The New York Times from New York, New York • Page 1

GENT. i. Jill THS COSDESSZD. Cash wheat No. a corn Nx mixed.

iie; cash cotton. oc. FOREIGN. Both the Spanish snd. the fXnerian PCommllon-r, "i bope yesterday that within week ill UMliracs between them wUl hw beWedJusted and the treaty duly aimed.

Judre Day sent similar aasurajnces to President McKiakT. Continued fighting la reported from the Philippines between the insurgent and the Spaniards, and It Is caid the Insurgent run are trained on the City of Hollo. In the Vlsayas Islands. President Zelaya Nicaragua has appointed bis new Cabinet, and the Govem-. went aa an Independent nation will be resumed sine the failure of the new republic of which Nicaragua ru a State.

The United States run boat Helena arrived yesterday for coal at Gibraltar en route to join Admiral Dewey's squadron at Manila. CoL Piquart has asked the Court of Cassation to decide whether be Is amenable to civil or military court for a hearing- upon the charges for which he Is Imprisoned. Page 7. Page 2. bL Roosevelt passed through the city yesterday bound for home from Boston.

Chairman OdeU left for Washington. The resignation of the Rot. Dr. Kerr, pastor, has resulted In a scandalous story being circulated, which will be investigated by the New York Presbytery. la.

meeting of prominent members of the Royal Arcanum was held In this city yesterday, to arrange for the presentation of a sword of honor to Admiral Schley. Pare 8. Vessels arriving in port brought tales of aeatA ana aesxrucuon at II landslide on the New York, Susquehanr.a and Western Railroad near Swartswood, N. X. yesterday caused the wreck of a freight Three men were badly Commissioner McCartney employed many more carts than usual yesterday In hauling away snow, and the rain helped In the work.

Good results were noticed on many streets, but the work was not finished. Pave 4. tThe closing session of the Fifty-fifth Congress will open at noon to-day. President Iglesias of the Republics of Costa Rica returned to this city from Washington last night. Samuel Colcorra reply to CoL Ingersoll at -a-meeting yesterday In Chlckering Hall was frequently interrupted by the Colonel's admirers In the audience.

She United States Brewers Association has called a meeting of brewers, to be held in this city Wednesday, to take action -to secure the repeal of the war tax on beer. Edward T. Devine, Secretary of the Charity Organization Society, yesterday, at the Broadway Tabernacle, addressed the class In present-day problems on the subject of The SUiidard of Living." Pajre B. Arnold Premi, an artist, died yesterday after taking a dose of medicine procured tor him by a friend. Mrs.

Margaret Hammer, dying of old age and want, and her insane son were taken to Bellevue Hospital yesterday In the same ambulance. Controller of the Currency Dawes has submitted his report to Congress. He opposed the plan of securing bank notes by their general assets. fWllllem Qriffln, six years old, who lived at 63 East One Hundredth Street, was poisoned yesterday by opium pills which he ate grader the Impression that they war candy. wor repairing- the damage caused taw explosion in the fireroom of the steamship jUano on Saturday was com- tmeneod yesterday.

-Chief Eclseer Canning was released on bail. J' ss-thared at Fulton and" Jay Streets. Brooklyn, yesterday. In expectation ot eeelna-the Rothschild Building collapse. but were disappointed.

The structure has been strengthened by the Building Depart-" ment X.Brn" na brought euit against the China-American Development Company for $1,000,000. for services rendered in securing concessions In China Sil? worta from i2.ooaooo to Because aha would not marry him Louis Hutxler yesterday cut the throat of Mrs. XVeA.rtSh' Proprietress of a boarding house at 43 Bartlett Street. Williamsburg, where fee lodged, and then gashed his own throat. Both are likely to succumb to their -wounds.

lat the meeting of the Central Labor Union yesterday letter was read from the Central Labor Federation, in which the sug--esUoa that the two organisations consolidate was favorably received. A cora-. rnlttee was appointed to endeavor to effect the desired result. Paa-e 8. Benjamin H.

Hill of Atlanta, the aU corner ior aars ayne MOO re, aaid yesterday that there was no truth In the report that she would turn State's evidence to-day at the trial of her husband. Paa-e 10. ffhe Brooklyn League Is about to begin a for the equalization of assessments in, Brooklyn with those in Manhattan. Page IX. tD Rev.

Father MacErlane will erect a sanitarium in Jersey City for the cure of drunkenness. She damafe wrought by the lire in St. Agnes a Church early yesterday morning; was estimated at S100.00U. Valuable works of art were destroyed. puring the trip of the Ward Line steamer Seneca, which arrived here on Saturday from Cuban porta, an Insane passenger leaped overboard, but was rescued.

Superintendent of Elections McCuUagh said yesterday that he would probably start for 'Cuba on Thursday to reorganize the Havana police force. He will go to Albany to-morrow to ask for leave of absence. lArrtval at Hotels and Out-of-Town Buyers. Pax 2. Marine Intelligence and Foreign Malhv- Page S.

rYesUrdaVs Fires. Page 2. Court CalendarsvPage S. incai instate. face 1L.

Amusements. Page I. Markets Page 10. Bodety-Page 7. TSE WEATEFJL.

Tke local Coreeast may be found at ths top of this page to tbe rlcht of the title. The storm central la Keataoky yesterday sabra-' tag ass moved to Southeastern Pennsylvania, la-' eraaalnc saarfcedly la 'Intensity, a' pressme of W. IS Inch being reported from Philadelphia, which is a-(all of .88 o( an Inch in twelve hours. easterly Kale of sixty miles an hour is reported la this city. Wtninn tor horrteane winds and heavy 'snows were enit to New England and Eastern New Tork yesterday morning, and for hurricane winds on the lower lakea Easterly hurricane winds ln iw England and Eaatom New snowiin the nortbern portions Enslaiwiand New York, and rain or Jow im theaouthern portions ot England iv.

J1 hr WH dear In New ortday with a dscidsd faU in temperature nsofcrate eeld 'wave, laay Suuse. OeaeraUy UXr XSSJZl.Zlr temperature is ladi-jxortaern tiockf Jtoantaln rsaion. and ienmrmliv aumsur of the Weather Bnreau. is as folowsT 2 aa 4l 41 43 a V- ,41,. 4J 45 44 -fj ....43 av- 5a ivBO f.1'!: that mt 4he Weather tnermoateter Is a tut above the jwace tomperatures yesteraay were as foU the, fPoadinc ante for last twenty it re-Urday was 69 -rr i i nlniani was 2 A ii LfA Tle faemidlty at a A.

M. was -at- and at a P. M. 10b per cent. FUnt arstam.

Ml X4v. iiii nsiscuL Einsi ni qdotatioh scpniizn DESTRUCTIVE FIRE hi mwm Flames Wreak Hayoc in the Home Life Building. POSTAL STRUCTURE AFIRE Edifice Occupied by Rogers Peet Co. in Utter Ruin. LOSS OVER $1,000,000.

High Wind. Pane the Blaze While Firemen Work Large Tlirong Watches and Cheers the Spectacular Sight. In the drenching rain and driving wind of the storm last night a blase that illuminated the entire lower end of Manhattan Island waa started at the corner of Broadway and Warren Street and When It ended at' least a million dollars' of property had been destroyed and two imposing build-burs had been turned Into wrecks. Bare and empty walla, racged and shaggy, stood where one of the largest office bulldincs and one of the best-known clothing stores ln the city had formerly been, ln the centre of New York's business section. It waa at 10 o'clock that the lire, which began ln the cloth Inc store of Rogers.

Peet was discovered simultaneously by two policemen of the Sixth Precinct At that hour the storm wan at Its height, and the rain and wind were driving pedestrians from the streets, an1 making even Broadway empty. Yet. as If by magic, within twenty minutes after the first flash of name leaped from the windows of the syre. the street was tenanted by an eager crowd of Bight-seers, and within an hour every avenue leadlnc to the scene of the fire was filled by a crowd such as never, even in the busiest hours of the day. shoulders Its way through Broadway and City Hall Park.

The fire quickly extended from the establishment of Rogers, Peet A Co. to the sixteen story structure owned by the Home life Insurance Company. The first building was reduced to ruins ln an Incredibly short apace of time, and at midnight It was evident that only the most strenuous exer-ton could save even a part of the Home Life Building, while the energies of the Fire Department were focused on the difficult 'bask of saving the Postal Telegraph Build" Inc. adjoining the Borne Life. A PICTURESQUE BLAZE.

A more picturesque blase has seldom been seen ln New York, even when it was confined to the five-story bonding of Rogers, Peet tt Co. That building, a big one ln bygone days but a pigmy ln this era of sky scrapers." was a wreck before the first flash had come from the windows of its tall neighbor. Every window 4n the building waa alive with flame, and the driving wind, shifting in eddies and darting from every point ot the cjmpass ln turn, drove the great masses of flame and smoke here and there, as If In whimsical caprice. One of the most thrilling Incidents of the early part of the fire was the rescue of the United States Life Insurance Company Building, on the northwest corner of Warren Street and Broadway, across the street from th clothing store. The high winds which raced drove the flames across the way, and at first it seemed certain that they would reach and burn the building- Indeed, the outlook for this structure was at one time more serious tnan tor rne Home Life Building adjoining.

The firemen were obliged to expend utmost labors on saving the building, and once it seemed that their work was ln vain. A red light shot up from the corner, and it was evident that the building waa on fire. This promised something more sensational than even the first fire, for it looked aa If the next block, ranging from Warren to Chambers Street might go down, and there was no telling how far the fire would spresd In that case. The firemen exerted all their strength, and a perfect deluge was thrown on the United States Building. After a long suspense the Incipient blase died out and th building was safe.

Its owners and occupants, however, are heavy losers by damage from water. The fire darted upward and downward, driven by the wind, and- made such rapid havoc that an hour after the alanna had been turned ln by the two policemen a big section of the Warren Street wall fell with tremendous crash. At the same time a lender tongue of flame leaped out from the windows of the big building next door. By this time the crowd had grown to tremendous proportions, shwing that there la a midnight New York, and that the lower end of the island is not the barren waste which up-town residents suppose when they have gone to their rest in the northern districts. Broadway waa so jammed that it took the utmost efforts of the police to prevent an invasion of the fire lines.

Every side street was Impassable. City Hall Park waa a great black mass, and the snow-covered precincts where keep-off-the-araaa signs reign ln Summer were Invaded by the crowd without a murmur from the police. CROWD SEEMED TO ENJOY IT. It was a curious. Interested crowd.

It gaxed on the big blase as on a play, and made the criticism of the gallery god on each effective scene. At 11:30 o'clock a loud report was heard from the Home Life, followed by a series of explosive cracks, and there was a clapping of hands and a pro-cesslson of Ahast aa at the ringing down of the curtain on a thrilling climax. A storm of cinders and little torches of fire, some of them a foot In length, swept down on Broadway from the upper windows of the Home Life. It was a beautiful sight a snowstorm in flames. A box of matches," said a bystander.

In the expressive metaphor of the East Side. 1 Tnere was a lull. The five-story building was an Impressive mass of ruined and blackened walls. Two steady streams from the building across the way were playing on it Aside from this, and a sullen flame on the roof near the fallen wall, with a slow fire In one of the Broadway windows, resembled a ruined bunding such as one sees in popular engravings. There will be nothing Impressive' in it to-day nothing but a black and ugly skeleton but with the faint yellow light upon It the clouds of steam and smoke arising from the street turned Into pink and red by the blase, and the great burst of flames from the building above.

In contrast to its sullen and ruined walls, it had a grand and Impressive appearance then. There'll be clothing cheap In the mom. Ing." said another east slder, and somebody laughed feebly. FREAKS OB, THE Suddenly there was an outburst of flame. A window on the thirteenth story of the Home life, black and solemn till then, burst forth In a blase that eclipsed all the others.

Two black Piers barred a great red flame picture on the Warren Street side. The sullen flame on the roof of the clothing store, as If taking courage, roared into a blaze. Fire broke forth again from the windows of the desolated store, and a yel- COPTRiaHTTD. KqW YORK. MONDAY.

DECEMBER' 5. PAGES low c4lor auffused Warren Street In con trast so the fiery red of the sky above. Th two streams of water were now mere gra shadowa ln the great red cloud. flejr storm swept down from the Over In the windows of the Stewart Btklldlnc there was a flame that sbectatora for a moment and they turnedf their eyes ln a frightened sure toward that structure, in a momentary belief i.hatiitoi,Jw.M burning. It was a mirage.

The reflected flames from the doomed buildings were playing their part over again In the window of the Stewart Building and the meb who lounged Idly In those windows, gasincl comfortably at the conflagration, seemed for a moment to be victims of another Ire. PTk' driven by the wind, sweptllke a fiery bliasard along Broadway At tn Chambers Btreet side of the park a rough-looking young man vfes turning to a companion to make a Jeatl tig remark about the Are. when a cinder, or rather a small-slsed torch three Inches In length, graced his face, scorched J1 down his overcoat and dropped, an Incandescent rebuke ot levity, at hla feet. He shileked. there waa a cry of fear from his companion, and ln a moment the fire-1 aa the police had not yet been able to keep it The i rind was dying down now.

Midnight approa and the blase from the windows or the Home Life was as splendid as ever, but it burned steadily now, and the great masses of flame poured upwsrd, capped by clouds of smoke, instead of drlv-In. ary aown the "treeta for a second rtng suddenly on high. The cjothlnir store was nothing but four walls the foujrth wall broken and destroyed. The fire was almost out there, but It raged as berore in the windows of its giant companion. It now burst forth In a window on the twe If th story, and a gasp went up from the crowd, for there was now the narrowest spice imaginable between the surging flames and the' untouched building of the Postal Telegraph Company.

In ev ry window of this building pale electric an 1 gaa lights were trying feebly to vie with' tie Immense play of color next door, and thu two globes on the first story, on Broadway, were maintaining their tranquil light a i If nothing waa going on, except when a great rush of smoke drove down the street oward Murray Street and blinded them a moment. POSTAL BUILDING ABLAZE. The ostal Telegraph Building waa on fire now, it aplte of all the efforts which the Fire Department had made to save it. In a few nlnutes flames were shooting forth from iree of its stories, though by no means with the same terrifying volume of the huge flame volleys which were perpetu-allv dashing from the windows of the Home Life. Fire had caught the Postal Telegraph Buildln early in the history of the big blase, but had been kept under, and Chief Bonnerihoped to save ft- entirely until this hour.

As it was, he succeeded in- keeping the fire down to these three stories, and It was evfeent that the building as a whole woura oe saie. The flames cast their Rigamic length down the for miles. The public buildlnira across he way were lighted as It by electricity, but the crowd standing below them formed a dense, black, unlighted mass. In the win lows of the Court House, more brilliantly lgfeted than it had ever been at night i en lounged and smoked with their feet up, carrying out the strange Impression that th thing was all a show." and that they he i orchestra seats. Down below men were huddled together in an unr cognisable, undistlngulshable mass, exchanging scientific information about "flreprcof buildings." and ribald comment about cheap clothing," and Spaniards blowing up the stores." Jn this midnight crowd irere multitudes of women; young girls, co nlng with their escorts from enter-tainmen or from visits to Brooklyn and Jersey City; business women, with rolls of music ui ider their arms, or books or pages of typewriting, and other women, painted and frixfled.

who had no escorts, and who stared at the Are in bold, nonchalant Indifference. It was a curious midnight a cosmq lolltan crowd; a typleajly New York crowd. The fl 'e had biased for more "than "two noimr whn Chief Bonner- announced' "that it waa Wider control. The building occupied by Rogers, Peet eV Co. was a ruin; half of the Home Life Building was gone, but the Postal Telegraph Building was comparatively safe and tho Fire Department was Up to 1 2 o'clock this morning the only person Reported injured during the Are was one flrtman, whose hand was slightly burned.

I THE PROGRESS OF THE FIRE. Explosions Heard by P( lleemea First Oav Warmlnar The tlragglc ef the Fire Flabters. How tie fire originated and where may never tx known, for toe building first attacked li now a heap of ashes and twisted iron beans and broken brick. It was discovered at 10 o'clock by Policemen James O'Brien tnd John Finn. While they were standing at Broadway and Reai Street nearly an hour before that time ther were startled by a sharp explosion, bu could not Immediately ascertain from wh it direction the sound came.

They started to investigate and, when they reached i he five-story building at Broadway and Wa Ten Btreet. occupied by Rogers. Peet A tongues of flame were seen coming from the basement at the forward part or the bu llding on the Warren Street side. It seen ed already that part of the floor waa crumbling rapidly. While they were still iber the two windows near the mouth of the raring furnace below fell out with a crash, and the names leaped outward and upward irlth a blinding flash.

The po icemen ran ln two directions and turned I i alarma. and as they did so a second plosion was heard sharp and distinct as the bar of a slx-pounder rifle. When th flrst engine arrived less than five minutes ater, the entire lower part of the building waa a mass of flames, and the structure was doomed. The banement and first anl of the bjilldlng were used by Rogers. Peet and were Ailed with clothing and ur- nishlng ooaa, making excellent material fo- the ames to feed upon.

The third floor wa OCCUPled bV the UlunoKiiull. Mutual fe Insurance ComMnv whiu th. upper fl rs were used as offices by a large numoer The bu ding extended westward on ren St till ft touched a five-atorv hrifir building, occupied and 9 Warren Street ntlrelv by'Roa-era Pr n. i mourn cupied by the same firm the' two were not connected buildings flflwheL heavy connecting doors ren StreeTbuild IJZS struction.1 "UUJ Adjoining the burned building was the bla-Home Life Insurance Company-a sixteen? story buildinc. and adjoinlnrthat towlred the Postal Telecraph Company's Tetruetn Within ten minutes ail these bildlncs were threatened.

and one alarm afteranother fntfcmtH six call, had been responded Ar' end trucks were rat-tling In Mom far up town. r1 Co 'B bUdiiis- burned like tlndef. and the strong east wind fanned It into a fehlte heat furnJce, which ahoMu flames a hundred feet Into the air can-ring, thousAnde of great brands, which fellTn 2P1r distent i'fte6'. seemingly impelled by some fierce draft from within, shot directly across Wlrren Street and set Are to man 'the wltdow ledges of the Company's building. Dlmw torrB ra'n whlchwaa fall-Ivi'iA11 "me was corverted Into steam by th mocked the first efforts of the firemen.

By 10:30 o'clock. so repldlyfand fiercely did the- fUmea make progress that there was nothing but the P'tV" ot tho Rogers-Pee? Buildinc left Thjfre was a warning shout from the firemen, jnd the wall of the building on the Warren Street, aide ewayed and then fell outward with a terrible crash, heaplnc the strjtj with white-hot brick and iron. The Wsren Btreet side of the United Company's Building, blistered by che heat now burst Into flames at wlndow 1 re. and for a time the I building was seriously threatened. Many, oflkces ln the building facing the street wete wrecked by the flamesT The firemen turned two streams upon the building, and the fires in these offices were put -SA'I ntrol while the main body of tie firemen directed their attention, across thi street for there a mater disaster threa-ned.

tll" lb United States Company's Building as used by the firemen as si vantage poinf from which to carry on their greater batUe. for the stubborn walls of the Home Liie Building that bad been constantly exposed to the consuming breath from the furnace beneath were beginninc to yield at last. The glaes in every one of the many win TUB dow, facing the burning building bad long oefote snapped out. anTahowers of broken Si: funtby the high winds, were sent like so much oaner aoatterinv over the o' flam, ap-peered to detach Itself from the lesser building and sweep up the side of the skyscraper. Instantly flames burst forth from a balf-dosen windows on the twelfth floor thereafter win low.

on that floor broke each Into a red aiow "Jhted methodically by the sVnTelo The spectacle waa terribly beautiful, and the reserves from a half dosen police stations fought and struggled with enanv thousands of spectator who pressed forward hlle the rata beat down ln their faces In torrents. Scores of additional firemen rushed Into the Home Life Building, trailing hose, and began the killing climb to the top of the big structure. There was no van tig. ground whence they could fight this Are. 7LWV.notb.ln.'or but to climb up teth.

0' the flames and make a hand-to-hand battle of It. Doors the street below the eager spectators could tne crn nd snd roar far above One by one, with appalling rapidity, the on successive stories glowed, then emitted yicloun tongues of flame. unUl by oven of the upper floors of the buildinc were on Are, and the firemen were being slowly but surely driven downward step by step, contesting every inch aa the hall of brands dropped around and upon them. -There was comparatively little smoke. The wind which swept in at the front windows made veritable blowpipes of the hallways, convertlnc the Interior into a white-heat furnace, eating up woodwork in an ln-" warPlng the great steel girders until the floor beneath waved open, dumping tpna of white-hot steel and brick on the floors below, there to renew the crumbling, all-consuming process.

While the Are raged next door, the elevator ln the Home Building continued to make trips up snd down under the cool hand of Peter Nelson, the elevator man, who remained at his car carrying the firemen and tenants of the building, who sought to save all their valuables posalble. When the flames caught the building which he was In. and showers of biasing or glowing brands fell down the elevator shaft and cracked and sputtered on the top of his car. Nelson remained at his post, cheered on by the firemen. Three upper floors were on fire.

Still the elevator made Us trips through the smoke and flames. Nelson was still willing to continue taking the firemen up and down when they told bim to etop. The flames had reached the machinery of the elevator at the loft close to the roof. Then Nelson heined at the Lose. Rogers.

Peet ft Building, at 7 and 9 Warren Street, adjoining the burned structure, withstood the terrible heat well, and although big pieces of the walls were torn out by the heat, a deluge of water turned upon It saved tt from destruction. BLAZE IN POSTAL BUILDING. Tatrteeata aa Foarterslh Stories Catc Fire aad Telea-rapa Servlee Stopped Temporarily. Hardly had the Are got the Home Life Buildinc ln its clutches when the attention of the thousands or spectators was attracted to the adjoining Postal Telegraph Building, which Is fourteen stories high. The flames bursting and leaping up the air shaft between the two.

heated the walls and window panes, and a detachment of firemen was sent post haste to protect the structure, and Chief Bonner personally directed their efforts. While the firemen strung hose, pulled them In windows from Broadway and eoimected them to the bulld- tMtrik 1. 1 wv- Dctuta-pc- bare for moving out At 11 o'clock the staff of the Standard News Association, which furnishes newe of suburban points to the New York papers, were driven from the third floor, and hastily moved down to the Associated Press officii In the Western Union Building. The men ln the telegrsph offices on the thirteenth floor still worked away with per-splratloj dripping from their faces. At 11:15 o'clock, however.

It was decided to move out and the night manager. W. E. Todd ordered the office closed, after the operators had sent along their wires the announcement that the offices were burning and no more messages would be sent. There were twenty men and boys working at the time, though the ravages of the wind storm had left only four or five connections.

The employes took their typewriters and overcoats and dashed for the elevators. Lines of hose were now strung down the halls of every floor. Some of them palled ln the windows at the fourth and fifth stories were laid up flight after flight of stairs until the high stories were reached. Other lines had been connected with the building pumps, end streams were poured upon the Home Life Building from many windows. At a few minutes to 11 o'clock the rear of the thirteenth story of the Postal Building caught Are.

Despite the efforts of the firemen the flames spread to the fourteenth story, occupied by the Hardware Club, and two stories, at least, were thought to be doomed. The water that was turned upon the flames here ran in rivulets down the stairs and trails, and poured down the elevator shafts. No one was allowed above Uie ground floor except the firemen, who were carried up load by load by the elevator boys, now drenched to the skin by the shaft cataracts. The telegraphic service of the Postal Telegraph Cable Company's service all over the world Is Interfered with, as the burned-out offices were used for a big relay station. The chief operator said that nothing could be done about it, and the relay work would be temporarily stopped as far as the New cataracts.

They succeeded In extinguishing the fire soon after midnight. The company resumed business at 1 o'clock this morning, and a few minutes afterward hid several wires working. The heaviest damage was done to the Postal Telegraph Company's operating room and to the quarters of the Hardware Club, on the fourteenth floor. The company's switchboards and all the elaborate system of wires and instruments, said to be the newest and most complete In the United States, were completely Manager Todd placed the damage to the switchboards alone at over 91.000, but the loss of business and other damage to property will amount to many thousands more. It was impossible last night during the excitement to get more than an approximate estimate of the loss.

The loss to the Hardware Club will be heavy. This Is ore of the richest of the down-town lunching clubs. It had recently. It waa said, been refurnished at great expense, part of the fittings consisting- of several valuable oil paintings. The furniture waa itself of the most expensive kind, and thia.

together with all the appurtenances, were completely rvlned. The amount of Insurance carried could not be ascertained. In the Postal Building are about 360 occupants of offices. Many of these will suffer from damage to office fittings by water, but below the twelfth floor It was not believed that much damage bad been wrought. THE FIREUNDER CONTROL It "Wee ICet IsMsea im the Hlcaer Stertee, swf Bsrsed Itself Oat.

Firemen never worked harder to get water to a fire, yet their efforts to check the flames In the upper floors of the Home Life Insurance were well nigh futile. Lines of hose were dragged through neighboring buildings and i streams thrown through the windows, and from the roofs. So' fierce was the heft however, that the firemen were driven back front these points of vantage and forced to work from a distance. It become apparent that the Home Life-Building could not escape, the firemen dragged boee through the windows of the seventh floor ot the Postal Telegraph building, and carried them up through the hails ot that structure to any place whence they could direct water on the flames. The downward pressure of the water, resulting from gravity, meeting the upward nnuun fmm th.

caused an ln- the tense strain In the hose and one another they burst. From the United Statea Life Insurance Building a dosen streams were directed to- Tampa Bay Hotel epms t-day. For parties-lars eadrme Plans SysiM. SSI IlroadwayAdv. im nmaiL-Eimi ward the flames.

As long as only the building ot Rogers, peet Co. was afire these streams were effective, but as fsr as the upper stories of the Home Life Building were concerned they were of practically no walue. jn the Postal Telegraph Buildinc nose lines in the corridor were made ready but fortunately they were not needed below the thirteenth floor. These appliances were also distributed through the Home Life Insurance Building, but they could not be used on the upper floors, where the Are rained headway rapidly. Hopeless Indeed waa the task of the Are-men who were ordered to confine their attentions to the Home Life Insurance Building.

As one of them said: We are just allowing It to burn down. When you can't set water above the eighth floor you can Pct to put out a Ar. on the ninth." The pressure was Inadequate to carry the column of water above th eighth Aoor, and the firemen were constrained to watch the flames eat their way downward until they had exhausted themselves. Hose lines burst-ins every few minutes soon rendered the efforts of the firemen useless, and the most vigorous work of the steamers waa unequal to the taak of raising the streams to the desired level. On the building occupied by Roeera, Peet Co.

the work of the firemen waa not hampered by the lack of water. Twenty streams were drenching the building an hour after the fire brake out but If the flames continued to blase wickedly it was because the heat was so Intense that the water turned to steam before it reached its mark. These streams, directed from roofs of buildings scroas Warren Street, and from Broadway, eventually accomplished their taak and enabled the firemen to give their entire attention to the othes bulldmra. At 12:20 this morning Chief Bonner said he had the flames In the Home Life Building under control. They were then pouring from the windows of the upper floors.

Chief Bonner afterward corrected his statement, and said he could do nothing with the Are until it had exhausted Itself down to the eighth floor, for the engines could not pump than the eighth, and as the Chief expressed It: The Are has sot to burn Itself like a candle to that Lon; tongues of flame were then shooting out ovey Broadway, and frequent sharp cracks like the report of a revolver, followed by the falling of the overheated stone, principally from the copings, which were -ed hot. made even the firemen care-Tul, and would have kept the crowd had It not been held In check by the police, at a safe Indeed, at thla period there iu De some danger tnat a BJjt of the Home Life's walls would fall. and in consequence a sharp watch aloft was TO 0. the attack on the Home Life building was practically i uiii ura. nog-era I'eet Co.

building had then burned Itself out and was a masa of ruins. Two streams were kept playing on the smoking mass, one by a company of firemen perched on a nrth story fire encape of the United States Insurance building across the street. The main attack was now directed from th. Postal, and from the lower floors of th. Home building.

The upper stories still burned fiercely in front. At o'clock it could be seen from the roof pf Ths Nsw York Tinas building that the force of the flames waa spent. There was fear felt that ln th. burning tn ninth floor of the Home Life Building a great loss had befallen the city. The offices of the Rapid Transit Commission were on that floor.

It Is believed that the plans mlth which the Commission had been working for years have all been destroyed. Chief Bonner's forces at the fire were twenty-five engines and Ave hook and ladder companies. Alt engines stationed In houses below Twenty-third Street were called out by the Ave alarma FINAL SCENES AT THE FIRE. Parts mt the Rogers-Pee Rallalai Fall Dense mt the Home tract ere Beras. i At a ircioca: tnia narnim I i groups ot watcher In Broadway were a bit startled by the sjdden fell of the remnant of another floor la the Rogers.

Pert 4 Co. buildinc. At this time the outer edge of this building, fronting on Warren Street, was bulging a foot or a foot and a half outward at the top. Deputy Chief Cruger. who was In charge of work on the building then, called the attention of bystanders to this, and warned them out of the dangerous locality, where, however, the firemen, continued to stand, nonchalantly playing a stream of water on portions of the dismantled building.

There was a huge gully In the street near the sidewalk where a quantity of the collapsing wall had struck, and the force of the fall had broken or pulled out the Ss supply pipe which connected the store with the gas main. The gaa at this break had caught Are. and was still biasing cheerily and the firemen every now and then turned the hose cheerfully on Iu At 21 A. the tower of the Home Ufa Building had caught fir, the blase starting on the Broadway side. Klre Marshal De Mollgnon miirhin.

1 the progress of work, having come down In the Interest of the Fire Marshal' office. ne said tnat It was Impossible at that time io aire any aeiaua aa to tne cause of the fire, but commented freely on the splendid work of the firemen in cutting off the flames from the westerly portion of the Rogers. Peet ft Co. sure In Warren Street. He thought this a remarkable feat and one that prevented what might have been a conflagration extending along the Warren Btreet block to Church Street.

Chief Bonner laid It to the close attention the firemen gave to saving this portion of the store that the flames got such headway on them on the Home Life Building. The Chief wji well satisfied with the work done by h.s department. He had had no trouble in getting sufficient water, he aid. He was able to supplement the service of the street hydrants by using the water pipes In the buildinc. and these worked satisfactorily.

Fire Commissioner J. J. Bcannell 'waa at the fire, and expressed himself plainly on the subject of fireproof building. There are no such things a fireproof buildings said be. This la plainly seen, whenever a fire In one of these so-called fireproof buildings occurs.

The firemen have lust as hard a time with It as with any other Building." The crowd had begun to thin away largely on the City Hall plasa by 2:30 A. but a thick line was still held hi check by the police over by the County Court House. SCENESN THE STREETS. Crowds Braver: a Fiery Hail at Cinder aad Resented Pollee ESTarts te Foree Taeen ta Safety. As the engines dashed Into Broadway from all corners and the flames burst from the Inferno ln the basement of Rogers, Peet thousands of people rushed to the point of the conflagration.

They came from the cars, from th Brooklyn Brldce, from the elevated trains at Park Place station, and from the cable car of Broadway, which began to line up as their progress waa blocked by the boss lines being stretched across the thoroughfare. Policeman O'Brien was the only officer on the spot He found It Impossible to keep back the swelling crowd which was running across Printing House Square, floundering through the McCartney slush In their mad desire to get to the fire. The flames were llluminlsg the whole of Printing House Square. Tennlnute alter the flame burst out fully 2.0DO people had congregated. The Are bad gained wonderful headway In a very abort time, and before Inspector Brooks and his big squad of officers had arrived people were standing dangerously do to the burnt nc building.

Cinders and pieces of burning wood were dropped among the crowd, yet no on seemed to mind th shower ef fiery tnlssilee, until one woman, struck by a piece of wood, shrieked with pain. Thla caused something of a commotion, and at this Juncture the police began to force the people back. The officers lined up as a solid phalanx, and with drawn clubs, succeeded after ten minutes of aboutinc. pushing, and club punching In clearing Broadway, and securing the crowd Inside the wire fence that surrounds Printing House Square. No one waa allowed below Chambers Street oa the north, and Park Place on the south.

Finally, as the flre spresd. and the surrounding build-in rs became Ignited, Inspector Brooks cave orders to clear Printing House Square. This order wss rendered necessary by the fact that the wind was carrying full panes ot glass with It. which fell to (a ground and were shattered. On big nan from to top floor of Rogers.

Peet 4k Co. llutteres ccot.hoi izmiiin PRICE OXB CXJTT throe the air. fell on the statue of Nathan Hale, and was smashed to a Uonssad bit a It was slow work clearing Printing Hoase Square. Many paople protected, but the otn-cere were obdurate. They succeeded la moving the mass of humanity as If It were a unit and bad Just cot It at a safe distance when the Warren Street wall of Borers, ft A building fell crashing to the street.

Broadway as far south a Bowling Oreen ad as far north a Houston Street was lined with cable cars unable to move. After the exact nature ef the fire became "WH the Metropolitan Railway Company did not run any cars south of frank Ha Btreet. aad many of these which bad son below that point oa the south-eooad track were pushed back by the men to the Franklin Street switch, so that ther: eouid be transferred to the north-bound track te resume th.lr running- One car was stopped directly la front ef the building of the Home Life Insurance Company. It was not long before It became blistered by the hest and had to be deserted py the gripman and conductor. It remained In a neat of bursting hose, while cinders and burning planks fell on It.

crashing In the windows. It was Impossible to move It. as the tracks around It for a hundred feet or more were blocked with hose, The officers had a tough time with men and women of all ranks demanding admission Inside the lines on the pretense that they were newspaper reporters. One man walked down BroadiUy escorting two women and ordered the Chambers Street officers to let him pass, saying that be was a newspaper man. Wfaen refused the women hegan to make loud complaint.

They claimed to represent local papers, and threatened the officer with all sorts of consequence If he persisted In his refusal to let them pan. He persisted- Hundreds of men tried to work the dodge with a piece ef paper and a pencil, but failed irnomlnlously. On the west side of the fire the thousands of people gathered equaled In numbers and interest the City Hail and Broadway thronca. The Are lines were extended back to Church Street on the west snd from tberj almost to the Hudson River toe street waa filled with wet people. I'o-brellaa were useless, and hundreds of them were wrecked br the wind trr burned hr flying firebrands, which fell in numbers along West Broadway.

Warren 8 1 reel. Park Place, and the streets In the neighborhood. Scores of ruined umbrellas were cast aalde. and the spectators stood la torrents of ran and. showers of parka and firebrands wstchlnr the destruction.

nrniN train on oixia arrived at the Park Place station ed w'lh people who had seen th. I town. Squad, of policemen also iach elevated train on Sixth Avenue that was lo-id- the glare Dolicemen also came from the OO-town stations Several time. It looked as If the wood work of the elevated road would catch, and men were stationed with bucket of wster to extinguish the brands as they fell on the cross tie and boards. At lo o'clock the firebrands fell ao thlcklv In the vicinity of Warren and Church Streets that the crowds moved back fr he yond the fire When It seemed tbst some of the buildings west of Broadway must catch from the red hot tin and bom Ing embers the clouds saved them by letting down a veritable torrent of rain.

ESTIMATE OF THE LOSSES. a la. ranee Maa aad Chief Bosstr Plaee Then at $1 At 1 o'clock thu morning little could be learned of losses An Insurance man rough- ly estimated the d.imati as follows Rogers. Peet ft Co building and stock, and losses to other tenants In the building, total Home Life Insurance Company Building, and losses to other tenants ln building, total Postal Telegraph Company Building and losses to other tenants of the building, totsl Losses to surrounding buildings betides those mentioned 13S0.0O0 500.000 100.000 50.000 Total sixxxo Chief Bonner also tbougitt this 'figure as cIom could be estimated. No definite Information couDI Obtained regarding inrurance.

ROGERS. PEET A Bl ILDIQ. Part of the Hnffataa Estate and a Historic St met are. The Rogers. Peet ft Co.

builllng belor ged to the Hoffman estate, ami is ne of the historic building of Broadwiy. It erected alout thirty-five year ago. and "or twenty-flve years the grain 1 floor was occupied by Devl.n ft tailors. It Is said that during their occupancy of the building they pa.d an annual rental of The building baa a double basement, the lower cellar being the opening of the old tubular railway company, wnlrh ran serosa Broadway to Mall Street. The construction of this tunnel wss the beginning of the underground railway system tea In New York.

Th tunnel wa constructed about twenty-fire years ago. After the underground railway Idea was abandoned the tunnel was used for a shooting gallery. The occuDants of the Roarer. Peet a fn were Rogers. Peet A rloth- lers: Brown A Sheehnn.

lawver itT.liuir. Brown and John C. Sbeehan;) John O'Brien contractor: T. Smith, architect; Massa- cnuaetts Mutual Life Insurance Company THE HOMU LIFE Bl'ILDIXG. Point of Interest Regarding the Caaaaaar aa the Itraelar.

The Home Life Insurance Company was organised In I by a number of Brooklyn capitalists whose names have been connected with financial and commercial growth of i that borough for many year. It has al-f ways held to a conservative policy, and I while it has not attained the magnitude of Bome other New York companies, its solid-I Ity has never been questioned. Its capital Is SL.0OO. Its assets over I70.0i. and Its surplus over i.JU".uua its officers are-President Oeorge El Ide: Secretary Ellis W.

Qladwln; Directors Lemuel H. Arnold. William A. Read, J. Warren Greene.

Cort-landt P. Dixon, Oeonre E. Ide. William Low. Thomas H.

Measenger. Henry Pierre pont. Thomas T. Barr. Charles Ide.

William A. Nash. John F. Praeger' John E- Borne. Martin Joost.

William 8L John. Ellis W. Gladwin. John Frothlng-ham. E.

Le Grand Beers, and A. A. Raven The company maintain agencies at all Important cities throughout the country It issue all forms of llf and endowment Insurance and snnulty bonds. The company's building was regarded as one ot the architectural curiosities of Broadway. Its construction waa begun In ltaV2.

ln order to secure the best results from aa architectural ar well as from an Investor's point of view the company Invited Wading architects to submit plane in competition, the decision being left to Prof. Wlfllxm R. Ware of Columbia. The designs selected were those of Napoleon Le Brun A Bona. Because of th fact that the lofty structure stood against the Postal Telecraph Building.

Its uncommon proportions did not Impress the casual observer as they might other Is have done, especially la years before the multiplication ot down-town skyscraper. The building which was sixteen stories in height surmounted by a high red roof, the summit being 20M feet above the sidewalk had a frontage of only Xm, feet on Broadway. The cernicea of the bulldln were 167 feet la height. The first story had a oefllnc height of 1RH feet. The eeeond.

in which were tbe general ofBoee of the con-paay. waa tt in height en the Broadway. front and waa divided In the rear Into main end tninsnlii. floors. The depth of tbe.

buildXag was 1U7W feet. The buildinc. la Its architectural design, wss patterned on the severest type ef tbe early Italian Renalssaae. 1 1 was designed aad believed to be absolutely flreproot Th material of the front was of light-colored atone, exquisitely carved In place. Among the tenants who occupied the Home Life Insurance Buildinc are T.

M. Oolvtn. P. W. Kulburgh A A.

E. H. a Bropbv. Boa. M.

V. Campbell, Oeorge M. Cooper. Mlaa M. M.

Flanaery, laaae Frocame. Frank M. Qreeee. Elliot Denforth. th Rapid Transit Commission, and Hogg.

Brows A Tsylor. POSTAL, TELEGRAPH BCILDISO. Bteel rraasea and ef tho Meet A revd Flre-preef Materials, Tbe Festal Telegraph Building, completed about flre years ago la one ot the largest and handsomest of th lofty modern build Kedaoed Rates fee Stasaat. Xew Tork Oatral will Ml reaad Xrtm ticket at reduced rat, le Isstraotor aad t4ata Stng home far the SoUdar. For laforatatlon Jiomrh 0aeJ Eastern Aaeat.

Broadway. Kr Tork; 1. WoM. OeMrai Aeeat, Alhur, se Mw York Casual TVotet Ageat Heavy rain or snow; north 1 hurricanes la Create Hew Yawlct newser. im ersr city.

iTwo cksts. tags, which have ao changed the appears ec of the neighborhood ef the City HalL The building a fourteen storlee hick, exclusive ef basement and cellar, and Is const racted on the steel-framing; principle, with tbe meat approved fireproof Baatertals enteric Into the rest ef the construction. Iu front en Broadway Is about 79 feet wide, and It extend back IM feet la Murray Street, with aa 90 by SO feet at the 'rear end. The outer walls of the four lower stories Are of Indiana limestone, aad the spper stories are of gray brick with trtasmtnr of terra eotta. Th crown ot the eorafe-e is 175 feet above the sidewalk, Tbe interior ef the bclldlnr Is finished with marble wainscoting, taoaalc aad tiled floors.

The cabinet work is of quartered oak. Tbe groand floor tm need by tbe reoHvlnc aad delivery departments of the Poetal Telegraph. Cable Company aad of the Commercial Cable Company, and cotalna. beeidea eMMiiM nous booths, mcludlng cigar and newspaper stands. The floors above are fitted up as office, having also tiled floors.

Tbe executive and administrative office of tbe Poetal Telegraph Cable Company are oa the tenth and eleventh floor: tbe twelfth floor. 19 feet front floor to celling, la used a tbe wain operating room of tbe company: the thirteentn boor Is used for the clerical force, and tbe fourteenth Boor la occupied by the Hardware Club. The officers of the Poetal Telegraph Cable Company are Albert B. Chanoler. President: John O.

8tevena, Secretary; Edwara C. Piatt. Treasurer, and the IHrectors are Clarence H. Mecky. William H.

Baker. Albert B. Chandler. Edward C. Piatt.

Oeorge J. Ward John O. Stevens, John W. Mackay. Kdgar C.

Bradley. Charles R. Hotraer, 11 llmm van Home, and James W. Ellsworth. Among the occupanta of tbe Postal Telegraph Building are the American Ordnance Company, American Bras and Metal Work, American Fordte Powder Company, American Pepntn Company, American Wbeeiock Engine Company.

Advertislnc Plate Company, W. H. Baker. W. Hortott Baker.

Bangor Excelsior "late Company, W. iv. oarivOT, rmfnci Darker. Baldwin A Jonei John BnttU A Ih-r Beck. Louts C.

Berrtan. Dugen Blanc. K. C. Budlong.

Bragg A Marrian. Edwin R. Brarg. A. Brekatone.

Charles p. Brocb. C. Ca--Denter A ri.nMUr a a Conover KLrfwarrf s-vlu. Crystal Fashion Company, and tbe Electrical Building and Loan AseocUtlon.

THE I I TT.lt STATES BOLD IX O. The Tenants of This Itrsrlare Safer ChleSjr by Water. The United States Llf Insurance Com-pany'a building on tbe northwest corner of Broadway tnd Murray Street to seven stories In height and la of red brick. Tb err to the building and to the property of the occupants waa chiefly by water. Among the occupants of the building besides the ln sarsnce company are: Cook's Tourist Company.

WUeonafe Central Kailroid. E. P. Little A Howard Metxger A Kneuper it Tobias St Brothers Judaon California Tourist Agency. Mahrenbolx.

Chicago and Ahoo Railroad. A. C. Hlrch. William King Hall a fl.

Felt. C. Oessar. Rom Putsel. Browa A Seward.

Norton A MeKlmtn. Buel. Too. cey A Whiting. C.

Patterson. J. C. Q-oln- -V- nin, i nomas j. rarrell.

John Dane. John P. Fenloa. Sheridan B. Norton.

Deer Park Land and Investment G. Macy. C. J. Q.

Hall. Hngb W. Tompkins. John B. Bnook a Hi mnAnt Marvin.

iMClDKBTS OT THZ TTRF-, John Forrest, member of Engine Com- Pany No. 7, went Into the Home Life Build- Inc end' walked as high as the foorteeath foor before tne building be an te bla; ri iri-Titstnn tee waus were so hot tua 1 he could not bear his band upon them. Twenty-lines of boee were dragged lata th. Postal-Teiegraai Building for tbe pur- BuUdln pourln the Home Life A wax figure in a sbop window on War- ren Street, opposite Rogers. Peet A Co.

'a. bryan to melt shortly after the flre started. The happy ez pre. eon of the fece soon became distorted Into one of disgust, and tbe tight hand ahriveled up and poured down the casement. On of the horses attached to a water tower became badly frightened, and tried to make a daab Into the flamei? The janitor of the United States Ineur -snce Company's building and his wife re- malned asleep In their room half an boar after the flames started, and were awakened by the noise la tb street.

They oa caped with ail their property uninjured. The offices of Elliot Danforth, the de- -feated candidate for Lieutenant Governor "tnrr th Some or.e sent in a false etport to Geuver-neur Hospital that five men had bias killed, and three ambulances were sent to the are wltn as many doctors. A lot of papers blew from a window la the Home Life Buildinc. One which ad bee a untouched by the flames fell near a crone of firemen. One of then picked It up and found that It wa a promisory note for SMA Th water which was poured Into ths Postal Telegraph buildinc fetl down the elevator shaft like a miniature Niagara.

The elevator bad to be ud h. wTV: While Chief Bonner deplored tb fact that the flames were beyond hi reach, be said that he waa clad that no one had been hurt. 1 an? s14 to be able to aay that ther nav oeea no accidents. aaid tb Cnur nd Particularly that therTeai Thecal, of life, AlI of th. fire men rorked oar best connaent mat we did with The police maintained the flre Una the rigidity customary at New Tork area.

r9 KimcM to get a aaaa past tbe Invisible but well-defined line of demarka tlon, and If thamaa became importunate, he-was lucky to escape a dig la the be ana some choice epithets. There was one exception, however. A pale-facad man. who panted ai If be had frt tbrogh the hae Si, Ovu.fro the City Hall Park. He was burted hack.

He tried te explain bu- the police weald not Ustea. snd he wa. ecommeoded te "chase hlnv self. A few minute later he turned wp oa Chambers Street and ee treated a rieasant tSVi.f!9llcmm to let him tkrourn. I like yr nerve, young fUr.B th guardian of tb law.

Not oa yr ht. Bet I Bnut," panted the aaaa. -1 tnast get to the ferry it'e Mfe aad death-d ve Ju.t recotvod a There wa reel trouU. ta the aaaa's faee. The policeman looked furtively at hie ceae panioea.

Their backs were turned. I 'ST bx ea aadertoas. and turned his back ea the 1 Batt "wmaUsnalerU 1 rtfl stop ytt. The other policeman heard a ocarrrtnc sound and looked around, bet It was tee late; the man with a life end-death saissloa had escaped. Tbe est walk la front of the Bam LH waa a saoat daagerooat stria of ground last night and It was a wonder that so ftrecnaa waa killed.

Tbere were several narrow caree between midnight and 1 o'clock ta the morning. A couple of flre men. one ot them cerrytng a lamp, had com around from Murray ftd k4 th Tecrpn Building. wha what looked Uke aa TexpiJd-Ing burst a f.w yard, ta fronVof V-1 Xm tbt 4 goi toooened frees otte ef the top stortoe of the btmjtat came down with terrtne force and as it etruck the side watt It burst with VVeJi rit port be red hot plecee Dying slic'rect lions. The Bremen etopped for a seconded two.

and th daahedec sidewalk at full speed. ncwrae Teem Cay Rotet tare adi re riant I StU Ureas.