E. S. Greeley & Company fire

The E. S. Greeley & Co.'s Fire.

Early on the morning of December 23d fire was discovered in the building at 5 and 7 Dey street, New York, occupied in part by The E. S. Greeley & Co., manufacturers and dealers in railway and electrical supplies. The fire started in a hallway on the second floor, and is supposed to have been caused by a carelessly disposed cigar tip. The flames worked down to the company's stock and salesrooms on the ground floor and then shot upward to the work rooms on the sixth floor, burning a hole 40 feet in diameter from the bottom to the top of the double building. Prompt work on the part of the firemen stayed the flames at this point, but the deluge of water that was necessary to accomplish this result inundated the stock from one end to the other and rained through the store floor and basement, accumulating in the sub-cellar to a depth of two or three feet, submerging the entire stock deposited in this part of the building and flooding the electrical test rooms and zinc casting departments located in adjoining premises. The damage to the property of the corporation is confined entirely to the stock, fixtures and building, all the books and papers being preserved intact. Business was resumed a few hours after the fire had occurred, the company drawing upon its large reserve stock from adjacent warehouses to fill orders without delay. No removal from the burnt premises is contemplated. The loss in stock, fixtures and machinery will probably not exceed $25,000 to $30,000, and that on the building about $5,000, all of which is amply covered by insurance.