Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1886-02-10
SAVED FROM THE FLAMES.

SAVED FROM THE FLAMES.
The Interior of Fred Pfotenhauer's
Broadway Furniture Store MI
apAblazs-Quick Response OF the Fire
Department and the Wonderful Ex-
,tfnguishing Qualities of Our AEte-
sian Water.
at half past ten O'Clock last evening,
while the raging storm was at its height
and the air was filled with snow borne
upon the wings of q lively northeast
gale, fire was discovered in the rear
apartment of Fred Pfotenhauer's furni-
ture store, or Broadway. An alarm was
sounded from the truck house and the
fire department promptly responded.
The streets were filled with drifted snow
and binding clouds of snow swept
%viciousiy into the faces of the tiremen
as they progressed slowly up Third
street dragging their heavy loads behind
them. 1t was impossible to pull the
carts at anything like a rapid pace. The
brief alarm had reused only a few citi-
sens and there was little IN the
way of volunteer aid at the ropes.
But the tiremen struggled man
fully through the storm, losing the first
few valuable minutes in the delay
necessarily occasioned by the condition
of the streets. They reached the hydrart
at the corner of Third and Broadway,
where hose connection was made, a
line being strung by each of the two
companies. The hook and ladder COM
pany proceeded Immediately to the rear
of the burning building, which was by
this time
A MASS oF ROARING FLAMES
on the inside of the shop department,
which occupied a room in the rear of
the building. This room vas separated
from the lower sales room by q
wooden partition, and a stairway,
boarded in, connected the lower sales
room with the upper salesroom. The
flames had devoured this wooden parti-
ton and forced their way into the up.
per story. So the two stories of the
rear of the building were burning Wig
orously by the time the firemen were
ready for work. The fire was pouring
out the windows and doors and mount
ing high above the structure, gaining
increased strength with every second of
time. AT this juncture it was a wicked
looking aonfagration and it seemed to
the %on-lookers to be
IMPOSSIBLE TO SAVE H BUILDING.
II further seemed that with this burn.
ing pile must go the adjoining buildings
the Wynn & Buckwalter brick block, the
old variety theatre, wooden structure, the
brick armory building and tho wooden
pile beyond belonging to Mrs. Burleigh
But a couple of hose MOBILES were insert
ed through the back door, the hydran'
opened and the iremen planted them
selves with heroic tenacity in front of tht
wall of flame which rushed outward
from the combnstible pile within
1t did not seem more thai
a minute or two after the water wa
turned n before the
CONFEDERATION WAS sUBDUED.
Wherever the water touched the fire
yielded without q protest and went out
The effect was similar to that of the pre-
pared water used in the patent ham
grenades. In five minutes the blaze wa
extinguished, excepting in the stairway
which was difficult to reach from below
as the rear of the stairs was towards tn
iremen. A ladder was hoisted to one Q
the upper windows and a hose carrie
up. From this window the stairway wa
swept by a stream and the last ember
quickly drowned out. For about ifteel
minutes longer the two streams c~ontinu
ed to play and then were withdrawn an
the
VICTORY OVER THE FLAMES
was complete. This was accomplish
in a night of wild commotiop Of W ind
IN the midst of a binding snowstorl
= and in q brick block filled with the mo!
: inhammable material which ever coaxe
a fire into destructive proportion
Surely Yankton possesses remaEkab.
protection against conaagrations,
. ADJOINING BUILDINGS.
While the fire wal raging Marsh
Wright took possession of the entral
9 ces to Wynn & Buckwalter's hardwat
store adjoining, kept them closed al
t prevented the crowd from enterin
The p%roprietors of the establishmeI
l were snugly in bed at home and kne
s nothing of their danger until this NOR
ing. They rely on their heavy fire We
and say they are safe against any OF
side hlaze, Their block was u~niniure
l. The wooden structure adjoiniI
n Pfotenhauer on the south, the disuss
d variety theatre, was not even scorch
and the fence around its rear renal
intact.
REMOVING GOODS.
Some effort was made to carry out I
goods belonging to Mr.. Pfotenhauer a
for this purpose the front doors We
forced open. Only a few articles, near'
the front, were taken out, the smoke o
the darkness being so dense that it v