Mexico weekly ledger., 1883-03-22
FORTY THOUSAND FIRE.
THE WOODEN MILLS GO DOWN In
ASHES.-NEARLY COVERED
BIZ INSURANCE.
Serious Loss to Mexico and Vicinity
Thirty People Thrown out of Work.
$4,000 worth of Property
Saved by the Fire Company.
Sparks and Incidents.


AT 2.30 a. m, Friday morning,
Mexico was aroused by the changing
of the fire bell and the sharp, short
danger whistles of the railroad loco
motives about the depot and the
hoarse shouts Of fire by the pedes-
TRANS who happened to be abroad at
such an unusual hour. The first cry
your reporter heard was, ''It's the
Wooden Mills!" which proved to be
correct. On reaching the fire we
found the center ofthe main build
ing to be in flames. 1T was evident
from the first that the mill was
doomed. sThe fire company was
prompt and saved the adjoining
houses which, contained about $780,
900 worth of wool, yarn, etc. 1t is
not known how the fire started.
When first discovered it was under
full Roadway. There was no fire in
that part of the building and the theo-
DRY of spontaneous combustion is adj
vanced. 'rhis fire was, perhaps, the
most expensive one Mexico has ever
had and cannot be reckoned by dol
and cents. The machinery destroyed
was new and of the most improved
pattern. some of it having just been
put in. The mills belongedto Thomp-
son, Teasdale & Rice. About thirty
five people were thrown out of work.
About $50, 900 worth of property was
destroyed, but the insurance will
nearly cover this amount. The mills
were built about 20 years ago and
were paying a handsome dividend.
The main engine and the stock in the
warehouses were saved, amounting to
quite an item. The question now
being asked on all sides and which
will soon be decided, is, evil the
mills be rebuilt?" We trust they
will. These mills were considered
almost al sold land mark" and Mex
leo would miss them greatly. We
trust that in less than a month the old
time, well-known II O'Clock whistle
will again be heard by the people who
love to stop work to eat dinner.
SPARKS.
Mexico needs a steam engine.
Everybody wants the mills rebuilt.
The engine is a regular man-killer.
The fire was short, but hot and
costly.
The fire company is badly in need
of ladders.
Fires are becoming as numerous in
Mexico as in st. Louis.
The members of the fire company
sleep with their clothes on.
Several property owners do a good
deal of talking but no pumping.
Mexico would have been in a bad
fix this winter without a fire company.
The insurance business in Mexico
boometh like a green bay tree in
chinch bug season.
The fire company saved nearly $685.
600 worth of property at this fire.
Can't we have a steamer?
1t never rains but it pours. We
think this is the last fire for a while.
We have had a regular Virgins
storm.
Llewellyn, Turner, Wood Trimble
and a few others who are not mem
bers of the fire company always dc
good work at the engine.
AN INCIDENT.
The horses that belong to the fire
company, and are kept at Botkin's
livery stable, are becoming very well
trained. AS soon as the alarm is
sounded they begin to prance and
paw. On this occasion Kent threw
the harness on in a hurry and was
On the way to the engine house in halt
a minute. They seemed to know il
was a big fire, and one of them jerked
loose, and on a dead run flew around
the square a couple of times, after
which he ran to the engine house and
backed into place to be hitched on.
The delay was slight and the time
lost was made up in the way they
pulled the old machine the half a mile
to the mill in one-half a minute.