Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 11, 1922)
f 8 THE MORNING OREGONIAN, MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1922 STRIKING VIEWS SHOW RUIN WROUGHT BY ASTORIA HOLOCAUST Veritable Destruction by Demon Fire Throughout Business District of Doomed City, Leaving Smoldering Ruins Where Tall Buildings Once Housed City's Commerce, Revealed by Panoramic Photographs i :,,rk-fLi iaiprfar ,v.w-i'fA -v -rw- mMr f xv-r4- saw "i. eh 11 illllSBBitSp! pi mwiiinHiippi lliiiMSIiiiiiiM K C" - V-H I Photos by Voodfield for Thi. Oregonian. ABOVE VIEW TAKES FROM HILL OVERLOOKING PORTION OF CITY SWEPT BY FLAMES. BELOW PANORAMIC VIEW OF WHAT WAS ONCE ASTORIA'S BUSINESS DISTRICT, COVERING 24 BLOCKS. ASTGHIABEGINSBliiLDINC SVKVEY VOU TEMPORARY BL SIXESS ZONE BEGUN". Factional Row Settled and Mer chants and Committee Get to Work on Tlans. (Continur-fl From First Page.) hand, it is possible for arrange ments to care for the unemployed before the situation becomes acute." Adjusters BesJn Work. Insurance adjusters began work today and the first adjustment was made by Phil Grossmeyer of Port land, acting in behalf of Leo J. Ma larkey, local insurance agrent. The corps of insurance men who have been rushed to Astoria to care for this feature are confident that before tho ashes are cold more than BO per cent of. the adjustments will have been made. As a matter of fact, the insurance companies are making a supreme effort to rush settlements in order to aid in the general plan of building- the new city. Beginning tonight the entire pa trol of the f ire d area was in charge of naval authorities co operating with the general traffic committee. A part of the patrol in this area has been handled by th "gobs," and so satisfactory has been their work that the executive com mittee today decided to request an exclusive naval patrol within the fire lines. In the residential district the civilian patrol, composed largely of overseas veterans, was being main tained. All of these men were heav ily armed and bad been instructed to arrest any stranger found roam ing the streets after dark. Men so arrested will be turned- over to dis trict lieutenants, questioned, and if unsatisfactory answers result, will i be taken to the city jail. ' The regular police force, together: with Portland officers who will re-i main until Tuesday, were devoting their attention to the work of pre venting the entry of undesirable citizens. While occasional snow flurries occurred throughout the day the weapier was clear and gave citi zens and .visitors alike the first comprehensive view of the ruined district. The fire lines, closely guarded, were marked by large groups of people who had nothing to do but gaze at the smoke scarred walls, the fallen streets and the flames that still flickered here and there as reminder of the 'roaring fire that swept the district last Friday. Tomorrow will probably see the beginning of the building of the temporary area, as well as the open ing of many temporary offices out side the fire district. Before the middle of the week it is expected that plans will have been formu lated for the actual reconstruction of the entire business district. No one had anything to worry about, so far as food or clothing were concerned, and housing facilities were more than ample. A cheerful spirit was universal throughout the city, and as a result all attention from now on can be given to reconstruction. SIDELIGHTS AND INCIDENTS OF GREAT ASTORIA FIRE Taxi Drivers Reaping Harvest With Exorbitant Fares Police Closa Soft Drink Parlors for Time Being. Astoria Relief Fund Asked. SAX FRANCISCO, Dec. 10. Mayor James Rolph Jr. of San Francisco last night issued a proclamation calling on the people of the city to donate money and imperishable goods to the people of Astoria, Or., who suffered loss in the fire there. The mayor said the situation was serious and that donations should be sent without delay to the city hall to be forwarded to Astoria. Phone your want ads to The Ore gonian. All its readers are inter ested ia the classified columns. ASTORIA, Or., Dec. 10.(Special.) While all the world is, ex tending sympathy and assist ance to Astoria, there is one type of Astoria citizen who does not re ciprocate. He is the taxi driver. Lights are out of commission. The streets are covered with slush and snow. The pedestrian out after nightfall, is constantly being halted by guards. And, as a result of tnese conditions, the fellows who operate taxicabs between the railroad sta tion and the edge of the burned district, a matter of some eight or ten blocks, are reaping a harvest by charging 75 cents for the short haul. Jesse James had nothing on Astoria taximen. . For weird, spectacular scenic ef fects, nothing more fantastic could be imagined than the aspect of As toria's fire ruina by night. The destroyer Yarborough, moored at Sanborn's dock, mounted a powerful searchlight on her mast and played the light over the destroyed area. Clouds of smoke, mist and fog, to gether with the powerful rays of light and the flames from the scores of small fires still burning, pro duced an effect beyond description. The light was used as a precaution against possible looting. One optimistic As-torian opened up for business yesterday in an auto mobile. With a stock of candies, cigars and tobacco arranged on shelves built in the tonneau of his car, he took up a stand at a street corner and did a brisk business. Another, a news dealer, filled his car with periodicals and copies of The Oregonian. and did a good busi ness until he ran out of supplies. . The soft-drink stand is under the official ban jri Astoria. All such resorts were closed by police order last night and will remain closed until complete order is restored. Two I. W. W. who arrived from Portland late today were immedi ately jailed. The Astoria force is taking no chances with booze or radicals. , Church services were conducted in all of Astoria's churches today. Courage was the general keynote of the sermons. The Christian Science church, damaged by the fire, was out of commission, but its congregation was granted the use of the Presby terian church. They saved the canaries, but for got .the furniture. Such was the case with Mrs. J. A. Sampleter. Her residence, one of the few destroyed, was attacked by fire at about 8 o'clock Friday morning. With her mother, Mrs. Sampleter managed to save her four canaries. They were all that was taken from the house. The woman and her mother are now being cared for by rieiis. The city of Warrenton has offered its assistance to the stricken city of Astoria. An offer to feed and house 60 people was received today by the relief committee from the citi zens of the little city near the mouth of the river, . - Though the Oregon Baking com pany lost its equipment in the fire. it has established temporary head quarters outside the burned area and will soon be ready to supply local needs. New equipment will be shipped from Portland at once. The Astoria Business college will reopen tomorrow morning in the basement of the Grace Epescopil church. .,' A special relief committee from the Portland lodge of Blks visited Astoria today and conferred with local Elks regarding the situation. Those sent down by the Portland branch of the order were W. -F. Mc Kenny, Monroe Goldstein, Frank D. Cohan, C., C. Bradley .and Frank Lonergan. v B. F. Sherwood, repre senting the Modern v Woodmen of America, was also in the city to look after the interests of the members of his order. Astoria' Boy Scouts have won an enviable reputation by their work during and after the fire. They -carry hot coffee every hour during the daytime and every two hours at night to all guards and watchmen on duty. They are also serving as guides, messengers and assistants in the relief bureau, the Y. M. C. A. and the national guard kitchen. - Rubber doods Sent to Astoria. Chaplain W. S- Gilbert of the As toria relief committee, yesterday telegraphed the Portland Chamber of Commerce asking that four eases of rubber boots, 100 slickers and 100 sou-wester hats be sent to that city at once. W. H. Crawford, ex ecutive aecretary, routed out mem bers of the Goodyear Rubber com pany, who assembled the order, and Fire Chief Young conveyed the ship ment to the Seattle, Portland & Spokane depot in a fire truck in time to catch the 6:20 train. The rubber goods were for the protec tion of guards in the burned dis tricts. A heavy storm was reported to be prevailing in Astoria yesterday. ASTORIA . UNDER GUARD 2 NOTORIOUS YEGGMEjV ARE CAUGHT BY POLICE. Naval Men Watch Ruins While Civilian Patrol Keeps Vigil in Residential Section. . (Continued From First Page.) Bead The Oregonian classified ads. by the streets enuinK abruptly at the edges of the ruined section. For the most pr rt, there was no passage through this district, the elevated roadways having been ithe first to burn out. Area Not Yet Explored. No one had yet investigated or explored the area of .lesolation. There was too much danger in th smouldering fires and pitfalls. Business men, whose fortunes were wept away by the conflagration, could only stand on the edse and look in the direction of what was onco their, holdings. In thexenter of this crater, stand ing on concrete pillars, was the vault of the liank of Commerce, all that remains of that structure It stood like a landmark in that area of desolation, a landmark at which businesR men may gaze and then attempt to con;ure the sites of their cwn structures. The bank vaults held the key to (he city's return to normal condi tions. Within was' the cash, the currency and the financial records o the people of AsU ria But rf the doors were to fce- opened before the steel plates had completely cooled, heat would instantly destroy ali currency and documents within. So lor a week at least, the vaults must remain as they are. Safe Expert to Be Called. Though the work of yeggmen is dreaded by the fire victims, there is another class of safe openers who will be much in demand in a few days. The combinations and locking apparatus on the majority of the safes which passed through the fire have doubtless been dam aged. A corps of safe experts is to be called here in a few. days to begin the work of opening the hun dreds of strong boxes which are so promiscuously scattered through the ruins. Five Portland policemen, Motor cycle Officers Shaylor, Pierre, Smythe, Tauscher and Hill, have been assigned to duty with the As toria police for the purpose of spotting Portland undesirables who may flock to the city. Astoria authorities today began checking up on all automobilists. No one was -permitted to leave by automobile without a permit from the police bureau. Incoming cars were also watched and those whose occupants had no business in the city were turned back at the suburbs. BAPTISTS TO AID ASTORIA Relief Fund of $500 Collected by White Temple. A relief fund for sufferers of the Astoria fire amounting to $500 was obtained yesterday at church serv ices at the First Baptist church (White Temple) by Rev. Thomas J. Villers. The money will be put into the hands of Rev. E. A. Gottberg, pastor of the Astoria Baptist church, who will use it to help his congrer gation and also for general relief. Dr. O. C. Wright, Baptist state convention secretary, who visited the scene of tire fire, said that al though the general condition was well taken care of, Baptist people had lost their salaries temporarily and no doubt would need assistance. Heroic work in .saving the new Baptist church now under construc tion in Astoria was reported on the part of Eev. Mr. Gottberg, who, spying the building in the act of catchine fire, beat the flames out with his coat. The old building, which was being occupied by the congregation pending completion of the new church, was so badly dam aged by blasting that it is consid ered useless to repair it, Dr. Wright reported. One thousand dollars, given by the Baptist state conven tion, will be used for the completion of the new building. ELKS ORGANIZE , RELIEF Delegation Goes to Astoria to Make Investigation. To carry out the wishes of J. Kd gar Masters, grand exalted ruler of the Elks, that an investigation bo made to determine what relief is necessary in Astoria, VV. F. McKin ney, Monroe Goldstein, Charles Brad- Lley of Portland and Frank D. Colen ji marsiiLieiu, icn iui tuc on ii.ivrii city yesterday. The. Elks' lodge stands back of Astoria, in its suf fering, the grand exalted ruler has Stated, and. the local delegation will make a thorough investigation of the in-mediate needs of the .citizens of the city before returning here. They carried with them $2EU cash, which was donated by J. H. and Gilbert Joyce of the Hazelwood res taurants, for the relief of the citi zens whose homes were burneu in the fire. lloquiam Offers to Send Aid. HOQUIAM. Wash., Dec 10. (Spe cial.) Expressing sympathy with the people of Ahtoria in tbe dis aster which swept that city Friday, the Hoquiam Commercial club in a telegram sent to the stricken city asked to be allowed to renJer what .ever assistance itt possible when called upon. The motion of Samuel Ibbitson to such effect before the club was vnanimously adopted. The manager of a manufacturing plant in Cleveland has arranged a country estate on the roof of his factory. s