The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1895-11-01
A SERIOUS FIRE
OFFICE OF THE "rlORNlNG NEWS
DESTROYED.
The Gas Tank Which Operated the
Engine ExpIodes, Sending Sheet OF
Flame Through the Room-The Pa
per Suffers Heavy Loss, With no
Insurance Good Work by the Fire.
men Saves Adjoining Property.


men Saves Adjoining Property.
The Morning Ne,os suffered a serious
loss through fire Thursday. The pa
per was issued from the ReDieaC office
this morning, and the following from
it's account of the fire will show the
cause and rapid progress of the fire:
"The fire occurred through the ex-
plosion of the gas tank by which the
engine was operated. This tank is a
large round iron vessel containing
several gallons of gasoline and con-
nected with the engine by hosepipe.
Air is drawn through this tank, ad-
mission being through two inch
aperture at one side. The mixture of
gas and air is exploded in the cylinder
by an electric spark from battery.
Pressman Ed. Smith noticed that the
engine was running rather slowly and
went over to fix it. He had just left
the engine and was walking toward
the press, some ten feet away, when
bright stream of flame shot out of
the hose pipe near its connection
with the engine. He shouted to give
the alarm to the cOmpOSitors who
working in the back room and these
rushed to the back door as quickly as
possible. But before they reached it
the flames had worked back into the
gasoline tank which exploded with a
report like cannon. A bright sheet
of flame flashed through the room as
the burning liquid flew to every part
of it. Almost instantly there was a sec
ond loud explosion from the large can
containing gasoline which stood near
by,and in an instant it's fiery contents
were spread about the building.
"This simultaneous ignition was
the cause of the almost incredible ra
pidity with which the flames spread.
The explosion occurred at a quarter
of eleven. In ten minutes the room
was ablaze in every corner"
Some delay in turning in the alarm
was caused by the fact of there being
no alarm box at the city hall, the alb
sence Of which we have previously
called attention to. While compos-
itor ran to the city hall and then to
g. M. Phillips g. Sons livery barn.
Officer Grant had to go two and half
blocks to turn in the alarm.
The fire had spread so rapidly that
by the time the department arrived
it had a most formidable appearance,
and the owners and lessees of adjoin
ing property were in nervous state.
The flames were pouring in sheets
through the front windows, lighting
up the darkened gloom that hovers
over the city since the lights were cut
off. The department promptly turned
several streams of water on the fire
and soon had it eXtinguished by active
effort. The crowd that soon gathered
was roped off from the lines of hose
that filled the street.
Much of the type in the office was
''pied", and the greater portion of the
job type was melted. The forms of
the paper were in the back room and
were practically unlnjured, The
three presses were badly damaged,
and a considerable stock of paper de-
stroyed. Mr.. EASTWOOD places the
loss to the Morning Ne,cs stock com
pany at 81, 900, with no insurance. He
was arranging for insurance yester-
day, but delayed action. He went to
st. Paul this morning to secure new
material, and the paper will soon have
it's own plant again. Since its start,
the paper has had several difficulties
to overcome, aud in this last misfor-
tune the proprietors will have the
sympathy of all, and the helping
hands which enabled them to issue a
paper this morning will not be with
drawn until the office has been re-
fitted,
Mr.. Eastwood stated to the FREE
PRESS Friday that the revised
estimate places the loss of the COM
pany at $1,000. None of the presses
are much injured, but the largest
jobber will be exchanged for smaller
one. The engine is all right. A
quantity of new type which had just
arrived had not been unpacked and
was saved. He expected to be able to
get into the building again in about
ten days.
The Commercial College lost cuts |
to the value of $50, and portion of |
the last form of it's monthly publica-
tion was destroyed.
The fire worked its way to the Sec
ond floor and the base board was on |
fire. A chemical was used and no
water was turned on, which preve Mt