St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-08-07
'TWASA DAY Of FIRES
5000 Blaze at Como Yards
Of the Northwestern Fuel
Company.
NINETEEN CARS BURNED.
Railroads Lose an Aggregate
of $4,000 on Property
Destroyed.
ICE HOUSE AND BRIDGE GO.
Two Houses and a Barn Burn
on st. Anthony Hill
Other BlaZes.

Yesterday was a day of fires In st.
Paul, the ire department being kept on
the Jump almost constantly.
One of the fires caused loss of about
$4,000, covered partly by insurance. 1t
was in the Como avenue fuel yards of
the Northwestern Fuel company. 1t is
supposed to nave been set by sparks
from the pipes of number of boys who
were seen smoking under the high rail-
way trestle used by the fuel company
to convey coal from the main line of the
Great Northern Railway company to
the sheds.
The fire made its appearance at 2
O'Clock yesterday afternoon, and spread
with great rapidity from the point of
starting under the trestle into the heart
of the fuel supply. Fortunately the
wind was blowing from the southeast,
otherwise wide confiagration would
undoubtedly have resulted, as the flames
would have blown among houses and
business places. As it was the flames
only caused the destruction. in addition
to that in the fuel yards. of number of
q h,
the Como avenue bridge. and an ice
house belonging to the st. Paul Lake
Ice company.
1t was avery stubborn fire to contend
against. and it took nearly all the fire
apparatus in the city to bring it under
control. The fuel yards cover thirty or
forty acres of ground, ana the flames
were scattered Iii nearly all parts of the
place. At times there was a wide sea
of flames, presenting an awe-inspiring
spectacle.
On the high trestle were several car
loads of coal. That part of the trestle
burned, together with the cars, and
finally the great beams and the massive
iron works of the cars came down with
startling crash.
The loss of the fuel company will
aggregate nearly $4,000. The loss sof
railroad property will aggregate about
$4,000. The damage to the Como
avenue bridge is about 1000. The loss
OF the ice company is estimated at about
$500. The losses of the fuel and rail-
road companies are covered by the
usual blanket policies. The Ice COM
pany had little or no insurance on its
house.
Losses of Fuel.
The Northwestern Fuel company had
in its yards at Como and Western ave-
nues large quantity Of fuel. Secretary
Benham stated during the progress of
the fire that there were 400 tons of hard
coal, 250 tons of soft coal and 1000 cords
of firewood practically destroyed. The
hard coal was worth s6.75 a ton, or
S2,7O0 in all; the soft coal was worth
$4.65 ton. or 81. 1880. and the wood
was valued at $3.50 cord. or S4.65O in
all, making grand total of SS.512.5O of
fuel which was destroyed.
Besides the fuel the large sheds and
dumping trestle also became prey of
the flames, and will swell the amount of
the losses by abou. $4,000 more. Mr..
SEeply, the company's assistant treas
urer, was seen last evening, and said
that he could not give the names of the
various companies among which the in
surance was placed. The company was
fully insured by means of a blanket
policy. covering all of its yards, and the
losses upon each individual company
will be co mparatively light.
Work of reconstruction on the new
sheds will begin at once.a large force of
men being put to work as soon as the
debris can be cleared away. The regu-
lar yard force was kept on duty all the
evening and late into the night to aid
the fire department as much as possible
by opening up the coal piles. The fire
burned nearly all night, but there was
little danger of its spreading at that
time as the yards are almost isolated.
Freight Cars Burned.
Among the freight cars which were
burned up III the yards were the follow
ing: Five Great Northern cars, one
Eastern Minnesota. one 500 line, one
Burlington, one Omaha. one North
western, and one Streeter stable car.
Outside of the yards. on side track
of the Great Northern road. stood eight
Streeter stable cars, all of which became
a prey of the flames. To what line
they were chargeable could not be ascer-
tanned yesterday evening, as none of
the company's employees had paid any
attention to them, and correct list can
only be obtained from the yardmaster
or car accountant.
Taking an average valuation on all
of the cars destroyed, the losses to the
various railroad companies will aggre-
gate about $4,000, besides which there
will have to be more or less repairing to
tracks, which falls alone upon the Great
Northern railway.
Ice House Destroyed.
The Ice house of the st. Paul Lake
Ice company, which was ignited by fly
ing embers, was the property of the
Houpton Lumber company, and was
leased to the ice company for a term of
years. 1t stood at the corner of Atwater
street and Western avenue, and had a
frontage of 125 feet and depth of 100
feet. Practically it was combination
structure of three buildings in one.
The ice company will lose the entire
value Of the contents. as the smoke
ruins the ice for commercial purposes.
Mr.. Lavallee, president of the company,
could not be seen, but the bookkeeper
said that in his estimation the house was
about two-thirds full of ice. What the
loss will be can only be definitely ascer.
tanned after the superintendent brings
in his figures, but it is probably about