Omaha daily bee., 1896-02-11
.SCORCHED OR SOAKED
That is the Present Condition of the Me-
braska Dry Goods Stock,
THREE UPPER STORIES CLEANED OUT
What Was Not Burned Was Badly Damaged
by Water.
ENTIRE FIRE DEPARTMENT CALLED OUT
Succeeded After Hard Work in Keepinp the
NTIRE FIRE DEPARTMENT CALLED OUT
Succeeded After Hard Work in Keeping the
Flames from Spreading
ORIGIN OF THE FIRE is A MYSTERY
Loss on stock Placed by the Owner
, ut $4,000, with $4,000 Insur-
nnce-Insurnncc on Build-
Ing, $4,000.


AS a result Of fire which broke out at
2:30 this morning the stock OF the Me-
braska Dry Goods company, at 1905 Douglas
street. is practically ruined by fire and water,
and the rear portion of the second, third and
| fourth stories of the building is In ruins.
Officers Jorgensen and Relgleman turned in
| an alarm, which was soon followed by a Sec
| ond, third and general alarm. When first
| seen there was only small blaze on the
| second floor. Suddenly there appeared to be
| an explosion Of SINE kind, the windows were
| blown out and the flames spread rapidly. The
| first firemen on the ground realized that
more help was needed and the other alarms
| were sent in.
Streams were turned on from every point
of vantage-the roof of a two-story building
adjoining on the east, a two-story building
across the alley, and from ladders In 'front.'
In spite Of the immense amount of water
thrown the fremen did not appear to make
any headway for some time. They succeeded
in keeping the fire from spreading.
HELD THE FIRE BACK
Though absolutely nothing of either stock
or combustble material in the building on
| the top three stories as far forward as the
center of the building is left. 1t is evident
at this writing 80 a. m.) that unless some
thing unforeseen happens the damage in
other parts of the building will be confined
| to that done by water.
So many streams have been playing on
! the building that 1t is impossible there can
be particle of the stock that is not water
soaked.
The guests in the Arcade hotel in the
same block. were all awakened, but there
was no panic and no danger for at no time
! was there any prospect of the fire spreading
beyond the building in which it originated.
1t was kept down SO thoroughly that not
even the building Immediately across the
alley was ever in danger, 80
Inside the structure Itself, however, the
best that could be done to prevent tho
flames spreading to other parts of the
building for in spite of the many streams
poured through the windows, 1t burned away
until there was nothing more to feed on.
There was no one on the ground who could
give any plausible reason for the origin OF
the fire. or what caused the explosion which
blew out the windows. The stock was not
Of nature which would reasonably be ex-
pected to cause such result but those who
saw it first are positive in the opinion there
was an explosion.
The building is owned by Mrs. I. Brown
and IS a four-story brick. Just what the
damage to it will be cannot be told to a GER
tainty until there is better opportunity to
investigate it than at the present writing.
There Is nothing left of the interior of the
rear portion of the three upper stories, but
whether the walls are ruined or not cannot
yet be told.
LOSS ON BUILDING AND STOCK.
The loss on stock, which Mr.. /. Brown
states was inventoried short time ago at
$37 900, will, he thinks be almost total, from
injury by the flames and water. The stock
was insured for $27,0 900 with Webster &
Howard, Martin, Perfect & Newman, and
Howell. The rear portion of the three upper
stories was badly gutted by the flames, and
$4,000 will approximate the loss, with $10,-
900 insurance with local companies.
Mr.. Brown stated that he was at a COM
plete loss to know how the fire started. He
and his two partners, Messrs. b. and E.
Madonsky left the store at $50, and there
were no combustibles of any description in the
building. On the second hocr near the rear
small heating stove had been left partly
filed with coal, but had been tightly closed.
and all dampers turned off before they left
the store.
The larger portion of the stock had been
lately placed on the second floor and yes
terday they had began to move some of it
to the third but only a small amount had
been moved. The top floor was empty.