Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1886-02-13
The Fire.

,enS were present. 1ney iuShS" ~ NV '"
irst sound. The Baptist church, near by tn
crowded with u deeply interested con- sl
but in a few minutes 1t was de-
Inside Of five minutes after the alarm be
given, the street in front of the court
house was crowded with people. who seemed di
10 care nothing for the deep mud. The hre tt
WAS located in the millinery rooms OF Mrs.
NJ. F. Price, and it is supposed to have orlgi- .
mated from a coal oil lamp, which was left II
while Mrs. Price was at church. L
Mr., Luther Saunders was at work in the =
photograph gallery above, and had smeled h
the burning goods for some time before ne L
took alarm. When he became satisfied that Il
there was u fire, he ran to the street and gave y
the alarm, Several gentlemen were near, d
and they ran up the steps leading to Mrs.
Prices rooms, and soon located the fire by
the volume of smoke. They kicked open the
door, which was locked, and saw that the in '
side of the room was full of fire, but a dense G
cloud of hot, strong smoke soon drove them !
out of the building. The firemen were quick 4
lv ON the ground, and q bucket brigade was
formed, reaching from the cistern in the {
court ward TO the fire, a distance of about 200
feet. The heat and smoke were Too intense I
10 De TGSlSlcu ~ Suolt iohSS, -" "S ""
could not be thrown by hand far enough to
reach the fire. About the time the bucket
brigade saw their efforts would be useless,
Mr.. Simmons, of the water company, vOlun-
tarily gave permission for the firemen TO
attach hose to the fire-plugs. A few minutes
were lost in bringing out the hose, and the
East Lexington company lost considerable
precious zine in making the run from the fire
to their hose-hOuse, and then back to the
tire. No. l was at work, aud seemed 10 De
subduing the flames, and when No. 2 began
throwing water, the crowd felt satisfied that
there was no danger Of tine fire spreading.
But it did spread. 1t got under the tin roof
of the Commercial bank building, and while
| every one knew the house was burning, no
| one could locate the fire. Holes were cut in
| the roof, but no fire could be seen, and the
heat and smoke prevented a close
| ton. The holes also served as flues, and
soon the flames burst forth above and below
the roof ,and the whole building was IN flames.
A Slight south wind was blowing, which
was favorable to the fremen. A line Of hose
was taken through McCausland's store, and
a stream was turned upon the rear end of
the bank. This stream soon began to tel
upon the fire, and It was fortunate that 1t was
taken there when it was, for the flames from
the bank building had already begun licking
the rear of the Intelligencer building, and
fire was soon discovered under its TIN roof.
Fortunately, the Intelligencer building has a
scuttle-hOle through its roof, and when the
fire got hold on its ~rafters, a peep through the
scuttle-hOle revealed the fire, and a hole was
cut IN the roof Immediately over the fire, and
!, water thrown upon the flames. 1t was l2:4O
o'clock when the Intelligencer building was
found to be on fire, but within five minutes
the building was again free from fire, and the
streams were kept playing. upon the bank.
During all this time the fire was smOulderlng
4 in the place where it was first discovered, and
while it appeared to be doing no serious
t / damage. it was weakening the joists above
\ YOung's queensware store. The building on
| the west was considered safe, and the atten'
+ ton of the firemen had been turned toward
= saving the Intelligencer building and as mucf
as possible of the Commercial bank. Tht
II fire was supposed TO be about subdued when
e at 80 o'clock tue floor above the queens
ware store gave way, and the fire took
fresh start. The firemen now turned theI
streams on the new danger. aud in twenty
minutes the fire was su5dued. While Their
was no immediate danger from any source
Sc there was danger from smouldering piles il
various places, and the two streams cOntinu
ed to play on the ruins till about four O'Clock
when the tiremen thought it safe to take
y. little rest.
nv Chinn Il Chinn occupied the lower floor
VI. the building west of the queensware store
II l Thou n,oyal fhair stnoE tn tho oOnrfhOus
and the building was flooded with water
hr DIR. Meng occupied rooms in the secon
OF story. He moved out, his instruments bein
considerably damaged. Mr.. A. F. Alexan
der also occupied rooms in the building, an
" he was damaged slightly.
u The building where the fire originated bt
ne longed to Mr.. TevIs, and was occupied 8
follows: First floor by Youns's queenswaI
store; second story by Mrs. Ii. F. Price
third floor by T. d. Saunders photograr
ty, gallery. The building was Quilted, ar
eo scarcely anything was saved. The lowe
=. story was considered quite safe until Il
D. floor gave way, and the principal damage
the stock Of goods was caused by the crasI
of The Commercial bank building was Occl
pied by the bank in the first story. In Il
D., second story were Graves & AulPs law ofhc
:" DIR. r. X. Vaughan's dental rooms, and Pre-
Chas. Gimbel. The third story was IL
W. Odd Fellows hall. The hall had recent
been extensively and elegantly fitted u
o., Everything was a total loss. They had Sill
ifl. ;nsur.noo which thew think will perha,
IS, cover the loss. The top story Of the Con
mercial bank is burned down to the foo
ty There is no way to estimate the loss, as IL
ali, two lower floors are greatly damaged
water. The insurance on the building
NV, S., 600; on the furniture S1,400, and on Il
- plate glass windows 5000.
DR.. Meng cannot estimate his loss, but
fully covered by insurance.
Messrs. Hall, Young and Wilson remov
10y, from the Intclligencer building. They su
fered no loss except the trouble of NOW
10. out and back.
T.. Mr.. W. Il. McCausland packed up a f
things, but did not move. He lost nothing.
ette The Intelligencer moved its books n
a flies, and was well drenched with water, b
suffered no appreciable loss.
T. Mr.. T. ID. Saunders lost about $1,000, al
the had only $500 of insurance.
,nce Mr.. I. Il. Young estimates his loss
and $500. 1t may be considerably more
this somewhat less, as his store is yet q wre'
able His insurance is $500.
at TheOdd Fellows insurance was. $500 on
bout subordinate lodge, and 300 on the encam
ment.
DR.. r. r. Vaughan lost about $500; his
~sursnce was $3.50.
Mr.. ID. W. Tevis, who owns the buildi
~" where the fire originated, estimates his Il
at about 50, 500. His insurance is 81, 900.
Messrs. Graves " Aull were damaged
water and loss OF books. They estimate tn
loss at $500, which is fully covered by .ins
ance.
Prof. Gimbel was damaged about 800
loss of carpet and moving furniture. He /
no insurance.
Messrs. Chinn 4 Chinn estim ate their 10
~ and damage by waller At 81 800. They
fully insured.
Mrs. NJ. F.. Price estimates her loss
$3.50, which was all she had. Nothing v
GOV saved, and there WAS no insurance.
,hor Mr.. John w. Waddell. who owns
tolo building occupied by Chinn Il Chinn, e.
tho mates his loss at about $4,000, and was fu
v.nt insured.
The Intelligencer building suffered a |
old of about $50, from cutting holes in the II
we and from the water.
+ the The Lexington fire companies and
r.- 4. l.