The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-11-28
a,axral c.-osad in Har1nae

had given the alarm the structure was
enveloped in flames.
Is. ii. Purdy, ne weighmaster, wko
WAS in the upper part OF the elevator
attending TO some minor duty, had a
marrow escape from being roasted To
death. He heard the warning cry Of
Foreman Stratton ard realizing his
desperate position at once started for
the stairway which would take him out
of the building by the way of the Third
street entrance. The smoke by this
time was sitting and he was obliged
to creep on his hands and knees to find
the stairway. The darkness and smoke
and the thought of his chances, should
he not be able to reach the stairway,
instead of unnerving him, seemed, as
he said afterward, to give added cour-
age and strength to his movements. in
what seemed like hours, but was really
only q few seconds, he had mana ged
to reach the stairway which led to the
office of the manager, and down the
stairs he went. and out into the open
air. The excitement over and the street
reached he at once thought of his gold
watch and chain and suit of clothes
which had been left hanging in lock-
er on one Of the lower floors of the
building So thankful was he at MAX
ing his escape that he even seemed
in a cheerful frame of mind and took
the loss of his personal effects without
q murmur.
Shortly after Z o'clock the rear part
of the elevator fell out and a huge
stream of oats, confined in the lower
bins, flowed down on the tracks OF the
Milwaukee and Omaha road in the rear
of the elevator. A few minutes later
huge beams, ehaIred and blazing, Slip
ped slowly down on the top of the
mounds of oats and set fire to the mass.
BY this time the services Of a number
of firemen were not particularly needed
in front of the blazing pile on Third
street, and pipemen and several lines of
hose were ordered down on the tracks
and were fighting the fire from this
point.
The trains on the Milwaukee and
Omaho roads, leaving and coming into
the city, were somewhat delayed owing
to the fire The elvator was in such
close proximity to the tracks that an
hour after the fire started the roadbed
was covered with burning oats and de-
bris three feet deep. The fast mail for
Chicago, on the Milwaukee road, came
to ST Paul via the Northern Pacific
and trains for Minneapolis on this line
took the same route. Trains on the
Omaha road, Western division, both
leaving and arriving were forced to go
by the way of Minneapolis and will
continue to do so until the tracks are
cleared and some of them relaid. So
fierce was the fire that the heat warped
the rails in the vicinity of the elevator,
although tn railroad officials are con-
fident that travel can be resumed this
morning past the scene of the fire.
The cable line was not operated be-
tween the hours Of 6 and $50 and the
rsidents of the hill were obliged to
either walk or hire cabs to reach their
homes. Travel on the West st. Paul
and Mississippi street line was stopped
from Fifth street on this side Of the
river and the end of the WabaSha
street bridge on the other side. Pas
sengers were given transfer slips and
barring a walk of several blocks there
was no trouble.
WHAT THE CHIEF SAID.
Chief Jackson, seen at IL o'clock last
evening, presented a picture similar to
that Of the Ice King in winter car
nival The fire had been, he said, a
hard one to handle, owing to there be-
ing but one place from which 1t could
be fought to advantage. As soon as he
arrived at the fire he realized that
there was no chance to save stick Of
the building. The wind was blowing
gale from the north and northwest, and
this. while it helped on the blaze, was
extremely fortunate, for, said the chief,
no one knows where the fire would
have stopped had the wind been from
Ine OLUSr GlTSCIlOIl n w lll0 Ii Jill liz
south or southeast would have pre-
vented the firemen from occupying the
only position to fight the fire, in front
of the burning building on West Third
street, and q more serious confiagFation
would probably have followed. Tne
elevator, he said. was not equipped
with SprinlxlerS or other modern hre
protection, but had it been, the result
would have been the same. The mem
ber-S of the department had done 5000
work and all the apparatus had worked
like a charm. Three engines were sun
pumping away at midnight and Chief
Jackson said the engines and com
panieS manning them would De oplgeu
to work all night.
Col. Jones, of the Arlington hotel, en-
deared himself to the members OF the
department who were on duty at the
fire by sending a fVe-gallon can OF not
coffee to be distributed to the ire hght-
FerS.
The police department did effective
work at the fire Chief Goss and de-
tail of ten men from the central station,
and Can't Getchell, LieutS. Pendy and
Hanft from the DucaS, Rondo and Mar
garet street stations, each with a de-
tail Of four men, were on the scene
few minutes after the All alarm. Fire
lines were established and the crowd
kept back, thus facilitating the work
of the fire department.
INSURANCE END OF 1T.
C. H. Bigelow, president Of the COM
nany which owned the burned elevator,
is also president of the st. Paul Fire
and Marine Insurance company, anu
that company placed the insurance on
the elevator and contents. One or the
policies on the grain in store was
placed but yesterday. j. @. Adams &
Co. who own the grain, had contracts
To MT in a total of 800 600 bushels and
the insurance men were rejoicing last
night that the fire came with as little
grain in store as there was. There has
been an incoming shipment of about
twenty-five cars of oats per day late
ly, and it was piling up fast. A week
later, the loss would have been mucn
more severe.
The ST. Paul Fire and Marine In
surance company last night gave out
the following list of the insurance:
On grain owned by J. Q. Adams &
Co.:
St. P. F. 8 NJ. .$25ooI Queen ........... 1000
Ger.-American 5,5e0I Total ......... $40 500
On building, owned by st. Paul Ware
house and Elevator company:
st. Paul .....,. $1,000 Ham. Bremen =. 1000
German ..:: Zoo Zoo Mutual tt N. ". ,5 500
Teutonia ........ LOCO Rhode Island :. 1900
Ffremen's ....... 1000 Transatlantic -. 1900
Mil. Mech 800. LOCO Phoenix, Hart ;. g. SEQ
Phoenix, London l,090 West Ass ....., 1000
Greenwich ...... 1000 Norwood 800. 900
Girard .......... 1000 National, Hart $500
Fremen ....... 1Vu0 Sun .............. L. GOO
Concordla ....... 1U0O --
Westchester -. LOCO Total ......... SSe 500
Only One Accident.
The only accident at the fire had for its
Victim James Carey, a member Of the fire
insurance patrol who slipped on an lev side