March 4, 1900: NEW YORK CITY – A fire broke out backstage at the resort known as “Little Coney Island” at Broadway and 110th Street in Manhattan. A trio of female singers was interrupted as smoke poured from the backstage area. The manager ordered the band to continue playing, and the hall was emptied of the 2,000 patrons without panic. Firemen arrived from nearby Engine 47 and went to work. Two alarms were struck and the fire was brought under control in about 90 minutes.
March 8, 1900: LEAD, SD – A fire started in the Dalkenburg Saloon early in the morning and swept through 40 buildings before it could be brought under control. Mutual aid was received from the Deadwood Fire Department, and together with the local firemen the conflagration was contained. Several buildings were blown up to create a fire break.
April 1, 1900: ST. LOUIS – Firemen raced to the glasshouse of the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Company for a reported fire. They were able to extinguish the blaze, but heat caused more than $75,000 in damage to the structure and its contents – mostly bottles.
April 4, 1900: ORANGE, NJ – Three large factories and several small buildings were destroyed by a late-night fire. The fire, believed to be incendiary in origin, started in a carpenter’s shop in the Barber’s Hill section of the city. Hampered by low water pressure, firemen could do little as flames began to leap from one structure to the next. They were successful in protecting the North Orange Baptist Church, which was threatened several times.
April 8, 1900: LINDENHURST, NY – Firefighters, composed of every able-bodied man in town, battled to halt a forest fire that was moving steadily toward the village. Several farmhouses were destroyed as the fire front advanced. Manpower was sent from one section to the another along the fire front. By morning, the fire had passed around the village on both sides and residents took a well-deserved break. Similar fires were battled in nearby Amityville, where embers rained down and started several fires.
March 3, 1900: BROOKLYN, NY – Fire swept through an anvil factory in Greenpoint, destroying two large buildings. Firemen arrived quickly and stopped the flames from spreading to several other large structures within the plant.
March 3, 1900: PATERSON, NJ – A 17-year-old girl was arrested for attempting to set fire to the Florence Chittenton Home for Wayward and Homeless Girls. The girl was playing with matches in the cellar of the home and set fire to wood shavings. She was sent to the State Reformatory for Girls.
March 7, 1900: PHILADELPHIA – A blaze that started in the boiler room of a dry goods and millinery store at the corner of Eighth and Arch streets spread quickly to the upper floors. Despite the sounding of a general alarm, the building could not be saved. The fire spread to two exposures before it was controlled by firemen.
April 4, 1900: KANSAS CITY, MO – Firemen arrived at the Convention Hall to find an advanced fire situation. Realizing the building would be lost, they directed their efforts at saving the exposures. The Convention Hall, where the Democratic National Convention was to be held in July, collapsed within 20 minutes. Strong winds drove flames across Thirteenth Street to the Second Presbyterian Church, which was soon a mass of flames. The fire also extended to a parsonage, a school and a three-story residence.
April 14, 1900: BROOKLYN, NY – A factory fire quickly extended to a lumberyard and challenged firemen who attempted to cut off the moving fire. Flaming embers landed on a nearby 70-foot-high coal elevator, which was soon in flames. Three men were trapped on the roof of the elevator and firemen quickly placed a ladder in an attempt to rescue them. The ladder proved to be too short and the men were forced to jump as the flames rose around them. One of the men was killed by the fall and the other two sustained serious injuries.
Time Capsule
APRIL 1900 – “BURIED TREASURE” DISCOVERED AT FIRE HEADQUARTERS
Workers installing alarm system wires underneath the floor in New York City fire headquarters found a small mahogany box secreted in the floor not 15 feet from Chief Croker’s desk. At first, the workers believed they had found a treasure, but upon closer inspection realized it was a time capsule. The box was opened and a number of papers were examined, the first being a note of explanation: “We, the undersigned, employees of the Fire Department of the City of New York, do solemnly declare that we are sick and tired of this eternal racket incidental to the tearing up of these floors, and the placing of these wires, and in deep sympathy with the feelings of those who have suffered we bury these few lines and subscribe ourselves.” The document was signed by a number of employees. It was then realized that the time capsule, placed in the floor on March 27, 1889, was found 89 years too soon. Considering that some of those who had signed the document were still working for the department, a good laugh was had by all. The fate of the mahogany box is not known.
