, 1881-11-06
"The Old World and the New" Re-
sponded to by the Hon. Carl Schurz
The -ti1.al toast was 1.-THE City of Patis.n
Responded to by John Austin Stevens
: ~FIRE-RECORD.


ElSneT7a GFlHt-dHAi 1nkteu-L0SK, $780,
600.
At about O'Clock this morning German.
whose name could not be learned, while
passin. along West Randolph street, in
the vicinity of Desplaines, saw
fire in what appeared to Him tn
be the roof Of the rear portion of Fishers
Erist-mitl, n fonr-story and basement stone
front building, 1G0xG0 feet in tlinensIon,
standing OIL lots Nos. 20 and - Des.
piatnes street. He ran crying ':F1rsn
to the nearest alarM-box, and ATTEMPTED
to turn III notice to the department, but ex-
perienced SO much difficulty that he was
obliged to hunt up Il policeman-Officer
Thomas Lee-to do the job for him. By ths
time the alarm wa, given not only tha
roof, but the whole interior OF the grist-1nill
proper-an Sox4Ifoot building occupying
tile rear half of the two lots aforesaid
scented to be nlass of flames, and befnre the
extin.ulshtng apparatus nau arrived the
tongues ot 1la1ie were bursting out Of
every window, shooting high up into tie
air, lighting up the ueigllborLood fur blocks
around, anu terrifying the occupants OF all
cosa ts st5punShf Viii %Saf 9!dinss TIE r.r ''d5s III
almost 2 o'clock, Mt which time It
WIS announced as under control,
and the people who Ind been scattering
their household furniture aEl over themuduy
sisted fro ter % iasors. - Fron s ifS pilres 5Suid- ill.,
ings just To the north Of the mi!l-..nall two
story frame structures occupied by
MaI!-llole,'' THE Mad !ionse,". et'.
experiencing some damage to their ho!.se-
hold effects; and the saloonktepers will lose
by the ,dreil:ninS; which their places una~
votlably received
1t o'clock the walls of the mill fell in
with a crash-all toward the interior.
had communicated with the front
half Of the building, which was separated
from the mill. portion by heavy wall and
iron slides 1T connecting a0orwAyS, but was
easily handled there, though 1t continued
stubbornly to burn till u late hour this
lunrlling.
The causes Of the confasra,ion do not
seem TO be known. There w;ts lsu lire in the
building at the time Ut the bursting out Ut
the blaze, is t:e fires are drawn from tils
saSt'e' VIZ So 30 drswn a'N last ST. > nisi't' ' I
watct,nan named t;ohr,en was in
charge uf the prenls>S, and WAS supposed to
make the rounds once III eIch il:s!f hour:
Where he was when tile alarm was sounded
no one knows, because ile himself has not
who saw the beginning: of the tirs
think that the . dry-ki!n was tha
fuuntain-he:-H. It is very evident frunl state
lllents made by Mrs Fisher that the greatest
cartlrsIleSs has been allowed in the manage
1,lent Ut the mill, for the lady says that s!le
herself has on three different occasions
saved the place from probable destruction.
The. 1nelllbers If the Fire Department
have reason to believe that what Mrs. Fisher
has said is too true, because they have been
called out ut least once per year during the
existence Ut the luill to s,,odue fire there.
August Fisher, the owner uf the property.
WIS seen by Il TRIBUNE reporter. ami
stopped wrnglng his hands long enough to
the place and his business. He
mil. uiiis the he 4oxs6 feet mentioned above,
in 1865. and added the stone::fr"nt in lsE;.
The Gust Of erecting both buildings was 81
o but Of co''rss ttley were not woFth any, 1Ss
mill he had 1llachinsry and stock valued
at $4,000. scattered, all through It
from the basement, to the Eoof.
The basement ami three upper floors Of tha
nlaltsters, WHO were doing work for ulrish
Busch Il Co. The latter firm had 10000 bush
els Of barley stored in the building. Mr.
Fishers office is located or the main tioot
III front, tile remainder Ut that floor
and similar cereals. Ills loss, Ac Thought,
would be nearly }0,OOo, and Capt. Bull
winkIe made a similar estimate. althonsh
there WAS ilO chance to nlake I'LL ex:sn1ila-
tion OF the damaged parts. OF ne
mill. As to the causes OF the
fire, Mr. Fisher had no theory to offer. He
said that ht i1ad been ;tll over the place at
II O'Clock, and that lie had then left 1t III
charge Ut his w.ltciliEln- In reG:lr'! to lnSur.
allce, he said that Hopkins and it;.sbE0ok had
PLACED it for lin, but lie .tid mot know the
exact figures. IIe had. he Thought, about
5000 III ;,ll, 81 ,OJ1 of which WAS 0n the n;s-
chincry. Sl,0W un stock, and tile remaining
S},O00 on the building lie knew. that the
Allc,nania Is one of the interested
but. he coul.t not tell
the amount nor say upon what it WIS PLACED.
Ore vi the firm vi Miller Bros. said that their
loss would ut: fully covere's by Insurance.
The proprietor Ut the mill has been
4 :. peculiarly unfortunate man.
In 1873 the PLACE was visited By 4 scorcl!ins
similar to that Of last night, and TN TWO Ut
three occasions it has been more or less bad
ly sinsed. To add to his misfntllne, one OF:
lie grinding stones exp!nled Inst winter.
and Fisher wlS Hearty Etl1eu by
tile FIXING debris. lie felt during the fire that
his guOds on the lower iiUnr were not pr0parly
protected by lie tireneI1. y little talk with
some Uf the tirelllen explained this apparent
neglect They were afraid of the place
saying that it was 4 trap" OF the
worst kind and liable to fall all in
i heap. None Of the officers would risk the
lives Of the men inside the building.