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Newspaper Page Text
THE EAGLE: WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 1895. DESTRUCTIVE FLAMES. The Nun ta Fe Kullroad Station Entirely Dvxtroyed by Fire. Last Monday night, a little after 11 o'clock, a man came running across the flat on which the railroad station was situated yelling "Fire" at the top of his voice. It was not long before others joined in the chorus and then a few pis tol shots were 11 red to arouse the town. People poked their heads out of doors and windows to see a bright glare caused by the burning of the railroad station. It took hut a few moments for a consi derable number of people to gather, but by the time a HUllicient number of men had gathered to accomplish anything, the north end of the building, which was used lor the storing o Ireiglit, was a roaring mass of Haines. A stream was got on the lire from the hose kept at the lire plug in the freight yard, but as the station was situated a considerable distance from town and the nearest fire plug, which is on rwntli street, near Itullard, was several hundred feet away, a stream could not be put on the tire from that plug. Several cars which were standing on the track, at the rear of the building, caught lire but they were promptly moved out of the way anil the lire was soon ttenched by a bucket bri- company's hydrant is very much less than the pressure in the city mains and it is a matter of not the slightest doubt but that if the station had been located in a place which could have been reached by the fire companies' hose from a city hydrant the fire would have been extin guished without the loss of anything in the office. There was less freight in the building at the time of the fire than there had been for some time before and the loss in thisdirection was light. Amongother articles of freight there were a number of cans of powder and a quantity of giant caps, but the caps exploded soon after the lire started and before a dozen people reached thi scene of the fire ami the powder burned up without doing any damage. In the baggage room there were a number of trunks and they were all destroyed. All of the records of the Western Union Telegraph company were lost as were also the instruments in the otlice at the station. Western Union headquarters were removed yesterday to the down town otlice in the post office building. Prof. .Miles had a quantity of goods in the building which he was going to ship to Rincón but they were all destroyed with the exception of a clock which was the last anide rescued from the burning building. The firemen had leen pour- was all ablaze. All of the doors were securely fastened so that it is hardly possible that the building was set on fire. The safe was opened yesterday morning and the contents were badly damaged by water. General Superintendent Dyer and the division superintendent arrived last evening on a special. ii'lili , . .. ing a steady stream of water on the safe l!y this time a good many people from ... , . town were hastening to the scene of the fire when some one said that there was a quantity of powder stored in the burn ing building. This caused a number of IH'ople to beat a hasty retreat and they were content to view the blaze from a safe distance. The building, being entirely of frame, burned rapidly and the firemen had an unequal fight with the llames, being able to get but one stream on the fire. KW a time it seemed as though at least half of the building would lie saved and Ihat the lire would lie con (i tied to the end of the building in which the freight ami baggage were stored. The local ticket case, records, typewriter and other light articles which were in the ollice were saved, but the big case in which the coupons tickets were kept was destroyed. The lire, which had been kept from the south end of the building, bv the efforts of the firemen, gradually worked around on the west side where the llames could not be reached by the single stream of water and by midnight it was apparent that the entire building would be destroyed. As soon as the useless ness of further attempts to save the building was apparent, the attention of the firemen was directed to keeping the safe, which was a small one, as cool as jtossible in order that its contents might not lie destroyed. . The water pressure from the railroad which was not far from the rear door of the office, and this had kept the llames awav from that part of the building. Prof. Miles happened to notice a Iwix lie tween the safe and the door and he con cluded that it contained a line clock which he did not wish to lose. The side of the building was about readv to fall but he crept in and secured the box which was dripping with water. For the present box cars will le used as ticket office, freight ollice, baggage room and telegraph ollice. Whether the station will be rebuilt on the site of the old one is not known, but it is possible that the company may decide to locate the new building at some point more convenient to town and where it could be reached by the city fire department in case of a fire. This is one of the very few build ings which have been entirely destroyed by lire here since the organization of the Silver City fire department and these, with one exception, have been fr.une structures. The origin of the lire is simply a mat ter of conjecture. It started in the room where the freight was stored, hut beyond this nothing is known. Agent Mudge was at the station late in the evening and when he left everything appeared to be all right. 0. Causland and Ed Dick inson were the first to discover the lire and when they arrived at the burning building the interior of the freight room The Van smelter below town was started up last Friday after considerable trouble in getting the plant ready for operation. It was blown in several times and each time it had to be blown out on account of a leak. There is a good sup ply of ore on hand and it is thought that the smelter can be kept running steadily now. The contract has been let for the plas tering of the Grayson residence west of the railroad station. It is expected that this residence will be ready for occupa tion in few weeks. Miss Mulford, of East Orange, N. .1., is here getting botanical specimens for an eastern botanist. Her baggage was in the baggage room and was destroyed by fire last Monday night. It would be a handsome thing for flic people of this city to give the firemen a ball or other entertainment, the proceeds of which should be used for the benefit of the firemen. The firemen have always done excellent service in cases of lire and it is but right and just that they should lie recognized in some substan tial way. A party of young people left on Mon day for the Gila hot springs to lie gone a couple of weeks. W. F. Lorenz has gone to the Mogol lón. In his absence Col. Twomey is handling the mail at the postollice. The surnreme court of the territory will meet in Santa Fe a week from next Monday. Quite a numlicr of cases have been docketed for this term. P. H. Heather has returned from a trip out to the Gila. While out there he broke a bicycle to ride and can manage the unruly things to perfection. Do Von Want a (iooil Uani'li. A first c'ass ranch in t lie vicinity of Aztec, San Juan Co., N. M., offered at a bargain. Farm tools and stock included. Sheep taken as part payment. If you mean business, Tun Eaui.k, Silver City, N. M., is prepared to give you a bargain. Write now for particulars. Fruit Kanrh for Sale. I offer my Fruit lUneh, situated on the Mimbres, for sale. Fifteen hundred lieariMir trees of the finest varieties. For i further information apply to MUS. MAl'l) A. I'IKI.DKII. Silver City, N. M. PHILOTOKEW li WnDiii'i tula id IMialil KikD.I. K liru-a iiimillilr naM.curai nervoulMM ad liyitrila Mill rtMuin In pril. cl U.ltlu Biilil bydrulliiilillnlor II Fw i.l,ltmlltaoniiiillc.lion. iryuvcu'li'i lirmm imr dnw .l.Lirlid II la II BiMiitrtof mt I" l" ,11 " T"- U l,T !.".. OlwlM .!, WhutaMtaBmiml,! Oort- Un,ll SI ""Jn or H.lr Hid Whtokr to brown C. "I t ur tUi'k I lw wluum II UillU.