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Show .. , - ...... - ..... . . ' : w '- ' Photo by Newcomb, I THE ATLAS BLOCK FROM A PHOTOGRAPH .TAKEN .TODAY. , Dr. Scott, Who Had a Nanoff Escape From .tic. Burning Structure, . Declares That the Build-. Ing Was' Set on Fire. Manager Walker, Engineer and Janitors of the Atlas At-las Block Say Every ; Precaution Against Fire Was Taken. Theories as to the origin of the fire, which destroyed the Atlas building, are many and diverse. Some of the theories theo-ries give color to the suspicion that the fire was the work of an incendiary. FIRE CHIEF DEVINE said to The Telegram: "1 have not the remotest idea of the origin of the Are, but it probably started start-ed In the elevator shaft. This would account for the rapid spread of the flames to all the floors of the building. "The false floors of the building which were put in when it was remodeled In 1890 would have made it possible for the Are to smoulder for a long time before it broke out. These false floors made it a fire trap." Dr. Scott's Statement. DR. H. S. SCOTT, who was sleeping sleep-ing In his offices on the fourth floor, said: "When I saw the Are first, the whole floor was covered, as was every floor I passed on my way down the fire escape. es-cape. "I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT THE FIRE ORIGINATED IN THE BOILER-ROOM OR ELEVATOR SHAFT. I have been a tenant in the building since 1S95 and never saw any indication of carelessness on the part of the employees em-ployees In 'the engine-room. The engine-room and elevator shaft were invariably in-variably kept absolutely free of debris ' . -bttI rub'"1!. . .., ' rCANNOTBUT BELIEVE THAT THE INDICATIONS POINT TO THE WORK OF AN INCENDIARY. I do not believe that It was caused by de- ' ' fectlve electric wiring, as there were but two or three lights burning In the building, and the current was the lowest low-est at that time of night that was used during the whole day or night. The Incendiary Theory. "People always suspect that such fires under such circumstances are of lncen-dalry lncen-dalry origin and I cannot help holding that idea at this time. "Since I have lived in the building I have stopped three fires, one of which, occurring several years ago, was particularly par-ticularly suspicious. -WHEN A PILE OF STRAW LYING AGAINST A WALL IS BURNING IT CERTAINLY LOOK8 SUSPICIOUS. THIS 18 WHAT HAPPENED A FEW YEARS AGO. I believe that If the facts were known, the hand of an incendiary would be seen at the root of the matter." What a Tenant Says. One of the tenants stated that the fire began in the rear of the building. He could not state whether It was outside out-side the building or in one of the rooms. He believes that . it spread from that point to the elevator shaft and then communicated with the" other floors. If such were the case, the theory that It was of Incendiary origin would be materially ma-terially strengthened. Another tenant was of the opinion that a .match or cigarette had been dropped Into the elevator shaft by some one coming from the Oxford saloon through the Atlas block hallway. This, he believes, started a Are which smouldered smoul-dered until It got a good headway and then broke out, spreading to the upper floors. View of Mr. Walker. SHARP WALKER, manager of the Atlae block, said that he could not understand un-derstand how the Are originated, as everyone employed about the building had positive instructions to see that no fire be left burning on their departure for the night. "I cannot account for this disaster in any way," he declared, "for I have seen my firemen and Janitors and they all state positively that everything was as It should be when they left the building build-ing as late as 10 o'clock. "I have heard a number of reports as to, the cause, but there does not seem to be any foundation for any of them. Some say the Are started in the barber shop in the basement- Others say the Are started In the engine-room, while still others claim that the Are originated originat-ed on one of the upper floors. As a fact. I don't believe anyone knows how or where it did start." What the Engineer Says. A. H. AVERY, engineer of the building, build-ing, is positive in his statement that the Are could not have been caused by his furnaces or by a defective Aue or. in fact, from any Are in the engine-room. engine-room. He said: "When I am ready to leave the build, ing for the night I see that everything Is in shape and as It should be; that the Ares are properly cared for and that no cinders or live coals are lying around the engine-room. "Last night everything was carefully attended .to as usual, and I am positive that the Are did not originate in the Are room. No Defective Flue. ' "As to the Are being caused by a defective de-fective Aue, that would be Impossible, for the Aue was seven bricks thick and in good' order." W. F. CORBIN and Allen Avery, the two Janitors of the building, are equally at a loss as to the cause of the Are and i.-- (Continued on Page CJ , I left the shaft a large piece of burning wood fell from above and dropped down the shaft." G. H. Hirschvogel, who was asleep on the top floor of the building when the flames aroused him, is of the opinion that the fire started in the lower part of the building and communicated with the other floors by means of the elevator ele-vator shaft. , . . Origin of Fire. t (Continued from Page 1.) do not hesitate to say that everything about the building was all right at 10 o'clock last evening. "We were through the building at 10 o'clock," declared Mr. Corbin, "and there was no smoke or smell of burning burn-ing material, and I am sure the Are was not started at that time or it would have been discovered. I cannot account for It any way." Started on Upper Floors. C. F. COFFIN, a hardware man who occupied rooms on the second floor, gives positive information that the fire started on the upper floors of the building, build-ing, but how It started he does not know. He said: "I was aroused from my sleep shortly short-ly before 2 o'clock by the sound of breaking glass on one of the floors above. I listened for a minute, and became convinced that someone was smashing windows up there. I got out of bed and -went into the hall, from where I could see flames and smoke coming from the floor above. I looked down the elevator shaft, but there was no sign of Are down there, but before |