The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1886-11-05
Mitchell Again Baptized by a
Fierce Fire.
Twenty.one Horses Cremated at
Three O'clock a. m.
Two Livery Barns and One Ho,
tel Entirely Destroyed.
Together With all Their Con.
tents..-Full Details.

About three o'clock this morning the
round house whistle sounded the fire
alarm and it was discovered that Ohm
stead & Slater's livery barn near the
depot was mass of flames.
The structure went like
tinder and nothing could be
saved The horses some twenty-one in
number could be seen in their stalls
fighting desperately to escape, and one
did reach the front door and fell dead.
Will. Slater was sleeping in the
Office and had he not been
awakened by George Rowley would
have also perished. AS it was he had
to crawl out of the window, that being
the only means of escape left him.
The wind blew from the southeast and
the old Mitchell house belonging to
Mr.. Caswell, directly opposite the
Caswell house was next consumed, and
then the Caswell house barn
was devoured by the flames.
The fire company got one hose stretch
ed from the water tank at the depot
and kept the fire from spreading fur
ther.
Olmstead & Slater lose eight horses
and their entire outfit of carriages, har-
ness, robes and large amount of hay
and grain. A gentleman named Man
warning, lost four horses, one
of whom he had just paid N. Grant
three hundred dollars for, and
Mr.. Bell; had one horse in the barn,
and farmer from Mt. Vernon lost a
team. There was also four govern
ment mules from Ft. Randall and a
span of mules belonging to a farmer
in Parkston.
The livery barn belonged to N. Dut-
ton and was insured for $500.
Olmstead and Slater had 81 600 insur-
ance in a London company
placed by ]. N. Crow and $500 In the
Des Moines company, S. D. Cook agent,
which they were fortunate enough to
to have recently taken out.
Mr.. Caswell had about $1,000 on his
hotel and barn. Manwarring is
said to have lost $500 in horses and
wagons he had in the barn on which
there was no insurance.
At this writing it is impossible to
give any clue to the origin of the fire,
but it must have been another case of
incendiary, as o. o. StanchGeld came
in with team at 1l:3O and it was
nearly IL o'clock when he left the barn,
and all was safe at that time. The fire
spread so rapidly and burned with such
violence in the hay and straw that the
barn was one solid mass of flames in
five minutes from the time in was dis.
covered.
Mitchell has had another reminder
now that the dilly-dallying procedure
that our city dads are indulging il
should come to an end, and the watel
turned into the mains already complet
ed. that the city may have the protec
ton that it has been expecting fol
many months.
/, There is no new light to he thrown
+, on the origin of the fire Sunday morn
ing, although Olmstead & Slater hav
!. suspicious OF their own as tothe part
5 who set it, and the matter is undergo
g ing rigid investigation. Hundreds o
), people visited the scene of the dlsaste
\ Sunday and viewed the remains of til
!. cremated horses who lay smoulderin
!. in the ashes.
]. Slater & Olmstead will lose abou
J, $500 should they get the full amour
j. of their insurance They had recentl
a put in several new buggies and hal
s nesses which without an exceptio
were lost.
\ John Manwarring who works for tn
Fullerton lumber company had thre
valuable horses and two b,,ggics burr
u ed. His loss will reach $500, which
total.
u u -Four COWS in the yard back of I'll
barn were barely saved. A stor
/" fence nearly detie,l the efforts of til
men who worked liked beavers to tes
it down.
d The carcasses of the burned horses
y. the number of nineteen were haule
:. away yesterday by order of Marsh
~ Durell and buried.