The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1878-08-08


tue 'Dullding.eoIAe general 1sopinion is
thao the.explosion WINS CAUSED byrpow;
deraorSs nitro: glyceffne!a Haus the'com.
eq9SSsioii Deem Of sufficient force Is yiifoW
TIE walls opt, Tie loss q life NJ W!9uldh1aryMy
oeen fearful: as men, were, still, Thick
around the building. AT the time of
the explosion 4 column Of white smoke
puffed up tllirtodtiigshI Tie Gianek smoke of
the burning building. ,s;,t,,.i ,1A:.~ +.
INCENDIARY5FIRE.!rz 2fl
Every one,admits the, possibilities of
the accidental Origin. Of the fire, but the
settled opinion is that twas the work
Ian: incendiary, and, for. the following
teasons:t 2aiiI mHi, -y23o rs,f,,. J.
LIST. There was but one family in the
building, sMrs.j,D ensmore's, and this
family .occupisd rooms on the side OPP
poslte to that OH which the fire origin
ated!' d>!I,sA. l3's ,;a.1 ,4n,n #
I'd. There were 10 other fires in The
Hall, and there was but one other room
occupied, and that WAS oy the Journal
office. at ''''t'.; 80 '"''' ""'' !.
Sd. There appears to have been de-
Sign in selecting a calm morning, so
that the rest Of the town would have u
chance to escape, and also in choosing
an; hour when the nigllt-watch was not
on duty. ,........,
,4th. The explosion inside, which was
heard for several miles around, must
nave been caused 10y some material
placed there by design. ''"* =.
= -" :.' TIE LOSS. =. =. - /.
The Hall cost originally in the neigh
borhood of $1,000. There was: ah. insu-
rance on the building Of $1,000, in Lie
Home, Of New York, in favor: Of B.. NJ.
Goldschmidt. The Journal proprietors
valued their Office between $3,OON and
$1,000; insured for $780,. Mr.. Qgle's
loss by the burning of his library is :es+
tlmated at from $sc0to 81 ,O0o. g.!
HISTORY OF THE 11ALL.ru -.
Miller Hall was built in 1872, tho first
year of the National Colony, by DR.: A.
P. Miller, Of Toledo, e"of the forird-
ers of tile town and the colony. It was
built, not with any view to making
money, but to give the. people public
hall i'll which to hold their entertain
ments and public gatherings of all kinds.
1t has done more for Wortlington than
any other building, as it furnished'a
rallying place and centre, and has been
OF great value in organizing the COM
munty and helping on the social ard
public life Of our people.
In 1878 Dr.. Miller, sold the Hall to
the trustees of the NJ. e. Church, tax
ing their notes with mortgage. These
were afterwards tra nsferred to Other
parties, bought back in part by the
Trustees, and an endless litigation be-
gan which would require 4 first-class
Philadelphia lawyer to unravel. With
i'll a week or two, rs stated at the time
in the ADVANCE, the hall passed from
the control of the NJ, Z. Trustees, and
was turned over to. the agents of J: L.
Hlte ana JOm L. Henry.
THE PUBLIC LOSS. y
Every resident of Wortlington will
feel to some extent personal loss by
the burning of the Hall. 1t cuts us
out Of suitable room for entertain
ments and public gatherings, and we
shall for some time to come go without
the concerts, dramatic entertainments,
lectures, ETC., which have heretofore
helped our people to endure the grass
hoppers and the hard times. It will be
some years before Worthington will see
another hall Of equal capacity erected.
MOTIVE.
OF course, people will have Il good
good deal to say as to the motive which
could incite any one to fire the Hall.
THIS is dangerous ground. There has
been much bad blood growing out Of
the litigation, and people will naturally
think this had something to do with
the fire. There is, however, but one
thing upon which the public are gener-
ally agreed, viz: that the Hall was de-
| liberately set OH fire.