Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-12-20
FIRE IN RICH GOODS.
Mermod & Jaccard. the Big Jew.
elry Firm at st. Louis,
Burned Out,
NARROW EsCAPEoFITHE ENGINEER

He and His Wife To ne Unconscious Down
the Fire Escape by the Fircmen-Loss,
e535.0oo. Fully Covered by In.uranee-
ifrm 10 Begin Business Again at Once.
Having Bought Out Another Establish.
ment-Another blaze at Grand Forks.
st. Louis. Dec. GA fire started in
the basement OF the building occupied
by the Mermod d Jaccard Jewelry COM
pany at the corner Of Locust street and
broadway early yesterday morning and
In an almost increditably short time the
fve-story building was completely
gutted. The total loss will reach $685. =
600, fully covered by insurance. The
fire had been burning some time before
II was discovered at i:lo O'Clock and at
. o'clock the south wall and all the
floors began falling. making one of the
hercest and quickest fires in the annals
OF this city. Next TO the boiler room In
The basement was n room used for
packing. IL is thought the fire started
In the boiler room. communicating to
the packing room and shooting up the
elevator shaft quickly spread over the
building.
Engineer Had Marrow Escape. 60
w. a. Rutledge. the engineer. and his
family lived on the fourth floor. They
barely escaped with their lives. The
fTemen dragged them unconscious from
their beds and carried them down the
fire escape. Five minutes later the
floors fell. Several other tenants in the
building had harrow escapes, but there
We're no fatalities. TIE Mermod & JAG
card Jewelry company was one of the
largest in the world. and this being
Christmas season 1t carried an immense
stock. One-half OF the stock had been
placed In the two large vaults and
saved. but the rest, as well as the
building and its fixtures. was totally
destroyed. The firm carried insurance
amounting to SiCo.eco which, If the stock
In the vaults Is found intact, will amply
cover the loss sustained.
Preparing to Resume Business.
The Model Cloak company, in the
northeast corner OF the building. was
wiped out. sustaining a loss of $50 O00
on which there is an insurance of three
iourths. At 4 a. m. yesterday the
stockholders Of Mermod Il Jaccard held
meeting and considered ARRANGE
ments for opening temporary quarters.
Late last night the burned-out firm de-
cided to continue in business and toda--
VIII take possession OF the store and
stock of another leading jeweler Of the
city. which II has bought. The firm that
goes outofbusincssi thatofA a. Kurtze-
born & Sons.
Salvage Corps Worked Well.
The eMermcd-Jaccard Co. occupied but
two floors and the basement of the
structure. On the fifth floor were the
repair shops. a large amount of the
repair work had been finished and most
OF !; was saved by the salvage corns.
The corIs also saved n dozen or more
grandfather clocks. ranging in value
from SEQ TO si.so0 each. and many old
Vienna cases and valuable pieces OF pot
terry. The silverware melted by the heat
VII be found under the debris Of fallen
thinkers. In the first floor. left out Of the
vaults. were clocks. silverware. china.
art pottery. cut glassware and other
articles. all OF which will be a total loss.
There were over forty tenants in the
building whose losses range from $500
10 1900. partly insured.