Show THREE HEROES SAVED THE CITY Naval Officer and Two Gunners Stopped the Sea of Flame at Van Ness Avenue GALLANTLY Y RISKED LIVES EXPERT USE OF DEADLY GUN GUNCOTTON COTTON COTrON j 2 San Francisco April 34 Three heroes saved San Francisco what is left of ot It They were w re the dynamite squad that threw back the fire demon at Van Ness avenue When the burning city seemed doomed and the flames lit the sky further and further to the west Admiral McCalla sent a trio of his most trusted men from Mare island bland with orders to check the con at any cost of life Ute or property With them they brought a ton and a half Ralf of ot guncotton The terrific power of ot the explosive was equal to the maniac deter determination determination determination of ot the fire Names of f the Heroes Captain MacBride was In charge of the squad Chief Gunner Adamson placed the charges and the third gunner set them off The thunderous detonations to which the terrified city listened all that dreadful Friday night meant the salvation of ot lives A million dollars worth of ot prop erty noble residences arid and worthless shacks were blown to drifting dust but that destruction broke the fire lire and sent the raging flames lames over their own charred path The whole east side of ot Van Ness avenue from Golden Gate to Greenwich was dy a block deep though most of the structures stood untouched by spark or cinder Not one charge failed Not one building stood upon its foundation District Seemed Safe Unless some so e second v malicious s miracle i r of 01 nature reversed the direction of or the tho west westwind westwInd wind the whole populous district to the S west blocked with fleeing refugees and I except by the disastrous glare on the water front seemed safe by b 9 Van Ness Nes avenue Is flat as the earth on or t the east side Every pound of guncotton t did its work and though the ruins burned It was but feebly From Golden Gate ave avenue avenue nue north the fire tire crossed the wide street streel In but one place That was the Claus S Spreckels place on the corner corper of Califor California nia street There the flames were writh writhing writhing TithIng ing up the Wang walls before the dynamiters I could co ld reach It Yet they made their way wa r to the foundations carrying their explosives explosives despite the heat The Th charge had to be placed so 50 and I the fuse lit Ht In such ch a hurry hum that the ox was not quite successful from th thE the trained viewpoint of the gunners But though the walls RUS still stood it was only nB empty victory for the tho fire as bare brick and smoking ruins are poor food fo tor flames Not a Pound Wasted Captain dynamiting squad realized that a stand was hopeless except t on Van Ness avenue They could have havi S forced their explosives further in th the burning section but not a pound of gun guncotton guncotton cotton could be or was wasted The ruined I block that met the wide thoroughfare formed a trench through the clustered structures that the conflagration wild a aIt as ait S It was could not leap eap Engines pumping brine through Fort Mason from the bay ba completed the little work that the gun guncotton cotton cott n had left but for three days davs gunS th thi the S ed firemen guarded the flicker Iner ruins The Tho desolate waste straight through gh th the e heart of the city Is a mute witness to th tb the e tbS most heroic and effective work of th tb the S whole calamity Three men did this am an and 2 when their work was over and what stood anS S of the city rested quietly for the firs first time they departed as modestly as the they y had come They were ordered to save San Sa Sai a ya SaiS Francisco and they obeyed orders ani am and S Captain MacBride and his hi two gunner amS S made history on that tha dreadful night |