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Show OLD MONTEREY Place Totally Destroyed Within With-in Six Hours After First Cavalry Leaves for Border. INVESTIGATION STARTS Firemen Find Water Supply Cut Post Was Ancient Military Headquarters of General W. T. Sherman. Monterey, Calif., March 13. The headquarters building of the Monterey Monte-rey presidio, was totally destroyed by fire this morning, about six hours after aft-er being vacated by troops of the first cavalry who left for the Mexican border. bor-der. Firemen attempting to extinguish, extin-guish, the flames found that the water wa-ter supply had been shut off at the source. An Investigation was started Immediately Imme-diately by caretakers left In charge. Monterey was tho Spanish and Mexican Mexi-can capital of California and the presidio pres-idio occupies the site of the ancient military headquarters. The post was an uncompleted one, described by military authorities as a sort of can-tpnmcnt, can-tpnmcnt, with old wooden barracks sufficient to accommodate a regiment. Thes6 were of the type common at tho presidio of San Francisco, where several persons, including the wife and three daughters of Brigadier-General John J. Pershing, have been burned burn-ed to death. The monetary loss, it was said, is of small moment. The blaze itself was comparatively brief. Tho leaping flames outlined the grass covered parapets of the old earthworks thrown up by an American Amer-ican landing party in 1846, and even lighted the adobe house where, a little lit-tle later, General W. T. Sherman, then a raw lieutenant lived, and what was the adobe American consulate. Safe and Postofflce Saved. Tho headquarters safe and the contents con-tents of tho postofflce were saved; all other records and papers were destroyed. de-stroyed. Major James G. Harboard in chargo of the post, refused to discuss the origin of tho fire until he had made his own Investigation, Much weight was given by military authorities, It became known, to the fact that the flro started in the headquarters head-quarters building. Probably the first Intimation was received In telephone headquarters at Monterey, where the switchboard lamps connecting with the army post bogan to wink. The operators, howevpr, were unable to "reach" the post 'land said later that tho signals must have been caused by the burning out of the poBt switchboard. switch-board. A few minutes later two soldier sol-dier caretakers burst into tho Monterey Mon-terey fire department calling for help. Private D. F. Saylor, post telephone oporator, awake at 3 a. m. saw no fire but forty minutes later he rushed rush-ed from the building choking. It was fifteen minutes, it was Bald, after the firemen responded before water entered en-tered the house. In the burned building, almost a total to-tal loss, were located tho postofflce, telegraph office, print shop and headquarters. head-quarters. Tho only troops remaining here are tho ambulance corps, field hospital and cook school. oo Paris and France Principal James L. Barker of the Weber academy delivered de-livered a lecture lest night, at the Eleventh ward meeting house, on the BUbJoct of Paris and France. |