The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-11-28

| to the east end of the burning elevator.
| but 1T had no effect on the blaze but to
/ prevent the scorching heat from setting
hfe TO the block on which the firemen
stood. The wind was in just the right
| position to confine the fire to the ele-
Vdtor, coming from the north and
driving the flames and sparks out over
the river and away from the buildings
on the north sade Of West Third street.
In front or the elevator and on the
line with Third street were two wood
en- structures used as market houses.
One was built by M. Lavansky a coxple
OF years ago at a cost Of $780, and the
other was erected about a year pre-
vious by the Central Market COM
pally- at a. cost of $500 Neither of the
structures was in use and half an
hour after the fire started they had
been gutted and fallen over the bluff
into the burning pile
The 1nf1anmable material of the ele-
yator, the high wind which prevailed
and the disadvantage to which the de-
tight the blaze from only one point.
made the fire a rouSings one and at
tracted thousands of spectators who
brayed the zero weather to watch the
flames lick up the structure.
The elevator was built and owned
by the st. Paul Elevator and Ware
house company, of which G. H. Bige-
low is president and W. s. Zimmerman
manager, and was known as
Elevator A. The structure was
built twenty-five years ago at
cost of 100000. 1t was 80 by
125 feet and from its base on the Ievee
to the top of the cupola was 127 feet.
The elevator was well equipped with
the latest machinery for the cleaning
Of grain and oats and had a capacity
Of over 5000 bushels. At the time
of the fire there were 100000 bushels
all for ioh
owned by the ]. @. Adams company, Of
Minneapolis.
w. S. Zimmerman, manager of the
elevator company, seen last evening,
said it was not at all probable that the
elevator would be rebuilt The struc-
ture cost when new 600, and while
it was not as valuable the insurance
would not begin to pay for the erection
Of new elevator. Eight men, he said,
were employed by the company. Last
year over half a million bushels of oats
were stored in the elevator and the
company had started into duplicate the
business this year The loss on the
building he estimated would be about
$65, 900 or 5000 more than the insur-
ance.
w. S. Zimmerman, manager for the
elevator company, was at his home on
Harrington avenue when the fire start
ed, but reached the scene as quickly as
possible. The first question he asked
was whether the employees of the COM
pany had all escaped from the building.
This being answered in the affirmative,
Mr.. Zimmerman seemed relieved, as
he said he feared that some Of the men
had been at work in the upper part of
the structure and would be unable to es-
cape. Mr.. Zimmerman said he had
been manager Of the elevator since 1t
was opened in December, 1874
FIRE STARTED BY FRICTION.
AS to the origin Of the fire, Mr. Tim
norman had but one theory, and that
was that the friction of the belt which
ran the machinery and occupied a boot
on the outside Of the building had start
ed the blaze. This theory was verified
by G.. G. Grant, the engineer, who was
in the building at the time the fire
started Grant said he had just finished
the rounds OF the building preparatory.
to shutting down at 6 o'clock He
usually started at o'clock and went
through the structure oiling the shaft
ing, puileys and other machinery. He
found everything in first-class shape,
the shaftings and bearings were cool
and there was no indication of any
thing being wrong. He had just reach-
ed the ground floor when he was start
led by hearing w. B. Stratton, fore
man of the elevator, shout, "She is all
afire." He looked down in the pit and
saw that STatton's exclamation was
true. In the opinion of Grant, the frs
was caused by the friction from tho
big belt against the wood work. Both
Grant and Stratton ran from the build
ing and the TWO laborers who had just
finished unloading two cars of oats
ran with them. Grant said the fire
swept through the building like a whirl-
wind, and five minutes after Stratton