St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-07-10
The Establishment OF James
McMullen & Co., Mime
apolis, Burned.
More than $4,000 Worth Of
Property Wiped Out by
the Flames.
The Men Employed in the Mill
Barely Have Time to
Escape.
More Than 200 Men Are
Thrown Out Of Employ
ment by the Blaze.

The fire king seems bound to destroy
the big saw mills of Minneapolis. The
magnificent plant owned and operated
by James McMulien & Co. was wiped
out last night, entailing loss of $40, 600.
The mill was situated on the brink of
the walls between the Third ave-
nue. south bridge and the mill dam.
/, Shortly before IL o'clock one of the
employees noticed fire above one of the
big belts on the second floor. 1t was
caused by the friction which runs the
circular saw, and soon spread to the
ceiling, which settled the fate of the
mill. The fire department was notified
and all the apparatus responded, but the
mill burned like tinder and was hope
less when they arrived. Many of the
workmen
Had Narrow Escapes
in getting out of the building. Besides
the mill machinery, shed 40x6O feet,
stocked with between 10000 and $4,000
feet of lumber, was DESTROYED. The
mill was three stories in height, 40 feet
wide. and $50 feet long, and contained
the latest improved machinery, some
of which was almost new. Orig
! inally the plant cost s68, 600,
but recent additions and improve
ments brought the value up to
$S5,000. The loss OF the mill and ma
chinery, however, is but bagatelle
compared to the loss on saving. The
McMuilen company was saving for n.
T: Clarke. who has over 1Oo,ooO,oo0 feet
OF logs in the river waiting to be cut.
About five years ago, fire destroyed five
sawmillS on this same location, includ-
ing one owned by McMuIlen. who i'm
mediately rebuilt, and for the second
time suffers loss. The mill has been
running at
Hts Utmost Capacity
since June %, when the twenty-four-
enty-five men were employed ON the
night force and $50 on the day. The
capacity of the mill was It's, 900. feet
curing the day and 10000 at night. The
insurance on the plant is $55, 600, held
by w. A. Barnes. The. rickety old
building was ScOrched little, but no
special damage was done. The COM
pany's office was also partly burned. A
wide platform extends from tue bridge
to the mill for the use of the Pioneer
Fuei company's wagons to cart off
wood. About seventy-five OF these
wagons were underneath the platform
at the time of the fire, and of course
went with the rest. The logs in the rooms
above the mill belonged to N. p. Clarke
d Son. This firm will sustain no loss
except lutte Inconvenience. 1t can
put flush boards on the dam below the
logs up the river to the mill of Mason,
Tenney d Co. N. P. Clarke & Co. have
about 100000 feet of logs in the boom
above
The Ruined Mills.
Fred G. Clarke, Minneapolis, manager
for the n. P. Clarke company, was at
the scene of the fire, and said his firm
would sustain no loss. The men who
were at work in the mill narrowly es-
capped. William Maynard, the sawyer,
says she barely got out alive, and he
was the first man to see the fire. ''The
key of the carriage coupling had
broken" he said. land l stopped the
saw to fix it. Suddenly the
flame burst out right in front of me. l
yelled to the boys and ran. My hat and
coat were just across the carriage track,
and l did not have time to get them.
Some of the men had to crawl out on
their hands and knees. l don't know
whether Tim Girard, the watchman,
did get out" But lin escaped. He
showed up about an hour after the fire.
The firm was James McMullen d Co.
The company" consisted of Will and
and E. A. McMullen, sons of James
McMullen.