Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1897-12-23
BIG ST. LOUIS FIRE.
Mermod & Jaccard's Jewelry Store
Completely Quilted.
A WRECK ON The CHICAGO ( ALTON,
Another Fire at Grand Forks--An Engin,
Jumps the Track aud Plunges to the
Ground 3elOw-A Chair Car
Runs Away.

the basement Of the building occupied
by the Mermod & Jaccard Jewelry
company, at the corner OF Locust street
and Broadway, early yesterday morn.
ing, and in an almost incredible time
the tive-story building was completely
Quilted. The total loss will reach $685..
600, fully covered by insurance. W. A.
Rutledge, the engineer, and his family
lived on the fourth floor. They barely
escaped with their lives The fremen
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 narrow escapes, but there
were no fatalities The Mermod &
Jaccard Jewelry company was one Of
the largest in the world and, this he.
ing Christmas season, carried an i'm.
mense stock One-half of the stock
had been placed in the two largo
vaults and saved, but the rest, as wei
as the building and fixtures, was to-
tally destroyed. So fierce was the fire
that not dollars worth of salvage
was taken out. The Model Cloak com.
pany, in the northeast corner of the
building, was wiped out, sustaining a
loss of $50, 900, on which there is an in.
surance of three-fourths
A WRECK ON THE CHICAGO d ALTON.
PONTIAC, Ill.,, Dec. 2O.--An open
switch on the Chicago g. Alton road
was the cause Of collision yesterday
afternoon between the st. Louis linn
tied passenger and freight train on
the sidetrack. The brakeman whose
duty it was to close the switch was un-
able to move it The passenger train
was approaching. He jumped on the
track and signaled for it to STOP The
engineer applied the air breaks and
reversed his engine, but 1t was too
late and the passenger went crashing
into the freight. Several persons were
seriously injured. The two engines
and two freight cars are total wrecks.
ANOTHER FIRE AT GRAND FORKS.
GRAND FORKS, N. d., Dec. 2O.-The
business portion Of the city was
threatened by another fire last night,
which might have been more destruc.
tive than that of Friday, when the
Hotel Dacotah and other buildings
were burned. Shortly after six o'clock
smoke was seen issuing from the first
floor Of the big department store of
Penner & Begg. In less than 10
minutes the building was in flames and
the fire had crept into the Stanchtield
clothing house and the H. A. Stone
jewelry store, in buildings adjoining.
After three hours work. the fire was
subdued.
ENGINE JUMPS THE TRACK.
ST.. Louis, Dec. sO.-While plotting
heavy freight train up the Merchants
bridge incline yesterday, an engine of
the Terminal railroad association
jumped the track and plunged to the
ground below. Fireman AL Pensinger
was instantly killed; Engineer j. H.
Mccullough was dashed head first
through the cab window and badly in.
jured, and W. H. Cobb, yard agent
of the east side yards of the
Terminal, had several ribs broken,
in addition to receiving other injuries.
Pensinger was crushed into an unrec-
ognizable mass under the engine. He
was married and leaves a widow.
A CHAIR CAR RUNS AWAY.
CASTLE Rock, COL, Dec. 2O.-At 7:SO
last night wreck occurred at point
two miles north Of Castle Rock, on the
Rio Grande road, in which 33 men
were injured, one or two perhaps ia
tally. The wreck was the result of
collision between a southbound pas
senger train and runaway chair car
which started from Castle Rock, hav.
ing broken the connection with the
rest Of the train. Most of the injuries
are flesh wounds and bruises.