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Show LARGE AREA IN HOUSTON FIRE-8WEPT Smoldering Wreckage Covers Terrl. tory Mile and Half Long and Vary. Ing In Width from 200 Yards to Half Mile. Houston, Tex., Feb. 21. In tho wake ot the most destructive fire In tho history of Houston, smoldering wreckage tonight covers an area ono and a halt miles In length and varying vary-ing In width from 200 yards to halt a mllo In tho northeastern section ot tho city. ' Moro than n dozen of the city's most important Industrial enterprises nro In ruins; 200 or more dwellings nnd storo buildings aro la ashes and approximately 1,000 persons are homeless. An nccurato statement of tho monetary mon-etary Ioes ls not yet posslblo, but tho most conservative is -that It will roach $7,000,000, whllo tho Insurance carried will not exceed forty por cent ICxcopt for a few who suffered minor burns and bruises, no casualties attended at-tended tho fire. Droaking forth suddenly In nn untenanted un-tenanted rooming house, known locally local-ly as tho "mad house" shortly after 1 o'clock this morning, and nt a time when a flerco galo was sweeping from tho northwest, tho flro mado rapid headway. Tho flames swept toward tho southeast, gonorally, making mak-ing clean and desolato tholr route, but occaslonnlly sparing n structur sometimes, n mere shanty, and again a plnco of protcnslon. Four hours lntor tho aroa of destruction de-struction had been defined, but the work of tho flro-flghters was not thon nor Is It yet ended, for nil. over the blackened districts aro piles of debris still burning. Checked at Bayou Uuffalo, Uayouj which extends ncross tho city east and west checked check-ed the fire; except for nn occasional dip across the stream-, tho destruction ended 'thoro. In the early morning tho galo continued con-tinued fiercely and at times hurled clouds' ot burning shinglos great distances. dis-tances. Two of tho plants thus threatened wcro those of the TexaB Oil company I nnd tho Houston Packing company. fl Tho latter was damaged to a cousld- M crablo oxtent. Ifct Sovcral times Uio roof of tho oil WKt plant was Ignited by flying brands, but tho Incipient blazes wcro extinguished. extin-guished. Tho Industrial plants destroyed In-cludo In-cludo threo cotton compresses, to-gothor to-gothor with G5.000 bales of cotton, a syrup factory, a pencil factory, two rico 'mills, a cotton pickery and three lumber yards. |