Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1874-06-05
mirably and more than sustained all
the good that had been promised Of

mlrably and more than sustained all
the good that had been promised of
it. It wss individually the sole
agency by which property Of many
times more value than the cost of
the machine was saved from the
flames. The lumber yard of Benton
& Co on the opposite side Of Chat
ham street frem the St, James Hotel
was on fire several times, but was
promptly extinguished by the strong
and steady stream of water from the
steamer. Had it burnt, the confla-
grafton would without doubt swept
through the square, consuming the
Munson block the LIST National Bank
building, and other valuable proper
ty. ~
But to resume; the march of the
dcvouring element towards Main st
was rcsistless. Successfully taking
Robbins grocery Steinmctz' shoe shop
Humans Meat Market, WHAT'S shoe
store, and the banking house of Fran
els Jones & Elwcll. These parties
generally saved part of their goods.
At this point the conflagration be-
gan to assume magnificent proper
tons. The wooden block on the
north side Main Street between
Chatham and the river, belonging to
the Wilcox estate, in its turn fell y
prey to the resistless tempest of fire,
and fully verified the common pre-
diction that if it ever did burn, it
would make one vt the hottest fires
on record. 1t was occupied Oh the
ground floor by T. Kittrcdge variety
store, S. NJ. Marquette furniture,
Olmstcad, restaurant, and John Cor
man, tailor, the second story being
occupied by Ensmingcr Bros Pho
tograph Gallery, and several other
parties. Being entirely of wood,
that material forming its inside in
walls instead of plaster, and withal
of large proportions, it burned with
fierce intensity that forbade near adj
Iroach, and carried destruction to all
structures in its vicinity. Most of it's
occupants had removed their goods,
which were piled in the utmost con-
fusion on the bridge. AS the surg
ing flames advanced, a second re-
moval was necessary, and the ensuing
confusion and terror was awful to
contemplate. Two frames standing
at the approach to the bridge on the
north side of the street and occupied
by /. Sooner as harness shop, and
Mike Unger as a saloon, were licked
UP in q breath and left no trace be-
hind The wind which was but .
zephyr when the fire commenced had
now arisen to brisk breeze from the
northwest. This sealed the fate of
the magnificent three story brick
block of six stores OH the opposite
side of Main street, also the property
of the Wilcox heirs. When the
forkcd tongues of flame, reaching
with Unsuitable fury across the street
attacked this splendid pile of build
ings simultaneously firing it in front
and on the rood, the eliminating ter
ror and sublimity Of the scene had
arrived. No pen can describe the
awful grandeur Of the moment Meth
er can tongue fifty portray the pang
Of sorrow which penetrated the
hearts of our citizens as they saw
this splendid pile of buildings-no
interior town in Iowa containing as
fine structur-wrapped in the en-
brace of the relentless fire fiend.
But regrets were unavailing; once
fired the buildings burned rapidly
and the demon Of fire passed on.
The occupants of the Wilcox block
were Bowley & Circuit, dry goods;
Lawton 4 Post dry, goods; Welch 4
Wilcox, grocers; Morse 4 Barnett,
dry goods; Tabor 4 Srl, druggists;