Show LONflABRATION AT BlSMAR K I NORTH DAKOTA TOWN ALMOST WIPED OUT I Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars Worth of Property Dstroyed Business Portion of City Burned Bismarck N D Aug SFlre destroyed the bestJortlon of the citYQf Bismarck this evening licking up hundreds of thousands thou-sands of dollars wOJth of proncrn Ihe llames originated In thez4gents office at the Nortlierp Pacific de potAmost ide fore they were dlscoveJt the entire b li ding d-ing > nd th8 Immense warehouse of the company were In lames Oils and powder I contributed fuel and before the llames could be checked they had spread to the I block of brick buildings across the nile destroying the TribUne offic Hares hardware hard-ware store and an entire row of buildIngs build-Ings The flames then leaped the street to the manillcent First National bank building which melted away In a few minutes The Central block followed and the flames spread to the postotflce SWeeHn over the entire block and arrylng down the posto1lice Merchants bank block Griffin block and all the intermediate frame and brick structur The fire then spread across and devoured Kunltzs store and the great part of the block The flames also spread north Into a resldenee block and completely destroyed it Firemen Were poweriehs to check the Inroads of the I fire which spreato scores of buildinza licking them up as so much waste paper The oriln of the fire is unknown as no one was In the freight office when it started Its Impossible to estimate the loss tonight All wires are burned the Western Union office hems nei the first to go The railroad office ws also destroyed A tcmporar cutin was made tn hnndle imneratie business I Every drug store In the city Is burned I and all toe groceries but two or three also two newspaper offices and the great built of the business portion of the city with several blocks of residences Many people are homeless The Sheridan house had a narrow escape but was saved The line of fire extended from the North i era Pacific tracks Thayer street |