The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1895-10-04
Fire No. Three.

| The third alarm was turned in from
the corner of Front and Cherry streets
| by Officer Schiman, at about ten
O'Clock, he having discovered fire in
the old Minneopa House barn. This
| proved to be the most important fire
of the night, and it made such rapid
Roadway from the start that there
was at no time any hope of saying the
building. The night was very luckily
quiet one, else there is no telling
where the fire would have ended, for
| thousands of Sparks and pieces of
burning shingles were carried
straight upward by the heated air,
and were gently dropped into Cherry
street, where they could do no dam
age. The heat was intense and the
Minneopa House was only saved by
deluging the side toward the barn
with water, which arose in vapOr
from the heated surface.
A number of streams of water were
turned on, and the firemen worked on
the building until long after mid
night, pulling off the burning clap
boards to get at the blazing interior.
After hard work the fire was gotten
under control. The tall column of
smoke reflected the blaze and cast
red glare that could be distinctly seen
for miles in every direction. The
barn is total loss. 1t was an ancient
structure, said to have been built
thirty-six years ago, but it was large
and well constructed. 1t did not con-
| tain much hay or straw. The loss
will be about 5000, with an inSur-
ance of $3.50. The property was pur-
chased few days ago by DR.. g. +.
Warner, from Messrs. Mcconnell &
| Cummins.
In the building were twenty or more
horses, the most CT them belonging to
transients in the city. Six of these
were saved, and the rest persisted in
the flames, almost before the eyes of
the hundreds of spectators, who black
ened the adjoining streets. The vehi-
Giles are all kept in the open square
between the barn and house.
The fire started in about the center
of the building. Mr.. NOurse, who
has had charge of the barn for years,
left the building not ten minutes be-
fore the fire started, and walked to-
wards the other fires, down the alley.
There was nothing in the barn that
would cause fire, and Mr.. NOurse's
care about such things is we'll known.
Frank Dolson, who has lease on
the property, lost grain to the value
of $50 to $40.
| Otis DolSon, brother of Frank, ar
rived from St. Paul during the early
evening with all his household goods
packed in his wagon, intending to
make Mankato his home. His team
and all his goods, the extent of his
worldly possessions, were consumed.
His loss is about $500 with no insur-
ance.
Another brother, Mont DolsOn, lost
good team weighing 1880 pounds
each, and valued at about $3.50.
Abe Day, father-in-law of Frank
Dolson, lost team valued at 5000.
Burt Payne's horse was saved, but
the harness burned.
Mr.. Bowers arrived Saturday from
the west with five horses, and lost
the three best.
A. r. Exile lost horse.
Mr.. Bronson, of Decoria, lost a
team.
Miss Wilson had sent a black horse
down to the barn for the night, and
it was burned.
A St. Peter man lost valuable
mare, valued at over $500.
These wereprobably all the horses
thatburned IN the barn. Mr.. Nourse
states that there were twenty horses
in the barn and that four to six were
saved. He says that lantern was
hanging in about the center Of the
barn, and his first idea was that this
had exploded. When he arrived,
however, he saw the lantern still
hanging there all right, and the fire
to the west side of the barn. In a
moment it had spread throughout the
whole barn and there was no time to
save anything. The only wagon in
the barn was Otis Dolson's, which
was packed with household goods, in
Guiding $50 worth of new clothing.
Mr.. Dolson and wife saved only what
they wore.
A stream of. water was kept on the
barn all night, and was continued dur
| ing part of the forenoon. The car
cases of some of the horses could be
seen under the burned straw this
morning.
| cootiop of boco hnrSt H1rinu tbiC