Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-05-31
FURIOUS FLAMES.
B. F. Funk & Co.'S Large Wholesale Gro
Gerry Completely Gutted by Fire
Loss, 100000.
Fireman Kryrs FaII~ From tn" Third story
to the Cellar and Receives Probably
Fatal Injuries FuII "Details of
Very Destructive Fire.

street, Saturday afternoon III ".'"' O'I'"N'
a brief account of which appeared i'll yes
trrlay'> edition of the GIHBE-R -REII BII'.
THE FIRE ORIGINATED
I'm the front part of the cellar, very near
the elevator in most peculiar manner. }.
W. r. Cline. collector and Inspector OF me
tres for the Springfield Gas Light and Coke
company. entered the cellar about lali-pa>t
three o'clock tn examine the metre. He
struck match withwhch to light candle,
lust how the ire occurred is not
known but an instant Later the
fire had spread all over the
fore part OF the cellar and MI. elm" found
himfrif in an extremely prccariomN Situa-
tinn. He was unable To reach the stairway,
~ he shouted up the elevator for N"mrh"dy
Ia help him ont of the cellar. William n.
White one OF the statesmen III
the store. rushed to the elevator
and assisted Cline out of the cellar,
but scarcely had he done 81 when NA"etN OF
flame shot through the elevator way, fol
lowed hy drmSt volumes OF sitting smoke.
The elevator shaft was perfect Hue Tor
the fire and in less than five minutes after
il broke out, the entire building. from the
cellar tn the third floor, was cnveloped IN
smoke and flames.
An alarm had in the meantime been sent
i'm and though the fire department respond
ed with remarkable promptmeSN, dense vol
umeS Of smoke were pouring from all the
dnor> and windows OF the building before
water could be gotten on the flames. II
/ looked for a time a. though the whole
block was doomed. and it seemed an age
before the department began playing on
the flames, when really it WAS only mill
ur. or less. When the laddlrS did get Ia
work. they found ii
AN UGLY FIRE To FIGHT.
The building was packed with goods from
cellar To roof. and ii WAS next 10 lmr'N>r
blt. to get at the fire. The seat of the diff
Guilty was. of course. in the cellar. F"uT
or five barrels of coal oil were stored there.
and the intense heat CAUSED these, one
after another, Ia explode. Every few
seconds sheets of flame would shoot ~
through the hatchway and through tn"
holes that had been chopped in the flour,
driving the brave tiremrm back I" the pave
ment in spite of themselves. Drn>"
volumes of the most sitting smoke would
immediately follow the flames and the TIRE
men found the smoke quite As hard
to face ~ the flames. Ii hung IN heavy
banks about the building and. having pc
culiar. pumgemt "dor characteristic OF burn
Ing oil. il nearly >tiled the men.
All the streams at the command "i The
department were playing on the burning
building and in half an hour there was
enough water in the cellar to float ship
notwithstanding the large drainage pip"
The burning oil hoated about on the
water. it seeming tn be utterly impossible
to put it ont. Long after the fire was AZ
parrutlv eNtinguiShed on the first. >ccom,
and third floors. smoke issued from tn,
cellar ways leading from both Funk y Co.
and William Clark'S cellars.
The fireman fought nohly. however anC
shortly before L o'clock the out tap Wa:
sounded 1t had been hard struggle. hui
Springfirld's splendid lire department haC
done itself proud and richly did the boy,
deserve the praise that wa, bestowed upon
them.
H. +. FUUk n Co.'S establishment was
coMpIETEIN GIFTED.
The firm had every floor and the celia!
filled with goods. and their is scarcely al
article in the entire stock that is not mor'
or less damaged. Canned goods vinegar
and syrup. of which there was : consider
able stock, were not probably much injured
and some wooden ware escaped Neri"u'
damage: but the balance of the stock Is mo-
worth over fifteen or twenty cents on The
dollar. That which was not damaged hN
th, ire was damaged by water. The build
ing. which i a thrr,~,tury brick structure
is pretty seriously damaged. competent
Judges placing the loss on it at $1,000. j
il owned by John Funk. 81, he carried
=, 900 Insurance on il.
In conversation with B. r. Funk atI.oRE
RErU EIIC representative learned that the
trm had about SIS. 900 worth of stock "I
hand. and Of this amount they would lose
FULLY SEVENTY FIVE PER CENT.
Mr.. Funk said that he could not hope Il
save over twenty five cents on the dollar d
the stock. his loss thus being 81, 800. The
firm carried sic. 800 insurance on the stock
distributed among the following companies
Phoenix uf Hartford ...............-.s ZUb
London. Liverpool and Globe. ....... .....- i2'
[ Mercantile. OF Boston. ..-...........-.-.. i'Vh
: Hanover ..--..............- ......... 10
New York Alliance .......-.... @'a
The Richaud MutuPI ... ......... 1Ss
. She scottish Mutual and National. 2lh
The Northern England. ................ Z'.a'
Tota1 .................s .sl6sg,
|. w. Wallace K Co. are agents for the
first three, l.. 5 Weber, for the fourth and
fifth. ID. Il. Ho>terman for the sixth. and
J. ). Boyle for the seventh and eighth.
Joe Sheets ealoon. which is in the ad
Joining building on the western side, wa
considerably damaged 10y water, the rit-
giant paper on the walls and ceiling being
DESTROYED. His loss will amount
to not over 500, which i,
fully covered by 500 insurance in the VA
tomal company. Of Hartford. William
CIark'S saloon which adjoin> Fumk's store
on the eastern side was not damaged al all
The Bushnell Guards, who>t armury Is i'll
same block, moved all their arms and
t,.rs la h,l Ia