St. Paul daily globe., 1889-02-26
SALTWATER sCoRCHED.
Fire Gets in Its Work on the New
Mower Block.
MATHEWS & CO. THE LOSERS
I THAR Stock Destroyed, and Several
Other Tenants Suffer From
/ Smoke and Water.

The fine new Mower block and it's
mate, the Torinus building, narrowly
. escaped destruction yesterday morning
lin what threatened to be the most dis
sastrous fire that has visited the business
: part of the city. The dense and insup-
J portable smoke proved for long time
complete barrier to any advance of
! the firemen, and the exact location of.
{ the fire could not be ascertained. The
) fire was made apparent first to Martin
Mower, who was sleeping in the boom
company's Office on the second floor of
the Mower block, over the store of Sam
uel Mathews u Co. He was awakened
at o'clock by suffocatlng smoke, and
finding that the trouble originated in
the cellar under the store, at once
turned in an alarm, to which
the fire department quickly re-
sponded. BY this time great
vOlumns of smoke poured from the eel
lar and store front, and all the firemen
could do was to direct the streams into
the south end of the cellar, where the
fire seemed to be working. though no
flames appeared. After a time the floor
of the store partially sank, the shelving
-toppled fol ward and flames shot up
from the c. liar. which could then be
better reached by the water. By fight
ing against great odds and with rare
good work continued for about three
hours, the fire was confined to the
length eXtinguiShed without seriously
damaging the rest of the building. Car
rell's saloon, adjoining, Millard's shoe
store and Gagnelius d Co.'s clothing
establishment, in the T0rinuS building.
were more or less damaged by smoke,
while all the Offices in the second and
third stories of each building were
filled with smoke to a SuffOcating eX-
tent. The fire room was flooded
three feet deep with water and the
steam pIpes disconnected SO that the
tenants y. sterday made such shift as
they could with hastily erected stoves.
Mathews IL Co., are among the heaviest
general merchandise dealers in the
city, occupying two large store rooms
devoted to groceries and dry goods re-
spectively, the total stock. OF which the
greater part of the groceries was stored
in the cellar, being estimated at SlS,-
600. The fire originated at the front i'm
the southeast corner of the cellar where
quantity of matches were stored, and
1t is supposed that rats ignited the
matches, or that possibly fire caught
from a steam coil. The furnaces were
remote from that point, and in
the adjoining cellar. j. b. Stnr-
tevant, of Mathews d Co,
estimates their loss on stock at Sl2,5OO,
mostly by smoke and water. Tie fire
did not penetrate the dry goods depart
ment, but its goods are wrecked
Mathews u Co. had an insurance of $9.-
500 divided as follows: German, of
2Pittsburg, $l.50O: State, of Des Moines.
$500: German, of Buffalo, 81 800; Royal,
Of liverpool, $1,000: Liverpool. London
1 Il Globe, 1000; Insurance Company OF
North America, Sl,50O; Commercial
Union Assurance company. $1,000. The
damage to its building is estimated at
S5,001; insurance. $4,000. Mathews &
Co. are now established in the Jessoy
building, OH Chestnut street, until the
burned quarters are rebuilt, work at
(which will be begun as SOON as the loss
sisadjusted.
q Martin Mowers two. pet pug dogs.
Billy Carrell's pair of canarieS and Ed
MOerhead's cur periShed in the smoke
at the Mower block. -
Z In the district court yesterday judg-
.ments fe the defendants were entered
iin the cases of sStrobach, Griener' Il Co.
against The St. Paul Park Broom Com
.paliy and The w. X. Church Cart Com
'pany.
The Crusaders are preparing to pre-
sent at the opera house the drama
Kathleen Mavourneen."