THIRTEEN BLOCKS IN ASHES.

SYRACUSE LOSES ONE MILLION OF DOLLARS BY FIRE.

FINE STORES, HOTELS, FLATS, AND RESIDENCES IN RUINS -- THE "JOURNAL" BUILDING DESTROYED AND MANY FAMILIES BURNED OUT.

Syracuse, N. Y., March 14. -- Two fires which occurred in this city this morning destroyed thirteen blocks, ten of which were in West Fayette and Franklin Streets. Over one hundred families, who occupied flats above the stores, were burned out, and four residences were destroyed by the first fire. Fortunately there was no loss of life. The first fire was discovered at 6 o'clock in HIER & LIGHTON'S cigar manufactory at No. 253 West Fayette Street, in the Hogan Block. It instantly spread to the hardware store of M. P. WALSH and the CAHILL Brothers' bakery in the same block. Within ten minutes every floor and the whole front of the building presented a mass of flames. At 6:30 the roof fell and shortly afterward the rear and front walls went down. It was but a short time after the breaking out of the fire in the cigar store before the old DANIEL O'KEEFE United States Hotel, at the corner of West Fayette and Frankllin Streets, was being licked up. The boarders escaped in short order after the alarm in the Hogan Block was sounded. The Hogan Block was six stories high, with a mansard front, was built of stone, and was one of the handsomest blocks on West Fayette Street. The United States Hotel was only three stories in height and was built of brick. It was one of the landmarks of the city. On the east side of the Hogan Block was the three-story brick building of JOHN HOLLIDAY. The store next to CAHILL Brothers' bakery was unoccupied, but the other store was occupied by CHRYST & SEHL, wholesale and retail dealers in teas, coffees, and spices. JUSTIN SEUBURT occupied the next block to the HOLLIDAY Building as a cigar manufactory. At 10 A. M., owing to a lack of water, the building had caught fire and was destroyed.
From the Hogan Block the fire leaped across the street, catching the Osgood V. Tracy Block, at the corner of Fayette and Franklin Streets. This was a handsome, pressed-brick-front building, three stories high. The corner store was occupied as a saloon by W. D. DOLAN. Next east on Fayette Street, in the same block, was the pawnshop of C. SOLOMON. Simultaneously with the catching of the fire in the Tracy Block, it caught in the blocks on the east -- the Newell Block coming next, the TRACY and the FAY Buildings adjoining the Newell Block. The FAY Building was of recent construction, and was a brown-stone front. The Newell Block was occupied by WILLIAM BOTZ as a saloon and by FRED J. DAVIS as a second-hand clothing store. The FAY building was occupied by BYRON D. BRAMER, dealer in harness and leather ware. These buildings and their contents were destroyed. Next to the FAY building on the east was a little one-story structure occupied by J. C. CRAAWFORD as a barber's shop.
An old landmark of Syracuse was the brick residence of ex-Mayor CHARLES WILSTON. The Ayres Block was occupied above the ground floor by the sleeping rooms of the Seneca House, which adjoined it on the north, facing Franklin Street. The house was a three-story brick double front, and was also a part of the Ayres property. It was run by J. W. SHIPMAN. It had fifty-one sleeping rooms, forty-six of which were occupied at the time of the fire. The boarders had ample time to get out with all their effects. The ravages of the flames were stopped by the north wall between this block and the Mansion House. In the NEWELL Building was another pawnshop, owned and run by L. SOLOMON in conjunction with his other store in the Ayres Block. The upper floors of this block were occupied as flats by five or six families. Little, if any, property was saved from these floors. The J. F. Kauffman Block, to the east of the Newell, was occupied by A. J. DAVIS, pawnbroker, and W. C. TUCKER, dealer in second-hand furniture. The upper floors were occupied by WHITE'S lodging house and by TUCKER for warerooms. The FAY & GOLDEN Building, which was a brownstone front, on the east of the Kauffman Block, was occupied on the ground floor by the Syracuse Harness Supply Company and the Black Diamond Steel Company, of which GRANT GREEN is manager. The upper floors were occupied by CLARK RICE'S job-printing establishment and individual dwelling rooms.
The next building on the east, on Fayette Street, and separated by a narrow alleyway, was the two-story-and-basement double-front wooden structure recently purchased by COVILLE & MORRIS, grocers. It contained the dressmaking rooms of MISS BAILEY and numerous apartments. The United States Hotel, on the southeast corner of West Fayette and Franklin Streets, was run by J. VAETH. On the south of this hotel the fire was stopped by the brick building owned by CHARLES J. COUSE. The liquor store in this building was run by B. ALLEN & Co., whose windows were broken by the falling walls and whose stock of liquors was more or less damaged.
Time had just been called in the Journal composing room at 7:35 this morning, when fire was discovered issuing from under the cornice at the southwest corner of the Cook Block, a six-story structure east of the Journal office, on East Railroad Street. The flames spread with marvelous rapidity, and inside of fifteen minutes the entire structure was burning from the cellar to the roof.
The building was filled with groceries, confectioneries, &c. Within fifteen minutes after the flames broke out, the compositors were called to lay down their sticks and vacte the Journal Building. The files, books, and some of the property of the company were removed to a place of safety. By 8 o'clock the west wall of the Cook Block fell on to the Journal Building, crushing through the three floors down to the press room. Soon the flames licked up the Journal Building, and the four-story structure, with its contents and valuable plant and machinery, became involved in the ruins.
In the meantime the flames were working fiercely and grandly eastward, and it was soon evident that the magnificent Montgomery flats, extending from Railroad Street to Fayette, would have to go. This was one of the handsomest blocks in town, six stories high with mansard roof. The many tenants were forced to flee. Some succeeded in saving a portion of their goods, otheres gave them up to the fire. On the ground floor of the Montgomery, on Railroad Street, was the hardware and stove store of GEORGE S. FRIEND; next came the wholesale liquor store of KINNEY & DOOLITTLE, TOWNS'S restaurant, EXSTEIN'S furnishing goods, and LEIBERMAN'S news room.
Several of the firemen had narrow escapes from falling walls. The wires once more were a source of danger and annoyance, and hindered the progress of the firemen. The local Fire Department was aided by a couple of steamers of the New York Central Railroad Company, which were located just west of the VANDERBILT. When the second fire broke out, assistance was called for from Utica, Oswego, and other places. No. 1 Company of Oswego with a hose company, in all about fifteen men, arrived about 9:30, having made the run in thirty-five minutes. The Utica steamer, with hose company and fifteen men under Chief DIMBLEBY, arrived soon after. Both these steamers were set to work at the weigh lock and rendered good service.
The total loss by both fires, roughly estimated, will reach $1,000,000.

Insurances and Losses.
The insurances and losses as far as ascertained are as follows:
Syracuse Journal, loss $59,000 on stock; insurance $43,000; on building, owned by E. & W. NOTTINGHAM, insurance $8,000, loss $30,000.
MONTGOMERY Flats, insurance $110,000, loss $200,000.
GEORGE S. FRIEND, insurance $3,500, loss $5,000.
A. L. EXTEIN, insurance $2,550, loss $5,000.
JOSEPH LIEBMAN, insurance $1,500, loss $3,000.
GARVEY & TOBIN, insurance $2,550, loss $3,000.
RICHARD TOWNE, insurance $4,000, loss $6,000.
KINNEY & DOOLITTLE, insurance $6,200, loss $10,000.
B. W. ROSCOE, insurance $58,400, loss $65,000.
CHRISTIAN COOK, (building) insurance $8,000, loss $25,000.
C. E. CANDEE, (hotel) insurance $20,750, loss $5,000.
CANDEE, (barn) insurance $7,000, loss $5,000.
SCOTT JENNINGS, (tailor) insurance $6,700, loss $2,000.
DR. B. E. OSBORNE, insurance $1,500, loss Total.
G. D. MORINT, insurance $700.
RANN & TAYLOR, insurance $21,300.
CYNTHIA BRINTNALL, insurance $2,000.
Syracuse Supply Company, insurance $25,000, loss $30,000.
A. W. FAY, insurance $10,000, loss $15,000.
C. R. PRICE, insurance $4,000, loss $6,000.
CHRYST & SEHL, insurance $12,000, loss $18,000.
JUSTIN SENBERG, insurance $40,000, loss $50,000.
HOGAN block, insurance $7,500.
M. P. WALSH, insurance $13,500, loss $20,000.
H. C. TUCKER, insurance $2,800, loss $4,000.
HIER & LIGHTON, insurance $11,000, loss $18,000.
WILLIAM E. AYRES, incurance $24,000, loss $30,000.
J. S. KAUFFMAN, insurance $8,000, loss $10,000.
SAMUEL O'KEEFE, insurance $2,500, loss $4,000.
JOHN HOLLIDAY, insurance $7,000,loss $10,000.
PARK Brothers & Co., insurance $4,200, loss $6,000.
CAHIL Brothers, insurance $1,400, loss $2,500.
KENNEDY & GANNON, insurance $1,000, loss $1,500.
J. W. SHIPMAN, insurance $2,500, loss $1,700.

The New York Times New York 1891-03-15
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!