The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-01-26
HEAVY LOSS BY FIRE
e. RAUH & SONS LOSE THEIR yALU-
ABLE PLANT, WITH NO INSURANCE.
Loss Will Reach 100000, and May Ex-
coed that ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Fire
Plug 5000 Feet Away.

The fertilizer works of E. Rauh & Son.
situated just south of the stock yards, in
West Indianapolis, were completely de-
stroyed by fire last night between the
hours of and TO- The fire entailed a total
loss of between $4,000 and $4,000,
there was no insurance whatever on the
plant, insurance companies refusing to
issue policies on the establishment on ac-
count of the combustible material with
which the building was stored The origin
of the fire is unknown. There was no fire
near the cupola in which it started
All the employees of the factory had left
the building at $50 o'clock, the engineer
banking the fire in the furnace as was his
custom There is no regular Waterman at
the works. but an employee OF the stock
yards has been in the habit of visiting
the building once an hour during the night.
Shortly after o'clock the engineer. Will
liam Harris, who lives but short distance
from the factory, left his home to call on
one Of the men who was sick. Just as he
stepped out of his door his attention was
called to- a small light in the top of the
MILL and after watching for few seconds
he discovered that the building was fire.
He called to his wife that the mill was
burning and then started for the fire. On
Richardson. another employee, and notified
him and the two ran to the engine room.
The fire seemed to be confined to small
cupola on the top of the building, and was
at that time a comparatively small blaze.
Harris started his engine with the intention
of using the pump. This required some adj
Justment and by the time the engine had
been put in running order and the hose at
tached the fire had eaten through the
hoor and into the engine room, driving the
two men out
In the meantime the fire had been seen
at the stock yards, and the alarm was tele-
phoned to the West Indianapolis fire de-
partment, which responded readily. But
the nearest lire plug over three thou
SAND feet distant, and the company did not
nave hose enough to reach it. A telephone
message was hastily sent to the city de-
partment and two companies, Nos 10 and 4,
responded. No. reached the scene first and
furnished the required amount of hose to
reach the fire, so when No. 10 company ar
riveo there was nothing for it to do, as
the wagon carried enough hose to cover
only half of the distance from the plug to
the fire. The pressure the one stream
was SO extremely light that, with the high
Wlnd tanning the flames, 1t was impossible
to to have any effect whatever on the fire.
The flremen, nevertheless, kept the stream
playing or the unburned part of the build
ing IN the hope, of saving at least a part.
a bellows to the flames and, in a short
time. the entire building was a seething
mass of fire. the material from which the
fertllizing matter is made is an oily sub
stance and very lnfamable, and was fuel
for tho fire. The building was stored with
severa! hundred tons of the prepared fer
tilizer and a great. amount of tankin, from
which the material is made
TT, Inc building was lwo,story frame struc-
hundred feet, but it did not take long for
the greedy flames to envelop the plant. AS
a part of the burned structure would fall in
shower of sparks would float upward and
be carried several hundred feet to the north
east. and this fortunate direction of the
heavy wind was all that saved the stock
yards from being consumed After the fire
had been burning for some time the boilers
began to blow off steam, and the be-
came current that they were about to ex-
plode, and the crowd which had collected
scattered very suddenly, but after some
men and b ,ys saith d use enough around
the fire to keep. warm. After. the building
had been almost completely destroyed the
several thousand sacks of fertilizer, each
sack containing two hundred pounds which
were stacked up along the entire length of
one side of the building, became ignited,
and these smouldered along the entire night
casting reddish glow against the leaden
sky During the fire and most Of the night
of the stock yards, and that perhaps saved
greater confiagration.
ever, the entire plant and all the belong
ings being destroyed. Samuel Rauh was
seen during the progress or the IRE ana ne
said the loss would perhaps, reach $50, 0OO
although he could not say. to a certainty
without referring to the books. He said
the loss on the building and machinery
would be about $4,000 The. machinery con-
sisted of one large crusher through which
the tankin passed before going to the mills
of which there were two, one being per-
/ fectly one There were also two
pumps and an engine. The stock was es-
timated by Mr.. Rauh to be worth between
900 and $4,000. This is the second time
that the fertilizer works of e. Rauh G. Son
have burned.
Another Hay Fire.
Yesterday afternoon Samuel Hicks
brought a. load of hay from Candy, a vii
1no oh fh1r-ac of L.