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Show CONFLAGRATION. Salt Lake Feeds tho ; Fiery . Element. A Block of liuildings Razed. I ' , '. I Combat Between Daring Firemen and .the Fire Fiend. One of this City's Tinder Boxes Ignited. -Fearful Destruction of Property. TrolmMc toss, 5,000. FULL PARTICULARS OF LAST NIGHT'S BLAZE. The drenil cry of "lire" was pouudrd ut Imlf-past eight o'clock last livening, and was inline iiutely followed fol-lowed by tho lusty ringing of the alarm bell in the city hail tower, and tho Wasatch company's bell; while there was a rush of firemen to their respective engine houses, and of citizens cit-izens to tho Matthiesscn block, East Temple street, where a bright blazo was seen issuing from the top of a throe story building. The fire orig- tuatcd on i! t- third lluor of Reggel'a l liree story tU re, oppoBite tho Wasatch hotel, and had made fair progress before it was discovered. The firemen, fire-men, with tho Pioneer steam engine and two hand engines were early at tiie scene,, ami stationing the machines at tho tank On Walker Bros.' corner, had a stre wn playing on the firo in fifteen niinute3 from the time the al.irm bells commenced ringing. Mure hose was etrctched and branches e;t iblishcd, and within a brief period six or seven streams were driven into the raging clement; and hook and Udder men scaled to the roofs uf adjoining buildings, and. osf rted themselves to stay the ll.tmes, and to save the property. With what result, the pile of ruiu3 which mark the place where yesterday stood a long row of buildings will testify. From Charli?y Yeomnns' saloon, near tho Walker house, to Second South street, vtAi as inviting a fire trap its rould be erected. For ten rods were stretched out McKiminins' livery st.tble, M-itlhiessens' two story block, Rcggel's till building, Leo Hollander's jewelry store, a patched up old house occupied as a barber shop, tho White house and Sangio's Old City liquor store all of lumhor, not a brick or adobe wall in the whole line, making an elegant tinder box, fairly inviting the match, that it I might dash the whole row into cinders and ashes. ! Tbe firemen poured th e water upon and into Reggel's store, but the flames seemed to lick it up and burn tho brighter. From this point tho fire struck the adjoining property on tho south, Malthicasen block the first store being occupied by James & Co., groceries, &c and almost heedless heed-less of the efforts of the firemen steadily stead-ily went on its course of destruction, burning iu their order,afler the above-, Leebca' cigar mid tobacco store, Jordan's Jor-dan's wholesale cigar store, Taggart's drug store, Bubring's Denver beor hall aud Mulvimmins' stable. On the north from the point of starting, Hollander's fine jewelry establishment establish-ment fell an easy prey, and the hair store and barber's shop went next, when tho firo seemed to bo checked against the White house. By 10 o'clock all theso were gone. . At the present writing 10.30 the firemen appear to have control of the , north end of the fire at the hotel, and it is probable the White house and buildings running wesb on Second Sauth may be saved. Ycomans' saloon next to McKimmins' stable is of adobe, aud there the firo was (vipiirrfd thniieb it mav vet take the roof oQ.-th.it house, fly to I Suticrley's photograph gallery and thus reach the Walker house. However, How-ever, there is not much danger of the last named establishment being burned. For the entire ton rods, on both sides, tho firemen iuo manfully fought the flames, inch by inch; hut a river firmed into the fire, niter it was fairly started, would scarcely have saved the block. The wet snow was falling very fast during tho burning, yet it had no effect upon the flames, which shot heavenward in long, red streaks, illuminating the town and shedding a wierd glare over tho whole surrounding country. When the fire struck McKimmius' stable, it was not many minutes bo-fore bo-fore tho largo structure, with its great hulk of combustible material, was in the throoa of the devouring monster. The flimca shot up to a height of from 50 to 100 feet and illuminated il-luminated the whole heavens. . The entire city seemed ablazo, tho snow- clad peaks of the Wasatch could be plainly sceu in tho distance Tho horses and carriages had been removed re-moved to a place of safety whon the fire first broko out, and Mr. McKim-mins' McKim-mins' loss will bo confined to the buildiug and matorial.. Walkur Brothers feared that flyiny cinders would bo carried across tho slrcot and alight ou tbeir Btorcs; and wieely took precaution against their propei ty taking fire. Their large force of employed were organized into a firo brigade, aud while- some man-Lird man-Lird the private forco pump on the sidewalk, driving water to the roofs of the a torus, others were there hanging wet blankets over the walls. Fortunately Fortu-nately no wind was blowing during the progress of the fire, hence thero was no danger from flying embers. The gentlemen above aUo sent a large number of buckets to tho Walker house, to bo used in case tho fire , readied that hotel. The firemen, one mid all, worked systematically, iid with desperation. Every ono was loud iu praise of their efforts. An older organization and one of much more experience, could have done no better. At this hour, 11 o'clock, the fire is corraled and under perfect control The White houso is safe. Yeomana saloon is damaged some in tbe roof J' but tho firo went no farther south o that point. It is impossible to mon than guess at the extent of tho loss or to state tho amount of insur anco. The damage, at a low esti mate, is not less than $2o,000; whilt I the insurance is only trifling. Man) of the goods were removed from th( various stores at the comnienccmem and during the progress of the 3 firo, though everj thin? is damaged. dam-aged. Hollander saved much ol his jowelry, and tho cigar dealers were fortunate- in moving lots ol goods. Dr. Tajrgart save! very little. The Utah Skrtndinav office and most of the material are destroyed. Dr. , Calder, whose office was in the Matthicsscn block, up stairs, lost considerable. con-siderable. There wero also a number of private offices on tho eecond floor of the block, and the occupants all lost more or less. The loss at the White houso will b soveral hundred dollars. Tho furniture, bedding, etc , were takcu from the hotel into the street, and much damaged in the moving. McKimmins, though his horses and carriages were saved, is one of :'.ie heaviest, if not the heaviest heavi-est losjr. His stable was the largest in the city, and coat several thousand dollars. While there was not the usual amount of stealing going on, there was far too much of it. As goods wero carried into the street, many of them were prigged and taken away by thieves. Tho cigar dealers were perhaps most damaged by such parties. The origin of the fire is a mystery. The impression was pretty general last night that It was the work of an incendiary; though there . was no evidence of such being- the case. An investigation will probably be had. Unquestionably it was the most extensive conflagration that has ever visited Salt Lake; howovcr, we cannot can-not expect to escape equally as serious oues iu future, so long as the many traps of that character are permitted to exist here. It is due Bolely to tho absence of bad luck that Commercial J street was not long since reduced ; to au ashheap. ThU should be a warning that ought not to go unheeded by builders and property owners. If flimsy, wooden structures are to bo erected in the closely built portions of tho city, they should bo protected by frequent, substantial sub-stantial fire walls of good material. And it is also another loud call for hurrying the completion of the watec wcrks, which we are pleased to note the corporation is doing. |