Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1894-01-13

D
less than an hour when a thmderous
crash OF falling timber and a trcmca-
douS shout from the crowd announced
the collapse of the pcristylc. \ mo
ment later 4 terrific yell from the
crowd told that the liberal arts build
ing was on lire and the whole eXposi-
ton was threatened.
The fire started in the casino, lust
east Of the agriculture building and
south Of the peristyle The casino was
quickly deyourcd and the flames Surgcd
north on the top of the pel1styl" and
dropping, made a second line of fire
along the base OF the columns.
The flames then sprang through mu-
Sic han, which corresponds at the
north end of the periStyle TO the ca
/ sine ut the south end NAilc the tire
was burning there one or tne most
singular and fascinating sights of the
night was witnessed. Along the top
of the peristyle were scores oil heroic
statues The spectacle for those PEG
( Die on tie moving sidewalk east of the
pelistylc was that Of succession of
gigantic human beings pluuging one
after another headlong into the waters
of the lake below
/ The origin Of the fire is said TO have
been revenge on the part of couple
of ramps. The solitary guard in mu-
/ sic hall said that Just before the flames
/ broke out he kicked two vasahcldS
out of the building They lert in the
/ direction of the casino and soon after
( that the fire broke out and terror ana
confusion ensucd.
, Fears of looting added to the horror
of the SEEM At 10 o'clock with a pos
! sihle loss Of about $4,000 600 by fire
, in the manufacturers building alone,
/ the authorities began to realize that a
I large clement in the crowd was com.
posed of oilers, who once started in
IlawlcssneSs, would be difficult TO con
troll
such preparations as could bp mT-
ricdly made were set in motion 10 re-
move the goods and guard the other
buildings, but all such efforts We're
the mcrest child's play.
The spectators at this time, partly for
safety ana partly to prevent robbery
of the exhibits. were driven back 10y
the police ana lined up against the
electricity building. Here they could
see great blazing fragments dropping
upon the exhibits below. crushing and
burning the exquisite French section
aud threatening TO destroy lie Rus
sian and British sections,
By this time drebats and engines
had succeeded in suhduing the flames
in the ashes of the pcristyle and on
the lower side of the liberal arts build
ing and the fire was subdued, but
shortly after IL. o'clock it got beyond
control upon the top Of the promenade
of liberal arts building and the main
aisle Of the building became a mass of
flames
'rhc fire hurled itself through the
interstices OF the big iron arches at
dizzy heights above. The flames
wound oa-consuictor-like in and
around the mammoth electric coronas
Below frantic horses with heavily load
cd trucks were ploughlng through The
aislcs not encountered with wreckase
on drcnched with falling cataracts Of
water. most Of which fell far short
of the flames
Opinions seemed general that The
loss by water would be even greater
than by fire Officers put the loss, if
the lire does not spread beyond the
liberal arts building at $l000,0OO.
The name of the fireman killed when
the peristyle collapsed was William
Mackey, Of Engine company No. VI.
Captain Frederick Gocz, Of Truck
company 10, fell from the roof of
manufacturers building and broke a
leg and received internal injuries. Eu-
gene Durand, sw.tchman in the French
section, was hit on the head by piece
of falling debris and injured
About 1O:45 great IRON arch gave
way directly about the French section
ana falling heavily buried the French
wares beneath the burning pile.
Around the Japanese exhibit adjoin-
ing, clustered a crowd of sacred and
frantic japanese. This, like many ex-
hibits. had not been released from
,a. ,o ne goods could not be taken
from the building, but they were cart
I'd to the doors and here guarded by
natives Of the howegy kingdom. All
American exhibits were long ago re-
moved. but the formalities Of the Gus
tom house detained the goods Of for
cigncrs.
Supt. Graham, IF the manufacturers
build!na. said the loss could hardly be
overestimated ~ have feared this
ever since the fair closed he said,
and now it has come worse than I
ever dreamed" All through the great
structure frantic exhibitors rushed
seeking the safety Of their goods
The ire department fought with
energy and skill, but the conditions
were against them A fierce wind
came over the lake flying the fiery
embers in every direction and tanning
them into lie every moment Huge
pillows Of flames. which were mamful
IL combatted by the men on the roof,
Hid mont etra ri