A Terrible Vire at San Fran-Cisco.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1605, 11 January 1886, Page 2

A Terrible Vire at San FranCisco.

, The fire fiend has been busy at work m our city lately, despoiling many fine buildings, and ruthlessly swallowing up a lar«e amount of property ; but his • last and most fatal freak was played upon the wholes <le sta tionery house of H Crook^r» brother of Charles Crooker, .the rail^ load millionaire, -which has indeed proved a calamity m many respects. ;The building wa» a very handsome •brick structure, nearly new and it was m the basement that the fire smouldered and smoked tor a lon£ time, the firemen having taken: possession of the first floor, thrbugti which they drilled holes m order ;to pass down tho water boss. 'JHiej^ pumped upon the burning mast beneath ineffectually, until, without warning, the floor began <o tremble, the supports burning below. The entire (joi"pes bad barely time to escape jiff the windows* when the floor fell with an awful crash, carrying two firemen with it into the sheet of flame below. The excitement was terrible, and kthe whole body of firemen rushed t in, to aid. the two sufferers, who could be heard wailing aud crying "Pool* wife," '« poor , mother " ; v . Oh, Gdrl^ we are lost." In a moment, the> flames burst forth, and showed the two men pinned down l>y the burning .timbers, ;, and as they screamed out m their agony, another pile" of fiei^r wood fell and buried them from sight. It was an. awful position. Th«y were within 12ft. of those men T <n»a that part of the floor which had not given way before the cellar, and yet they were powerless to save them. Another man fell m, hut was rescued. The sconces were awful. One man rushed up a ladder to get his hose through a window, when, an he put his head in t a fierce volume of flame was belched forth ; hut the man ; Kelß on bravely, and those from below sent up streams of water, which fortunate* ly saved another life. The Shouts of gladness arose into a yell as the man was .seen still at his post. r 'Tlie buildings all around the doomed one are very fine and large, and?ftpni them on all sides the fire hose was Maid through, while the valiant firemen fought the terrible element with un--1 diminished bravery. The five' flbbrs fell one after .another with" terrible crashes. Huge safes and all-kinds of b>avy machinery were precipitated to the basement, till, after burning all night, the biddings ,. were gutted* In fact, the fire burnt for tyro days* or rather smouldered. , Oniv ,a toot and a few bones were .found of J theunfortunate man . who i perished. One of these was a married man, and he has left a wife and child,, the^poor wife giving- birth to another _ cli33. lhe day after the calamity. The* Either was an unmarried Juan* but the sole support of his family, seven m num— i ber. ' The losses are estimated^ at £200,000, the insurances covering not one-half. The building itself was owned by tho millionaire (IJrooker, who, however can afford to lose it. As soon as he hearcl of the sad fate of the firemen he telegraphed .£I,OOO for the benefit of their families. The business sympathy was largely mani* fested by all the printing houses m theioity who offered to execute all the! orders recived by the fiim of Crooker, also to give the men temporary employment. Altogether no swoh terrible tire has been seen m this city for twelve years*—" Silyer Pen," m the Auckland Herdii.H {.}'[)