Stadium High School 1906 -
Tacoma, Washington
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[i]July 15, 1898, at 4:00 PM:
"There were three complaints up to this time. One with regard to teams driving on the sidewalks, which was referred to mounted man Smith. One with regard to horses running at large, which was referred to mounted man Hopkins, and one with regard to Mrs. O'Mally using her tongue too freely to the discomfort of Mr. Hughes."

July 24, 1898, 4:00 PM:
"The regular relief on duty. One arrest since 8 a.m. Also brought a man up from Old Town that seems to be light in the upper story. I think we had better try to get him out of town. Respectfully, L.B. McCoy"

Engine House No 1 - 209-211 St. Helens Ave
"Is equipped with a third-class Amoskeag engine that has been in service nine years; drawn by three horses; one four-wheeled hose wagon drawn by two horses"

Engine House No 2 -  811 27^th Street
"...equipped with a four-wheel hose wagon drawn by two horses."

Engine House No 3- 1215 North G Street
"...one four-wheeled hose wagon drawn by two horses."

Recommendation:
"...The city should either trade the present lot or purchase a lot on Yakima avenue or I street near North Twelfth and move the engine house to this location as this company covers a large section. At their present location they have the steepest hill in the city to climb, from G street to Yakima and requires more time to make this block than six on the level, and is also very hard on the horses."

Engine House No. 4 - 405-407 East 26^th Street
"Here is located a second class Silsby engine that has been in service eight years; drawn by three horses; a four wheel wagon drawn by two horses."

Engine House No. 5 - 1215-1217 South I Street
"...equipped with a third-class Ahrens; drawn by two horses; has been in service nine years; a four-wheeled hose wagon drawn by two horses"

Engine House No. 6 - 819-821-823 A Street
"...one second-class Clapp & Jones engine; drawn by three horses; a four-wheel hose wagon."

Hook and Ladder Co. No. 1 - 211 St Helens Ave
"A second-class Hayes Aerial Truck, with a 65-foot extension ladder; carries 211 feet of ladders, a life net, two pompier[ii] ladders, life belts and life lines; drawn by three horses"

Engine House No. 7 - 5046-5048 Harrison St. Edison

Hose Co. No. 1
"...a two wheeled hose cart drawn by one horse"

Engine House No. 8 - 4301 South L Street
Closed because of city's financial condition.

"Since last report five horses have been purchased by the city at a cost of $725.00 cash, and one old horse traded in at a value of $50.00.
Two horses have died during the year and two, which were unfit for further use in this department, have been turned over to the street department.
We have now in service thirty-three horses at a cost per month of $7.08. There are several which have been in the department from five to nine years and may have to be replaced during the next year."

September 20th at 1:50 p.m.
Tacoma's Western Washington Industrial Exposition building burns to the ground.  The building, built in early 1891, was the largest frame building on the West Coast.  The mammoth structure covered two blocks around Tacoma Avenue and N 8th Street. It was 280 by 300 feet, used three and a half million board feet of lumber, and cost $72,000 to build.

A symbol of the boomer and booster spirit in Tacoma, it was built to display industrial products.  When crowds were not forthcoming, it was converted to use for balls, sporting events, concerts, and the like.  The fire occurred just seven years after the huge, impressive building was constructed.

"Alarm from box 18 called the department to a fire at North 8^th and G streets. When the department arrived the entire building was a roaring mass of flames. A special alarm was immediately sent in calling the entire department except one company. It was impossible to save any part of the building, and all the work of the department was confined to saving adjoining buildings, the Tacoma avenue bridge, and prevent the fire from spreading. Fire was under control in about two hours and subdued in eight hours. The work of the department was hampered by lack of water caused by the smallness of water mains in this locality. Cause of the fire was supposed to be incendiary. Loss on building $20,000. Loss on Tacoma Avenue bridge $2,000. No insurance."

Alarm was sounded from box 39 for a fire in the Tourist Hotel, on E street extending from North First to North Second.

This was a five-story brick building about 90x400 feet.

The inside of this building was all wood, with temporary floors of rough boards, laid about two inches apart, allowing a draught from bottom to top stories. There were also stored large piles of lumber and shingles in different parts of the buildings which added greatly to the assistance of the fire.

The building being vacant and having no watchman the fire had gained great headway before being discovered and an alarm sent in. When the department arrived on the scene, the entire south wing or south half of the building was burning fiercely from basement to roof. Special alarms were immediately sent in calling all the departments, except Hose Co. No. 2, and the efforts of the department concentrated at the center or main entrance to try and cut the fire off from the north half, as the fire was working its way with great rapidity in that direction.

There were six streams on the fire and five were directed at this point, three inside and two turned through the windows and on the roof. The men on the inside remained on the different floors with the streams until the roof was falling in on them and were driven out by the intense heat and lack of water and not enough streams to bear upon the large area of fire sufficient to check it.

After it was seen that it was not possible to stop the fire at this point, and the fire had worked its way into the north wing, the efforts of the department were directed to the west end of the north wing and boiler rooms to prevent the fire from spreading across the street to surrounding property. While working at this end of the building three men working with a stream on a ladder in one of the windows were knocked out of the window to the ground by a piece of timber falling from above, two being slightly injured and one taken to the hospital where he recovered in about ten days.

This building was a large structure and was situated in an isolated part of the city in a strictly residence district, causing the majority of the fire department to travel from one to three miles and partly up hill, requiring some time to concentrate the department at this point. The department was greatly hampered by lack of water caused by small water mains in this locality.

There were in service at this fire four engines and one truck and required 5,000 feet of hose to get six streams on the fire. On account of the distance of hydrants from the building nine hours' work was required to subdue this fire. Cause of the fire supposed incendiary. Loss estimated at $150,000. No insurance.

[iv]The arsonist had dumped large quantities of naphtha on a pile of shingles in the south wing of the hotel, still under construction, set a match to it, and vanished. Within seconds the whole structure exploded in flames.

Happier times in 1898

"Community Relations recently received two photographs sent by Nora Hall of Puyallup.
One is of her step-mother's 1898 graduating class from Tacoma High School.
Maude Louise (Stocking) Hall was not in the photograph that was taken at Pt. Defiance Park.

Bernice Louise Taylor of Brea, Calif., granddaughter of Maude Hall, wrote in a letter,

"Maude married James Robert Hall in Republic, Wash., in 1914 after getting her nursing degree in southern California.
Maude was the step-mother of Nora Page Hall, a resident of Puyallup for the last 60 years who celebrated her 93rd birthday in September of this year.
Nora taught in the Puyallup School District for several years, got her masters degree from Berkley, returned to work for the Tacoma City Health Department, and then was director of Health Education for the Tacoma School District, retiring in 1970."