St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-03-04
DISASTROUS FIRE.
The Pillow Works at Post Siding Burned.
The Story of the Fire.

AT 1910 last evening as several parties
came out of meeting in the Office of the st
Paul pillow works they discovered smoke
issuing from the upper story of what il
known as the paint and wood work building
it being on fire in about the center, as is
supposed from the explosion Of a lamp az
workmen had been laboring there during
the evening. telephone alarm was SEM
in to central fire hall ut once from the Office
and the Waterman also sent in an alarm
from box 263, and old engine No. 3, re.
serve temporarily in the house OF No. while
the latter is undergoing repairs, chemical NO.
2 and hook and ladder No. l were very
promptly on the ground.
Hose was run out to cistern about @
blocks distance from the warehouse and the
suction dropped into the same, when part
of the engine gave out, added to which it was
found that pin down In man-hole, which
opened gate from the main pipe OF
the water works, was broken and a good deal
of time was lost in hosting this gate supply
in consequence, for which trouble no one
was personally responsible for the time be-
ing.
at the time of the arrival of the first engine
which was in the second story, towards
Seventh street with great rapidity and in a
few moments the entire roof was mass OF
rolling flames, making it so hot
that though the building stood fully
thirty feet back from the roadway it was i'm
possible To stand anywhere in the street.
With brisk breeze blowing to the southeast
and no water, the impossbility Of saving any
OF the buildings soon become
apparent The removal of iron
and steel, raw and manufactured,
from the long story and half blacksmith
shop directly east Of the structure and ad-
joining was Immediately commenced, and
considerable Of this stock removed before a
volcanic sheet of fame struck it in about the
center. These two shops were then turned
into sea of fire from end to end and in a
half hour were heap of burning debris.
Engine No. had long before been tele-
phoned for to take the place of the disabled
steamer, but before it could get over the
three miles in which the Seventh street fill
and bill were included, the flames had COM
municated to
LIE ihlhD oOi1Ibi-NOt
two stories and half, also of wood, used for
dry house, which seemed to give fresh
impetus to the fire, and made the work Of
removing the finished WORK from
the warehouse adjoining; also another
story and-a-half wooden structure 100 feet
long by SO feet in width. on account of the
scorching heat work OF great difficulty, and
so much so that hole had to be cut in the
west side of the building to accomplish it.
As it Was, the books of the company and
papers which were in the Office were hur
riedly got out while the safe was left inside.
A small connecting roof between the, dry
and the warehouse led the flames into the
center of that structure so that at
IL 80 when steamer No. l was in full
work and two streams thereon, and the water
pipe gate was feeding plenty of water into
the cistern for its supply from the water
main, it.was entirely useless, and by mid
night the four structures were mass Of
ruins.
THE FOUR BUILDINGS
all ablaze at ONCE made fearful display of
what fire can do when unrestrained on an
unprotected lest of wooden structuressfilled
with infammables, and the lurid light was
visible for many miles, aud attracted
a great crowd of people thereto. The street
and vacant land adjoining were piled with
plows, cultivators, harrows, iron, wood and
steel, and disconnected portions of the
farming machinery in course Of manufacture
which had been snatched hastily from the
buildings by scores OF willing hands.
AT this season of the year these works are
always running at their fullest capacity in
anticipation of the spring trade, and this was
the fact this year The buildings were filed
with lum Der, steel and iron in the rough and
in process of manufacture, aud 200 men
were employed daily, some of them working
also evenings, who are thus thrown out OF
employment.
There was
CONSIDERABLE CRITICISM
on the part of the people resident
in that locality, which is in
the ST. Paul fire limits, be-
cause, though the water main from the lakes
ran within few feet Of these buildings, there
were no hydrants or fire apparatus there for
the protection of the property in that neigh
borhood The broken engine and the bad
condition Of the water-worls gate which feeds
the cistern were also severely animadverted
upon.