St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-10-24
Another Great Conflagration
Visits the Fair Mime
sofa City.
The L. C. Porter FIGURING Mill
and Elevator Entirely
Destroyed,
A Man Burned to Death in a
Lodging House at
Duluth.
Quite 8 Blaze at Oshkosh
Terrible Experience Of
a Family.

Special to the Globe.
WINoNA, Oct. 23.-A second most dis
astrous fire occurred on the lower levee
among the manufacturing establish
ments this morning, threatening to wipe
out the great Touring industry. just as
the other fire but few weeks ago and
within few rods of the same place,
threatened to annlhilate the great lum-
bering interests. Box 45, the same box
that gave warning of the Laird-Norton
fire, was pulled at 12:40 a. IN. and was
followed by the greatest shrieking of
whistles and changing of bells ever
heard in Winona. The flames lighted
the skies for miles around and thousands
of people rushed to the scene. The
fire was in the great Touring mill and
elevator of l.. e. Porter milling COM
pany. The whole department was soon
at work. but failed to make any i'm
preston on the flames. ane the great
buildings burned to the ground. The
night watchman at the Laird Norton
yards noticed stream of sparks pour
ing from the Porter smOkestack,, and
few minutes later discovered the cupOla
of the
FIGURING MILL ABLAZE,
and at once gave the alarm. The CHM
ney that caused the fire has long been
regarded with suspicion and fears of
what finally secured. 1t discharged
quantities of sparks, and they have
more than once caused small blaZes both
in this very cupOla and in other places.
The sparks entered through the shut
tiers of the cupOla and fired the dust
within. The flames seemed to get
start on the southeast corner Of the ele-
vator and then worked around the
northwest corner and down the north
side, the elevator going first and the
mill following. The mill burned very
slowly, caused doubtless by the
automatic fire sprinklers, with which it
was equipped. The mill and elevator
are total loss with their contents, the
brick engine room, with engine and
boilers. escaping much injury. The
loss is about $4,000. as follows:
Mill. machinery and elevator, $4,000;
fefs -four, S109, 900. The insurance is
between 100000 and S125,0 900, fully coy-
ering the loss. 1t is all
IN WESTERN MUTUALS.
chiefly Touring mill mutuals. The Wi
mona mutuals are not in it. Later the
elevator was built and afterwards ell
larged to a capacity of 10000 bushels
storage and handling capacity of 5000
bushels day. Improvements were
made in both mill and elevator until
1881, when the mill was remOdeled and
the capacity increased to 600 barrels
day, This answered until 1887, when
the company made radical change.
The old mill was entirely rebuilt
in all points and equipped with the very
latest improvements in machinery. A
large force of men was at work for three
months under the supervision of an eX-
pert. and the new mill retained scarcely
trace of the old one. Its capacity was
1,5O0 barrels day. 1t was built in two
distinct sections and was so complete in
every detail that it was pronounced the
model Touring mill Of the world. The
cost of these improvements was SIS, 600.
Fully half of the product goes to
the European market. The company
has on invested capital of over $500, 900,
and does business close to S1,000,000
year. F. c. Porter is president, c. N.
Porter, vice president, and Adelbert
Porter, manager. The big elevator of
the Winona Mill company. which stands
near the Porter mill, caught fire twice
from sparks from the Porter fire, and at
one time things looked very dubious, but
good work saved the elevator, with
loss of about $500 from water on the
wheat.