Sea Beach Hotel Destroyed at Santa Cruz

Sea Beach Hotel Destroyed at Santa Cruz

All that remains of the once famous Sea Beach Hotel at Santa Cruz, Cal., is an ash pile and a tangled mass of pipes and debris. The mammoth hotel on the bluffs overlooking Monterey Bay and the beach was destroyed on June 12. The alarm was sounded at 3:20 a. m., and this was followed by a general alarm, which brought out every available piece of fire-fighting apparatus in the city. A fisherman coming in from the bay in his launch discovered the forward cupola in flames and sent in an alarm as soon as he could get to the wharf. The fire, which originated on the third floor of the building, is supposed to have been the result of crossed electric wires, as electricians had been working in the attic for several days. The firemen encountered difficulties from the start. In some parts of the building were three stories and in some parts four, running a length of nearly 300 feet. Being of frame construction, the attic formed an avenue through which a breeze, which had sprung up at an inopportune time, fanned the flames along from the front to the rear of the building, making it hard for the firemen to get at the blaze. Driven away from the front, where the whole top was breaking out in flames, the firemen, under Chief Robert Tait. took up a position at the middle section of the main building in a frantic endeavor to check the flames at that point. Five streams of water were turned into the hotel. Men gained the roof and the attic with lines of hose and fought desperately in the face of death. Time after time they were compelled to retreat, until suddenly it seemed the whole structure burst into flames over the large dining-room, driving the firemen back to the main wing of the hotel, where was located the office, on Main street. Sections of the burning building were continually crashing down with a great noise and giving fuel for the flames. Chief Tait and his assistants. Fred Lewis and John Taylor, determined to check the fire at the northern wall in order to prevent its spreading to the residence section on Beach Hill, which for a time seemed threatened. The men held their positions in the face of the flames until the whole massive structure lay in ruins. The dance hall adjoining the main building on the north was all that was saved, aside from some of the furnishings of the hotel, which scores of volunteers carried to safe places in the streets. The loss will reach over $100,000 to J. J. C. Leonard, the owner and proprietor. His insurance will he in the neighborhood of $40,000 The big hotel had been put in readiness for the opening of the season on Saturday, and several thousand dollarhad been expended to this end, and the storehouse was well stocked with supplies. Many of the help had already arrived. Reservations had been made by many people from San Eranciseo and other cities for the opening week.

All that remains of the once famous Sea Beach Hotel at Santa Cruz, Cal., is an ash pile and a tangled mass of pipes and debris. The mammoth hotel on the bluffs overlooking Monterey Bay and the beach was destroyed on June 12. The alarm was sounded at 3:20 a. m., and this was followed by a general alarm, which brought out every available piece of fire-fighting apparatus in the city. A fisherman coming in from the bay in his launch discovered the forward cupola in flames and sent in an alarm as soon as he could get to the wharf. The fire, which originated on the third floor of the building, is supposed to have been the result of crossed electric wires, as electricians had been working in the attic for several days. The firemen encountered difficulties from the start. In some parts of the building were three stories and in some parts four, running a length of nearly 300 feet. Being of frame construction, the attic formed an avenue through which a breeze, which had sprung up at an inopportune time, fanned the flames along from the front to the rear of the building, making it hard for the firemen to get at the blaze. Driven away from the front, where the whole top was breaking out in flames, the firemen, under Chief Robert Tait. took up a position at the middle section of the main building in a frantic endeavor to check the flames at that point. Five streams of water were turned into the hotel. Men gained the roof and the attic with lines of hose and fought desperately in the face of death. Time after time they were compelled to retreat, until suddenly it seemed the whole structure burst into flames over the large dining-room, driving the firemen back to the main wing of the hotel, where was located the office, on Main street. Sections of the burning building were continually crashing down with a great noise and giving fuel for the flames. Chief Tait and his assistants. Fred Lewis and John Taylor, determined to check the fire at the northern wall in order to prevent its spreading to the residence section on Beach Hill, which for a time seemed threatened. The men held their positions in the face of the flames until the whole massive structure lay in ruins. The dance hall adjoining the main building on the north was all that was saved, aside from some of the furnishings of the hotel, which scores of volunteers carried to safe places in the streets. The loss will reach over $100,000 to J. J. C. Leonard, the owner and proprietor. His insurance will he in the neighborhood of $40,000 The big hotel had been put in readiness for the opening of the season on Saturday, and several thousand dollarhad been expended to this end, and the storehouse was well stocked with supplies. Many of the help had already arrived. Reservations had been made by many people from San Eranciseo and other cities for the opening week.