Iron County register., 1897-09-30


10 say of the Far West. The epistle Is
dated Sept. goth: You see BY the
heading of this letter that our post
Office has changed names, Riverside
having became SO notoriously dead
that it was hoped if the name was
changed that the Mckinley prosperity
would come at once; but it Is now the
same old deadbeat. Oranges too low'
lemons too low, mortgages too hlgh'
taxes too high, and everything TOO
high for the price they get for frult.
Well, let her rip! We will try ana
pull through. The prospect for fruit
is good. The orchards are in fine hX.
Grain crops of last winter were good
and we have plenty of everything ont
prosperity; it is to be hoped 1t Will De
here later on. We have had 1t terri
bly, hot this summer; the thermometer
ranged from 40 to 120. How Is that
for hot? And not drop of rain from
the 9th of April to this date. 1ester-
day on our porch it stood just 100 IN
the shade. with a strong ocean wlnd'
from 10 A. N. to in the evening.
But from the mountain streams we
etables. Where is my old
friend. John Selepger, and did his
boys 60 to Missouri with him? Let
me tell you now this is a poor country
for a man that has no money, and the
best country in the world for man
that has plenty of money, for he can
spend it faster here than any place IN
the world. And what part OF Cali
fornia did Pat Twomey goto? L doubt
if he makes many Fourth OF July
speeches, and will bet dollar his
head is redder than it was in Missouri.
+ / wish to send my kind re-
CARDS to all old friends. a line or two
from any of them would be very ac-
ceptable. If it was not for the glor-
ious old REGISTER, would die. L get
it every Monday morning, and, don" t
you forget, all other Lapers are laid
aside until get through with 1t; and
during the time / am reading Mrs.
Scoville is as nervous as a beetle until
she gets hold of it. So you see how
we appreciate the REGISTER. May Eli
live foreverr'
About half-past two o'clock last
Thurday afternoon the barn on the
premises occupied by J. A. Zwart as
a residence was discovered to be on
fire. Mr.. Zwart and family were out
of town and the only person on the
place was the servant, who quickly
gave the alarm. On account of the
prolonged drouth the building was
very dry and the flames spread with
great rapidity. The citizens quickly
responded to the alarm, but before
anything could be accomplished to-
ward checking the fury of the flames,
they had crossed the alley and com
municated the fire to the barn, wood
shed and other Outhouses in the rear
and adjoining the residence of w.
T. Gay. 1t then became a struggle to
save the two dwellings. and all that
did save them was hard and persistent
work. A covered latticed passage way,
probably twenty-five feet long, con-
nected the Gay residence with the
woodshed and barn. The barn was
filled with hay and other feed. and the
woodshed crowded to the roof with dry
wood. The flames swept over the two
buildings and the heat therefrom was
terrific. Fortunately the passage way
was covered with an iron roof and 1t
soon became apparent that this afford
ed the only hope of saving the dwell
| ing. The latticed side of the passage
way was torn down; men with buckets
of water and blankets were put on the
roof of the residence to eXtingulsh the
| shower of sparks that were falling on
! the shingles. The flames mad now
reached where the passage way con
nected with the woodshed. 1t was the
hope of the fire fighters that the ROO
of the passage way having been de-
prived of all support on the sides,
would, when the fire burned the con
nections with the woodshed, fall and
the iron roof serve to keep the fire
from reaching the dwelling. The hope
was justified, the roof fell, and by {
| liberal use of water the flames were
checked. In the meantime, about the
same struggle was going on on the
Zwart premises across the alley. The
barn and woodshed were all under ont
roof there, and close adjoining was the
summer kitchen. The barn and wood
shed were quickly destroyed. Timt
and again the summer kitchen caugh
on fire, and it was only by continued
struggle that it was saved, and the en-
tire dwelling kept from destruction
1t was a very narrow escape all tht
way through. The very dry condi
ton of the buildings, and the genera
scarcity of water made the fight dOubl.
hard. While the flames were ferces
. and it was feared the dwellings would
burn. the furniture and other content
of both houses were carried out into tn
street. As stated. Judge Zwart an,
family were away from home at tn
time and it so happened that Mr.. an
Mrs. Gay were also out of town tha
day. 1t is supposed that the fir
: originated from some ashes containing
live Goals carried out of the house an
placed near the woodshed by servan
at Judge Zwart's. Both places ar
/ owned by w. T. Gay, who places hi
total loss, we understand, at abou
81. 200.
The heirs of the late Socrates New
7 man. a wealthy and prominent cltize
, of St. Louis, but who owned a summe
homo just west of town and spent cor
siderable portion of his time here, ar
/, having no little trouble in closing u
the estate and dividing the propert
70 the satisfaction OF all concerned
: Mrs Elsie Newman, wife of VIM.
. Newman, one of the heirs. recently il
| stituted proceedings in the St. LOU