Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1894-06-15
AN ENGINES SPARK.
oTTUMwA IS DEVASTATED BY;
FIERCE FLAMES.
Loss win surpass Two Hundred rhou,.na
Dollars-One Life Observation-Disclosures
Buildings swept Away In Two Hours-
Fire Department Helpless
A SUNDAY,

Fire visited Ottumwa Sunday after
noon and left desolation, death, and
destruction in its wake. 1t started at
l:t5 o'clock In a cooper shop belonging
to Jerry Seymour, which has been on
fire just q half dozen times before. A
locomotive passing cast q spark which
started q small blaze in q bunch of
s'lavings near the building. A rail-
road employee who saw it Immediately
g.asped a bucket of water and threw
it at the blaze, but he missed it, and
by the time he had returned the fire
had gained such Roadway that an alarm
was sent In. The day was intensely hot
and the wind was blowing a gale. 1t
was fully a block to the next building
OF any size, but between the
two were q number Of trees and out
houses, which were consumed by the
flames. When the fire reached the
next building it started before the
gale, roaring and licking up everything
In Its path. Tho department appara-
tus was useless. In less than two hours
over S.U.O0D worth of property, in
Guiding thirteen business buildings.
with eighteen residences. was a mass
of ashes and charred debris. and at the
end OF this time the wind had died
down, and help and hose had been Sc
cured from neighboring cities.
a last heroic effort was made by 300
mon from the packing-house and the
"" roundhouse, and the flames passed
under control. The fire was 81 sudden,
so vicious, that it gave no opportunity
to prepare for it. Persons who never
d leamed of danger to their property
when the fire was located found them
selves homeless and almost penniless,
and many families did not save a shred
OF clothing or an article of furniture
ress OF the fire injuries by falling tim
bers and persons succumbine to the
heat and smoke became 80 frequent
that the physicians of the city who
were on the ground started an impro-
vised hospital in an adjacent yard and
administered aid to the unfortunates.
There were about twenty victims to
the heat and smoke, of whom one, per-
haps two, will die. The dead:
sEYMouR. JAMES. a dwarf boy, burned to
death.
The injured:
PATTERSON. rERr. sufocated, fatally in.
jured.
Nc uLLoM. JOHN. fireman. seriously
burned.
RENNER. NICK. leg broken.
sEfMOuR. JERRY, overcome by heat and
hurt by falling timbers.
Several explosion, occurred, believed
to be at the burning drug stores, and
to add to tho terror a trolley wire
burned off and fell, knocking down q
horse and badly bu. ming q fireman
named Rouse.
Thieves appeared on the scene and
added rapine to the disaster. Numer-
Gus articles were saved from the flames
only to find their way into the clutches
of these human hyenas.
ke'ly's army, which was in the city,
contributed their quota of aid, and q
number of them worked gallantlY un-
der the direction of the chief Of the
fire department. The homeless are be-
ing cared for by tender-hearted citi-
zens.
The fire was so hot that Baker
Brothers, butter and eggs, in the adj
jacent cold storage building, are q total
loss. The loss is estimated at 1925, 900.
with about one-third covered by insur.
anc =
The following is a list of the heav-
lest losers:
Gs. r. Beck a,, druggist: son :.,s 5000
cold storage. $4,000
!. ID. Kaiser, meat market building. 2,6OO
Morrell y Co., st.ck..................... eco
ManRan & Carr. Rrocers. 500
=. y. M~cLaugnlin grocer. 5000
Jerry Seymour. cooper. ............ 5000
John Feehsn saloon and two dwellings. 1850
Cascade laundry. 1000
roe UNDERWOOD, druggist ............... 5000
John Bauer. residence. ..:.......... 5000
Mary Leiehton. three dwellings ......... 5000
Samuel Mehon, brick building and dwell