Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1884-04-30
The Burning OF the Bauer and
OeSterling Mill.


A destructive fire occurred in Mill
vale just outside of Allegheny, this
morning, bv which the extensive plan
ing mill of Bauer & Oesterling was TO-
tally DESTROYED. The mill was situated
forth of mile from Bennet's station,
West Penn railroad, in the valley
through which the historic Girty's
run flows. In a depression between
the stream and the Evergreen railroad
tracks stood the mill, large two-story
frame building, sixty-two feet square.
Along side Of it it was shed one hun
dred feet, and near by was two story
building I6x20 formerly used as a sta
ble All of the buildings, the mill
included, were filed with finished
stock. and bill stuff, sash, doors, mould
ing, flooring and seasoned lumber. In
the mill yard were eight or ten piles of
lumber which had been seasoned for
the last year. In the mill and other
buildings and the yard there were at
least 600 900 feet of lumber, according
to Mr. Bauer,s estimate.
The origin of the fire was enveloped
in mystery, butafter discovered ciIcum-
stances surrounding gives an ,almost
certain clue to the cause. At half
past FIVE o'clock Gus NUM-, the engin-
eer, started the fires under the boilers;
also the stove in the Office at the corner
of the mill. He left the Office for
short time to get some coal ashes, and
had not been gone more than five min
utes when he saw the flames bursting
out of the second story of the mill An
alarm was given at once, but as it was
just the hour when very few men were
around, not being out of bed yet, Doth-
| ing could be done to check the progress
of the flames. There was large tank
of water near the mill and a supply of
hose, but this wasn.found to be almost
useless. The fire was raging fercely
all the time, being fed by the dry mate
rial in the mill and strong wind that
was blowing After considerable delay
the Millvale Fire Company with large
Babcock extinguisher mounted on
wheels appeared on the scene. No at
tempt was made to save the mill as it
was futile, but every effort was direct
ed to saving number of frame dwell
ings near by.
Some one saw that more assistance
was needed and ran across the Forty
third street bridge and called out en-
gine companies Nos. and I, of Pitts
burgb, which hurried to the place at
once. Great difficulty was found in
keeping up the supply of water, as
Girty run was the only place where it
could be obtained in sufficient quantity.
A temporary dam was constructed, and
from this the engines obtained fair
supply of water.
In less than one hour after the fire
started the mill and outbuildings were
iu ruins, nothing being left standing
but the engine and boilers. The heat
was so intense that the attempt to
save anything was given up shortly after
the fire started. All that was saved was a
small lot of finished stuff, and a few
hundred feet of hemlock lumber. Mr..
Bauer states that he had no doubt the
Ere started on the second food from
shavings around the Office stove pipe.
He had warned his men over and over
again to clear the shavings away from
the pipe in the evening, but his warn
had not been needed A pattern maker
had been working beside the pipe yes
terday, he understood. and no doubt
be left the shavings scattered about
when he went home last night. Mr..
Bauer lives on the hillside above the
mill. When he arose this morning he
saw the smoke from the furnace stacks,
but noticed nothing wrong. He went
down stairs for a moment, and when he
returned the flames were bursting
from the second story windows. This
shows the great rapidity with which
it spread.
The loss will be very heavy, as the
mill and outbuildings were not year
old, and all that was saved does not
amount to much. Mr.. Bauer thought
his loss would not fall short of $25, 900,
on which there is not one cent of in
surance. Said he: II have been in the
business twenty-five years and never
expected anything of this kind, as l
thought the tank and hose sufficient
protection"
Two frame dwellings, two stories
each, near the mill were badly scorched
and great trouble was had in saving
them. The buildings are owned by
Mrs Kenells and are occupied by Fred
Braun. a shoemaker and VIM Pfangle,
a roller in Bennet's mill The houses
were damaged to the extent of about
$500; covered by insurance.
A rumor prevailed that a man had
been burned to death, which was un-
founded, but had its origin as follows:
One of the men working the Babcock
was splashed all over by the chemical,
and some one made the remark that he
was burned This was repeated until
it assumed the form of the rumor A
man named Cornelius had his coat
burned and his body slightly singed
while trying to save some property but
outside of these there were no acci-
dents