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Show DOWN TOWN BLAZE HARD : TO CONQUER But Daniels' Theatre Fire Was Pat Oat After Loss of $7000. ASST. FIRE CHIEF PROVES TO BE HERO Wades Into Sea of Flame and Carries Oat Unconscious Uncon-scious Foreman. Every flratnaa la th city Barrio wsssommoDSoTlo'tbsSsoisls'Uisatrs building, 233, S3S aad 237 South- But street, to extinguish a firs which for a Urn aarly this morning threatened th destruction of ths entire building, sad Jeopardized othsr valuable buildings 1 ths lmnwdist Tieinlty. Th origin, ot th fir baa not beea detnninl by th officlala of th firs department. Fighting against heavy odds, th firemen, fire-men, -by heroic work, were able to keep the damage down to about $7000, though property valued at 116,000 was threatened, and though the fire had s good hesdwsy before sa slsnn was turned in. The work of the firemen wss retarded re-tarded snd their lives were endsngered bv s series of three terrific explosions which occurred within a few minutes after ths firemen had begun their work on , the building. One fireman wss knocked insensible by the first xplo-sios xplo-sios and wss rescued in a thrilling meaner by one of his superior officers, who risked bis own life to savs that of his subordinate. The discovery of a dens volume ot smoke pouring through the ventilators of the building by Special Watchman George F. Whit caused him to pull the lever of an alarm box en a nearby corner at 4:i3 o'clock this morning. Someone else, whose identity ha not been learned, telephoned aa alarm to the police department a moment or two later and th police department waa compelled to notify th fir department ia turn, thus losing a little time. OrlppUd Fireman Help. ' Chief W. U. Glore, Assistant Chief W. U FttzgersTd snd th equipment from th central station at headqwhr-tars headqwhr-tars responded to ths alssm. Other alarms wsr turned Is immediately waea the probable magnitude of the firs was hurriedly surveyed, nntii all the equipment of the city was assent-bled assent-bled at the fir. Firemen on sick leave, walking oh crutches, responded, and mad themselves useful by holding the horses whils ths regulsr drivsrs were engaged in sctivs duty ia aad about the building. Two lines of heee were run from the auto engine to the building. One line waa run Into the basement under the atage. where the fire waa hottest. Commanding this hose crew was Assistant As-sistant Chief W. Ij. Fltsaerald, who led his men through a hell of heat and flam under the atage. Then Cam Explosion. The men comprising this hose crew were Lieut. J. T. Bowen, his brother. Tom Bowen. sod "-Pel Odenwalder. The moment after the men had reached the basement floor a terrific explosion occurred oc-curred and a sheet of flame ewept across the stairway, cutting off escape. The force of this explosion waa so great the doors were ripped from their hinges and windows were shattered. "Back out,, fellowa!" ordered Assistant ' Chfef Fttsgerald. through his trumpet, snd throe of the men barked out. They were the aaeietant chief. Lieutenant Bowen and Odenwalder. Tom Bowen irae unconscious at the foot of the etalra, where be had been knocked by the ex-ploeion. ex-ploeion. Following the others to safety. Assistant Assist-ant Chief Fllacerald saw that Tom Bowen had been left behind. Urderlns his men to turn the full stream of water on htm. Assistant Chief Fltszerald dashed bai-k Into the aeelhlng flames, seised Bowen. threw him over his shoulder and climbed up tlie burning e'elrway. with the heavy stream ot water pounding over htm. and tottered bark to the top of the stairway, where Lieutenant Bowen relieved re-lieved the assistant chief of Ma burden and carried hie atlll -unronacieme brother Into the open air. Bowes did not recover re-cover for half an hour. Hairnet Saras Ufs. Just before Assistant Chief FltzaersM readied Bowen another enptoelon of awful force, though not no heavy aa the first, asaln shook the building. A piece of flying debris struts Asslstsnt Chief KltsgersTd on the head, knocking him down. Hla helmet undoubtedly saved hla life. Not daunted by this, he went ahead with his berole. task of rescue. - After the re had been extinguished the firemen made a thorough eeerch of the basement and found that there was a quantity of turrtentlne stored In the besemetit In one., a Ion cans. Heveral of these cane had not exploded. Immediately after the series of three explosions the flames shot up through the floor and through the roof of the building, reddening the sky with their glare. The Are had originated In a dressing room under the stage, what her from faulty wiring or from aom other catiee la not determined by the fire of-fl.lals. of-fl.lals. and spread rapidly. The whole portion under the stae waa in flame when the firemen reached the scene. The Are- reached the flimsy scenery and curtaina In a. remarkably abort time, and spread oa th a lag a though in tinder. New Auto Engin ataecassfni. Two streams war thrown upon the fire from the auto engine, which was given Its first real test In service and worked like a new watch. Four streams were used from the big engine, sa well aa other atreams from th hydrante. The ft re men. by sard Work, managed to conflne the Are to the rear of the building, thus holding the damage dowa to a minimum. Had the flame gone shove the first floor, the loa would have been muck heavier. Aa anen aa the alarm waa turned m and the firemen were on the scene, a corpe of men waa sent through the bava-lete bava-lete rooming houee on the second and third floors In front, to rouse the gueate and lead them to safety. One woman became Sxclted. and amash-Ing amash-Ing a window, leaped to the roof of the adiotnfng building, whence eh waa taken to the street by a flremaa. TJhere waa no panic In the rooming houee. and there CaUau4 ea pg lO.Jt DOWN TOWN BLAZE ' (Continued from page I.) was no lose ettlujr to the proprietor, Mrs. Nellie Campbell, or to the roomers. As Ihe firemen gradually got control or the fire, the different companies were ordered or-dered back to thalr reapectlve atatlona, with a reserve still held al headquarters At t o'clock this morning all equipment with the exception of two llnea of hose, were ordered back to their stations. Tlieee two llnea of hose were held until noon, to prvvent another outbreak of the flames. Those responding to the alarm were Chief Olore snd Aaslstsnl Chief Fltsger-aid: Fltsger-aid: the motor engine, and companies Tneii5ing lit occupied by the Daniels theatre, the Panicle Clothing company and the Daniels rooming house. It Is vslued at 110. MM), and the content of the whole are 'valued at iAS.eos. A total of III. one Ineurance la carried, divided as follows: Daniels Clothing company. f.mo; Danlela theatre. ItOOo; Danlela rooming tOUM- 1000: and on the bulld- BThe lose on the building Is estimated at II00S and en the contents, confined to the theatre portion, I2IKW. A total of 4S0 feet of hose waa uaed by the firemen. Chief Olore and Assistant Chief Flta-grrald Flta-grrald are earnest In their praise of the manner In which the t'tah Light and Railway company protected and aided the firemen by cutting off every volt of current cur-rent In the neighborhood the moment the alarm waa sounded.- . Third Firs Them. ' Toe trolley current and tha light and power currente for the block, were ahut off without a moment a delay, thue aiding the firemen materially, and eliminating a grave source af danger. Max Daniels la In the northwest. He left the city a abort time ago on a business busi-ness trip, and Is believed to have reached Butte today. Ha baa been wired of the Two other fires have occurred In this building within the last eight months. On the occasion of Ihe laat previous one there was a full house witnessing the moving picture show. A volume of smoke poured up from the basement, the fire having originated In a tnveterloue way In a pile of lumber. The operator of the moving picture machinery announced there was no cause for alarm, aa the furnace was smoking. The show went on while a bih-ket brigade fought the flames In the basement, finally extinguishing them. |