best of order prevailed. The throe companies of militia patrolled tho streets in all directions and hundreds of citizens who had been sworn in as special policemen helped to keep order, und they succeeded ndmirably. Now and again some reckless thief attempted to commit some depredation, but he was promptly seized upon and gaoled. Tho people whose homes had been burned and who had saved a part of their furniture camped down beside it and slept in the open air.

The throe or four hundred citizens of Tacoma who came over by tho evening train, tendered their services in a body to the city authorities to help guard and protect property. Their offer was accepted, and they went on guard at mid-night, relieving tho weary residents 1 of Seattle, who, up to that time, had kept the peace. Tho streets are full of debris—fallen walls, bent columns, charred tolegraph poles, twisted and tangled wires, and bent streot railway rails. " The Yester-avonue cablo line is'badly damaged, tbe tunnel beina: burnt, out in many places through the burnt district. Tho Front-street lino is, also, badly damaged and the cablo whs kept running all night long to keep it from being damaged by the intense hent. No reliable estimate of the damage has yet been made. F. A. Polvin, of Lincoln, Neb., a practical builder of long experience and a very conservative man, thinks tho buildinsrs catinot bo replaced for less than j10,000~,000. He is ot the opinion that the merchandise destroyed is of still greater value. Some very cool and conservative citiOons of Seattle think tho damago will reach at least §12,000,000 to §1.">,000,000. The Post Intelligencer puts it at $8,000,000. This is certainly a very moderate estimate Mayor Moran thinks the damage will reach $15,000,000. j

There is every indication this morning that the enterprise whioh has mado Seattlo a city so famous will soon begin to rebuild it with the energy that marked the rebuilding of Chicago in 1871 and Boston in 1872.