Mexico weekly ledger., 1896-05-14
DESTROYED BY FIRE.
The Wabash Freight Depot and chi
cago & Alton Transfer Snea
Burned at An Early Hour
Sunday Morning.

At 12.45 Sunday morning the wa
bash freight depot and the tran
sbed. owned by the Chicago q Ai'oh
and nsed by that road and theWabash,
were totally destroyed by fire, the or
igip of which is unknown.
The first person to Q the olaze was
the engineer at the electric Light pow
err house, and the alarm was immedi-
ately given. The fire seemed to start
on the south side of the freight depot,
about 20 feet from the southeast cor
ner, and in a very few minutes after
it was discovered the entire roof OF
the building was a seething mass OF
flames. The fire company answered
the alarm, but by the time they reach
ed the depot the building was beyond
saving and the transfer sheds were
beginning to burn. By good work, the
Chicago & Alton freight depot was
saved and the blaze confined to the
two buildings mentioned.
There were FIVE tanks of coal oil and
some varnish stored in the freight de-
pot, and when the fire reached them
several explosions took place and
streams of burning oil shot up in the
air a distance of about twenty five
feet. Luckily, the tanks were stand
ing on end, for had they been in any
other position, these streams of liquid
fire would have shot into the crowd.
The large amount of oil in them made
the fire a very hot one and unusually
hard to handle.
No damage was done to the tele-
graph wires, as they are on the north
side of the tracks, and only slight
damage was done the electric light
and telephone wires, the wire con-
Meeting with the arc light on the Wa
bash water tank being the only one
burned. This caused a short delay at
the power house, which lasted about
ten minutes.
There was a very large crowd of
-ototnrs present, who trembled in
their boots every time a tank of oil
exploded. A slight difficulty was ex-
%perienced by the fire company in hav-
ing to lift the hose for the incoming
passenger trains.
The Wabash freight depot was a well
built structure, about 60x25 feet, with
a six-foot platform on each side, and
it is a great pity that the dry goods
box, generally known as the "Union
Station" could not have been de-
stroyed in it's place. Only a small
amount of freight was in 1t, but some
machinery and farming implements
were stored there by Mexico people.
The transfer shed did not amount to
much as a building, but served it's pur-
pose we'll and was filled with farming
Implements, all of which were ruined
by the intense heat and water.
The buildings wer fully insured and
the loss to the railroad companies will
be small, the heaviest loser being G.
w. Robertson, the hardware dealer,
who had about $4,000 worth of farming
implements stored in the depot and
shed, which will be a total loss, not
being insured. J. T. Llewellyn had
two engines stored in the depot, but
they were only slightly damaged. Some
| Wabash records of several years bach
were destroyed, but many were saved
having been packed in a car Saturday
evening to be shipped to st. Louis
The papers and books in the safe were
not damaged. One Chicago & Alton
| freight car, standing on a switch neal
the transfer shed, was burned.
Following ia a complete list of the
freight which was in the depot, ant
which was destroyed, the names o
the consignees being given:
Five cases shoe backing for Whit
temore Bros, Boston.
Two bundles broom handles for G
Hoover, Mexico.
Five boxes and one barrel of starci
for Owen & Wolff, Mexico.
One box and one barrel of house
hold goods for Mrs. f. M. Bridgford
Mexico.
Two crates and one can of varnisl
for G. A. Buckner, Mexico.
One case egg heaters for T. l.. Ray
Mexico.
One box iron pipe fittings for Harri
son Brick Mfg. Co., Mexico.
Two kegs horse shoes and a box o
bolts for John Hum, Mexico.
1t is not known yet how soon o
where n new freight depot will b.
erected.
Until some permanent arrangement
are made the freight business for tn
Wabash will be transacted at the Chi
cago & Alton freight depot.