St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-04-24
LOSS OF THOUSANDS.
Lanpher, Finch & SINNERS
Valuable Stock of Hats
and FurS
TOTALLY RUINED BY WATER
The Loss Cannot &c Estimated
Until the Stock Is Ex-
amined.
TOTALLY RUINED BY WATER
is COVERED BY INSURANCE.
Fire Originated in the Attic
From a Small Electric
Motor.


hours broke out at 1 80 o'clock yester-
day afternoon in the five-story and
basement building 1S0-1S4 East
Fourth street, occupied by Lanpher,
Finch & Skinner, manufacturers of
hats, caps, fur coats and robes, en-
failing a loss which will perhaps
be total, fully covered by insurance.
ance.
The big hat firm carried a stock
estimated at SITS, COO, on which there
was 100000 insurance. The contents
of the building were thoroughly water
soaked from attic to cellar, the great
er portion of which will be practically
worthless. d. B. Finch, of the burned
out firm, in speaking of the fire, said
he had no idea what the loss would
amount to. The damage sustained by
the building, which belongs to the Nc
Quillan estate, will doubtless reach
$4,000: A partial report of the insur-
ance companies indicates that the
structure was covered for considera-
bly, more than $4,000 with local agen-
cies
small motor in the attic story of the
building is supposed to have occa-
stoned the confiagration. 1t quickly
ignited a quantity of combustible ma
terial, and almost in an instant half
the interior of the attic was ablaze.
Chief Jackson and the central station
department arrived promptly, but in
ipnradihlxy Chn hn 40
had penetrated half way from
the rear of the attic to the
Fourth street front. Situated
as the burning building is, between
the premises occupied by Scheffer &
'Rossum, dealers in saddlery hard
ware, and the wholesale dry goods
establishment of Lindeke, Warner &
Schurmeier, the situation for a mo-
ment seemed grave AS "a preoau-
tionaFy measure, a second and third
( alarms were sent in, which soon
caused the surrounding streets to be
practically occupied by fire apparatus.
Volumes of smoke from the top of the
big building early indicated where the
danger lay. With great promptness
the extension ladder of Hook and Lad
A dozen nimble firemen mounted the
der Company No. was shot upward.
swinging ladder, laboriously carrying
lines of hose. Their progress was in
peded by the binding smoke Re
Inducements came quickly and with
in a quarter of an hour fully a dozen
lines of hose were pouring hundreds
of gallons of water upon the burning
mass of fur and felt
In the street
CONFUSION tREIGNED.
Fire horses, hose carts, innumerable
lines of hose and the clatter of nearly
dozen engines furnished a scene of
excitement, which hundreds of spec
tators enjoyed. Like huge serpents
lines of hose crawled to the roofs of
adjoining buildings and were directed
into the attic story.
The fire was q stubborn one. SUBJ
dued in one quarter, the flames would
quickly break out in another The eff
fects of such terrific importing of
water were quickly apparent. Ceilings
We're soaked. and soon fell, the debris
mingling with and bringing destruc-
ton to much valuable merchandise
From attic to cellar the water poured
III lOI w udI COuIu UOl ESCAPE by
the elevator shaft and stairways.
| soaked through from floor to floor, and
soon the interior of the building re-
sembled an immense sieve.
The descending food warned the oc-
cupants of the building and the firms
books and records were hastily re-
moved to place of safety. This was
attended by considerable annoyance
nd no
properly wet. Although the fro
at one time menaced seriously
the surrounding property, Schef-
fer & Rossum, next the burn
ing building, as a precautionary
measure early collected their books
and locked them in their safety vault
The firm, however, did not suffer the
slightest damage. Tho employees of
the big dry goods house adjoining Lam
pher, Finch & Skinner temporarily
abandoned business and watched the
efforts of the fire. After an hours
earnest labor the blaze was wholly
under control, and gradually the en-
gines were called off.
AT $3.50 o'clock the flames were out
and nothing occurred in the big build
ing save the incessant running of
streams of water, which poured like
a deluge into the cellar.
Owing to the confusion, it was i'm
possible TO obtain an accurate list of
the local agencies in which Lanpher.
Finch & Skinner were insured The
most prominent are W.. G. Strick-
land, j. j. Parker & Bro, st. Paul
Fire and Marine Insurance company,
Weed & Lawrence, Prince & Shan
drew, S. S. Eaton, j. Quincy Haas,
Hughson Hemenway, Lester Ma
bon and Rothchild Bros
These represent an insurance of
$133, 800, divided as follows:
THE INSURANCE.
W. G. Strickland