Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1894-07-12

! l6rmlnaI building and in TWO minufpS
more the flames broke out and leaned
high IN the air. The wind was blow
ing freshly from the southwest and
, quickly the cloud of smoke assumed
| the immensely of a great thunder
cloud, preceding a cyclone. Gatuerfng
volume the flames spread ever upward
and onward till they reached the
SIorlouS administration building and
simultaneously smoke was seen to is
issue from the electrical building. A
few seconds later the great manu-
facturerS house was also on fire and
10 the writer's certain knowledge, the
terminal, administration, electrical and
manufacturers buildings were on fire
at the same time and he is credibly
Informed by one who was on the
ground when the fire broke out that
the agricultural and machinery halls
were burning at the same time, The
writer could not see the two latter on
account of the dense wall of smoke
that blocked the view With a crash
in fell the great dome of the admins
tration building and it seemed that in
ten minutes of the time it first caught
fire it was RACED to the ground. The
electrical building burned longer than
either Of the others and by this time
the great fOrty-twO acres of iron, glass.
wood and staff were lined with rows
of flames surrounded by seething
wall of fire, as the wooden pillars and
walls We're licked up. All along the
top sheet of flame ran around what
used to be the promenade and at the
base Of the roof the same thing was
seen on larger scale. At every cor
ner and at the sides of the entrances
magnificent pillars of flames leaped
skyWards the shape of the building
being brightly outlined against the
darkening. murky heavens With q
mighty roar that was heard in the
middle of the city the south half of
the roof went down and twenty min
utes later the north half followed it
and the giant tongues Of flame twisted
and tWined together a hundle ed feet in
the air, licking up the remains of the
wreck. By this time the electrical
building had passed out of existence
and through the fiery haze could be
seen the flames that were devouring
the agricultural and machinery build
ings.
This morning the scene of devas-
tation literally beggared description
Blackened ruins only remain to mark
the glOfieS of the worlds fair. Down
10 the very waters edge the court is
burned and here and there great
bitches yawn where formerly the I'M
derSrounu communication between
the buildings was maintained. This
much probably your readers have
learned from the Chica 60 dailies But
now that the smoke has cleared away
and the immensely of the confiagra-
ton has been accepted it remains to
tell what public opinion is. In the
first place no one seems to be very
sorry that the buildings have gone
though the loss to the wrecking com
panieS may be total. There is doubt
expressed that a dollar ever passed to
the park commissioners for the sal
wage. AS the buildings were mostly
Of steel the cutting of the rivets en-
tails tremendous amount OF labor
When the steel and iron were put i'll
place the heated rivetS were driven
home and headed in a surprisingly
short space of time; nut when it comes
to putting man on staging and
letting him go at these same rivetS
oh: :, n - chs
and it takes many blows of the ham
mer to remove one of them from its
binding position. To show how profit
lL5S a task the saving of this sort
of salvage is, a gentleman from Ham
mOnd purchased the remains of the
Spectacular, Steel Mackay's great
! dream. He gave $4,000 for some
$4,000 worth of stuff, spent some
hundreds Of dollars in trying TO save
it and gave up the task in disgust not
I having accomplished enough to make
a showing When it is considered
that much more of the Spectacular
! was constructed Of wood than is the
case with the main portions Of any
! of the big buildings it will readily be
seen how fruitleSS a job it would
! have been to try to get anything out
of them The fact that your cores
pendent observed the four buildings
mentioned on fire at the same time
and before any connection could have
| been had between them in the natural
! organized effort at arson on a scale
the world has never known before
Add to this that the machinery and
agricultural buildings were on fire al
! the same time, the wind in just the
right direction for doing the work
| properly, saving what it was desired
to save and preventing the spread OF
the flames to the city and the only
result TO be arrived at is that the
fire was delibera tely started with a
view 10 getting rid Of the whole al
one time. Whether or not the fire was
deliberately planned, no cleaner sweeI
could have been made, had the scheme
been brewing for years. No genera
could have affected a greater coup, fol
today the question of what shall We
do with the buildings is solved a:
completely as if it had never ,existet
and clamored for solution
Some days ago your correspondent
in conversation with one Of the larges
real estate holders on the south side
was informed that some day or othe1
fire would destroy the buildings; bu
any knowledge to back up the fore
cast was disclaimed. The same condi