The Red Cloud chief., 1894-06-29

On Wednesday afternoon at $40 the
terrible and thrilling. yet eve fascinat-
ing cry Of fire was echoed from one
mouth to another, spreading with the
rapidity as such alarms always travel,
instantly starting u large crowd for the
scene Of destruction. Owing TO the dan.
ger 4, the fire alarm did not sound but a
short space Of time. The fire started In
the residence Of r. M. Cochrane on
Seward street. and was caused by a
cloth which was spread over the tank Of
a gasoline stove becoming ignited from
the flames which the wind caused to
swerve. Mrs. Cochrane was tho first to
notice the danger, and calling for help
she Q out Of the house. Mr.. Coch.
rane then appeared on the scene. and In
tearing the rag from the tank. the latter
became loosensd and fell to the floor,
where the flames immediately fed on
the fresh fuel and made II utterly use.
less for him to further attempt to stay
the blaze. There was an insurance OF
5000 on the house, but that is a small
amount compared with the loss, nothing
being saved. with the exception Of one
| chair which stood on the outside. II is
extremely lucky that no one was burned
by the explosion Of the gasoline.
rIREMEN or HAN
Among the first to make their appear.
ance were the fire boys. who immediate
ly unreeled their hose, carrying il be
tween the burning building aud the
house standing north Of II. and then it
was discovered that there was
NO FORCE TO THE WATER,
which Immediately caused great excite
ment to prevail among the citizens. as
the wind was blowing directly toward
the main part Of town. II appears that
they had the pump apart at the engine
house, putting in q new suction pipe,
and instead Of filing the standpipe and
then shutting the main OIL. there was
only about Is feet Of water therein In
the morning and II was allowed to run,
thus using the whole supply by noon,
and thereby lmaking the iiremen help.
less to cope with . fire. II there had
been water, there is no doubt but what
the frame Of the first house could have
been saved, and the second n not &c
much az scorched. When they were ap
good in that direction. they Instant,
realized that the
NEXT HOUSE MUST GO,
40 their attention was turned towars
saving the household goods and in an in
credibly short time with the kindly he'll
OF citizens, the goods were carried to
place OF safety. The north rooms wer
occupied by Miss Josie Igou, whose fur
niture, piano, ETC., were also safely re
moved. The flames made rapid hcad
way and soon %enveloped the building
the residence OF Mrs j. A. TAFT, which
was burned to the ground. There beinI
no insurance it was a total loss.
GREAT ENDURANCE.
At the next place, Rev. Geo. o. Yeia
er's, great endurance and noble worI
was noticeable on the part of tho fir
department and citizens. They succeed
ed in saving the house by staying RICH
by il during most extreme heat and still
? ling smoke and carried every pail O
water from a distance, passing the waite
into willing hands, and right hero
great many thanks are duo q numbe
/, OF ladies, who carried water for q blool
or more. 1t IL doubtful whether the
could have stayed on the building I'll
teen minutes longer had the wind no
!. suddenly changed 30 as to drive tn
, heat across the street, and for such hi
roic work on that building, other
doubtless owe the enjoyment OF thei
present homes. Mr.. Yeiser's Household
0 goods were carried out and otherwie
!. badly handled, but IL proved TO be IN
necessary.
! FIR ACROSS THE STREET.
One OF the houses on the Opposit
. side Of the street caught fire three time
. and others we're badly blistered, bu
owing to wet blankets and ready voiur
teers the fire was kept from ~spreadinl
, Fire was noticed in the barn OF Il. M,
Farland, two blocks distant. but was Q,
. tinguished before gaining any headwa,
q Had one moro building become ignite,
the people would probably have becom
discouraged and divided, and at the raj
the wind was then rising, there woul
. have been q large sweep in the city.
CITIZENS ALARMED.
q A great many OF our citizens were col
siderably frightened and made all pre-
arations to move In case Of necessity.
RECEIVE ATE
9 After some time the pump was put l.
n Rether and the engineer set to wor'
which enabled the tiremen to throw
u small stream to keep the sparks dow
q and wet the debris OF the destroyt
houses. After receiving the water Il
danger was soon past.
A LESSON.
This is the third time since the wat
o works were instituted in Red Clol
that they have had occasion to use Il
water when it was found to be lackil
10 not enough pressure to throw a strea
% two feet-and we don't know how ma
other times it has been in the same co
dition when it was not needed.
" seems as IL il would be advisable to ha
. an extra engine on hand, and in case !
d pairs were wanted there would be
4 need Of shutting the water of, and me
than that, it would remove a great DE-
~ OF responsibility besides lessening I