The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-04-14
FLOUR MILL
IN FLAMES,
Tho Plant Of thu Pyle and Mcln Ws
Co. Reduced 10 Ashss
Los, WILL REACH $4,000.
But S4s,o OF this Is Covered by insur-
ance-"Smutting" rachine Rollers .
and Nail Responsible for the
Coniiagration. --sA

The large old -four mill of the Pyle s.
Mcintyre Company on the Brandywine
OF Henry Clay, was completely destroyed
by aro which broke out on tho first floor
about 10 O'Clock this morning. At IL
o'clock the flames had :made their work
complete and what was few hours ago
busy mill is now o snouldering mass.
The loss wlllreach tho $50. 900 mark, OF
this amount $4,000 Is on building and
machinery and the remainder on stock.
The actual loss will amount to about
$4,000
The mill was one of those structures
which have been on the Brandywins for
years. This one has been standing since
1923 Since that tlmeit has been occupied
by the DuPonts, but of late years by the
Pyle & Mcintyre Company, State Senator
John Pyle being the senior member and
Goo. Mcintyre the junior member Of the
firm. The building was of stone, stories
high and 6Ox50 feet In size.
There were several frame buildings ad,
joining and although the mill was far
from being model In construction IL was
In output, and in busy seasons, one hun.
dred and twenty five barrels Of flue grade
-four were milled per day.
On the first floor was the "smuttingY
machines into which the wheat Is first req
ceived. These machines numbered half
dozen and beside them on the floor was
grain elevator.
These were all well filled with grain and
when nail or some other hard substance
in the wheat became clogged In the rolls
Of tho machine, excellent fuel thereby
furnished fire. And SO IL happened Nil,
lers were at the machine in the north east
corner Of the mill at 1925 O'Clock and no
fire was to be seen. Five minutes later
there was grating raised and another
minute later fire was consuming the
wheat and bags so quickly that workmen
could not recover their wearing apparel.
The alarm was sent out but 1t was hard
ly necessary, for In an incredibly short
space of time everybody in the village was
attracted BY the flames without cry Of
warning.
Tho old timber creaked and the walls
cOlored. FLAMES charred the trees near by
and sparks SGT fire to the dry leaves in the
woods on the opposite side of the creek,
but the sturdy men Of the neighborhood
were not long in extinguishing them.
Their attention was commanded by the
stock In the mill, which included 500 BARI
rels Of flour and about 5000 bushels Of
grain, beside the valuable machinery on
the second and third floors. On the second
floor the grinding room was located and
here was the most valuable machinery.
Naturally the greatest efforts to extlnguish
the fire was here. But all efforts were
fruitless.
The old timber. bran and wheat were
infiammable and it required but few
minutes for tho flames to destroy what
valuable property was thore. Until this
time there was being played upon thu
building little or no water. Everyone war
engaged in removing from the building
what property had not yet been destroyed.
Believing that the building might yet bs
saved messages were deSpat ched> to the
Friendship and Water Witch Fire Com.
panles and soon half u hundred tlremen
were on the scene. But their efforts were
also fruitless.
The flames had reached the third floor
of the structure where the go barrels of
flour and 5000 bushels of wheat were stored
and just as three streams of water drawn
from tho Brandywin0 reached the burn.
ing mass, the floor gave way under the
weight and all went crashing into the
soothing furnace below. Showers Of
sparks asoonded, heavy black smoke fol-
lowed, then fell like pail upon tho thou.
sands who by this time reached the scene,
The flames still cracked, but the flremen
did not tire. They worked until tho noon !
hour Was announced by the whistles OF
nearby mills, when water was no longer
pumped from the creek. The embers
sm0uderod all afternoon, but there can be
no moro fire as the flames have completely
done their work.
All uHuV folllulnS VI 1uo OIlCe DuSy plhuV
is the colored walls. These tower almost
100 feot In the air and are cracked by this
heat of the fire which ragged within them.
They will have to be pulled down If q new
building is erected, but Mr.. McIntyrs
could not say whether or not this would
be done He had not seen his partner and
had not had the opportunity to look
up his insurance policies so he could not
say In whnt company the firm was Insured
I'hlTn
mill since It's erection. This was about
As years ago when II loss of $50 900 was
caused. The plant was operated by water
power but there were faculties for steam
power. These however, had not been In
use for month