Week of Disastrous Fires The town of McDonald, which has been exempt from property-destroying fires for a number of years, has been visited by five fires so far this month, and the last two have resulted in a loss estimated conservatively at $12,000. On Saturday night a lively blaze destroyed the stable of the Federal Supply company in O'Hara street and burned two horses and two mules to death. The heaviest loss was in the animals which were unusually valuable. They were matched teams, each estimated to be worth $600. The total loss in this instance is estimated to be $2,100. The members of the Hose Company, who had worked hard to keep the fire from spreading to the adjoining livery barn of J. C. ROGERS, had not yet fully recovered from their arduous exertions and the exposure to the extremely cold weather, when they were called out again, shortly after nine o'clock Sunday morning, to the fire in the back part of the basement of the VALENTOUR building, directly under CHAMBON's dry goods store. Smoke was seen issuing from the basement by a pedestrian. At the same time the family of W. F. STOCKTON, who reside in a flat on the third floor, discovered smoke coming up alongside the steam pipes. An alarm quickly brought the Hose company, but there being no entrance to the seat of the fire in the basement but through the front, the fight against the flames was a stubborn one, the firemen being driven back repeatedly by the deadly smoke. Five lines of hose were used in poring water into the basement, and after two hours of struggle the fi! re was extinguished. The loss to the building is $1,000, to F. S. CHAMBON, $5,000 to $6,000, and to the stock in VALENTOUR's Bazar $2,000. The need of a better fire fighting apparatus is evident, and the Hose company at a meeting on Tuesday evening appointed a committee to present the matter to council.