The Coconino weekly sun., 1895-02-14
FIERCE FLAMES.
Tho Magnificent Union Depot at
 St. Joseph Burned.
A BIC CONFEDERATION AT OTTAWA.
SIx Stores, Four Offices and a Hotel Laid iE Ashes-The Fire Started from an Explosion In n Book
 Store.

ST. JOSEPH, Mo-, Feb. list. Joseph's magnificent union station which was opened with such pomp and ceremony May 1, 1892, is now mass of smolder- ing ruins. About 8 o'clock Saturday night flames were discovered issuing from the office of the United States Express Co., in the north end of the structure. At first it was thought there would be no trouble in control ling it, and no alarm was sent in for several minutes. This was fatal delay. The flames in few minutes had eaten through the upper floor and reached the long corridor in the Union Depot hotel which is above the lower floor. This corridor is $50 feet long and the flames were carried down it the same as a chimney. When the fire department did arrive they could do nothing. In an hour the immense structure was razed to the ground, together with all its contents. A number of the guests in the Union Depot hotel had a narrow escape for their lives.
 Morrison's Faust Co. lost their en- tire baggage as did some twenty fam | flies, all of the boarders at the hotel. | The transit guests had the same fate. Mai. Laughlin, the proprietor of the Union Depot hotel, lost S25, 900. He had an insurance of SIP, 800. The Union Depot Co.,, who owned the depot, made up of the different companies entering the city, erected the building | at n cost of S250, ,OO0. The total amount of insurance carried is S40,0OO. The guests and boarders at the hotel will | lose S10.000.
 All of the United States mails and a large amount of express owned by the various express companies was de- stroved. The loss on this will. it is eX- pected, run up into the thousands. A very large amount of baggage and 1 goods stored in the station at the time will increase the loss. It is expected the total loss will aggregate s+50,0OO A BIG CoNFLAGRATIoS AT OTTAWA.
 OTTAWA, Kan, Feb. 1l.-Six stores, | four offices and hotel lie in ashes as q result of Saturday nights fire in this city, and $40, 900 will scarcely represent the amount of property destroyed. l What proved to be the worst fire ever known in the city originated in the | book store of Clark Bros, on Main street, last night about 10:30 o'clock, and it was 6 o'clock this morning be- fore the fire department had control of the flames. Clark Bros book store, E. F. Stewards mems furnishing store | C. E. Jones' boot and shoe store, J. C. Shomo's book and jewelry store, A. Morrison's drug store and J. c. Armstrong's jewelry store were burned, together with the Hamblin house and George Stinebaugh's insurance office, l. C. E. Mason's law office, Parkinson's s land office and the offices of Davis and Gilley. physicians. Two buildings were burned to the ground, and third com pletely ruined. They were all three story brick blocks, located on the prin- cipal business corner of the city.
 The origin of the fire will probably never be known. It started with an explosion in Clark Bros book store, but whether it was escaping gas, or | fire works, or something else, is not known. The explosion was seen by several persons and the alarm was inn mediately turned in. In less than three minutes the fire department was on the scene The fire, however, had gained much headway and burned through into the upper stories, where it swept along through the railways and into the ad- joining buildings almost unchecked. It made very slow but steady progress and it was not thought that it would spread to any great extent, hence no effort was made to rescue the dry goods from the stores until too late. Otherwise most of the stocks could have been saved.
 c. B. Jones and J. z. Armstrong sue ceeded in saving considera ble portion of their goods, but sustained heavy losses, notwithstanding. All the losers were well insured--in fact it is one of the best insured fires that ever took place in this city, there being about S5O,OOO insurance on S4O,OOO worth of property.
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