The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-12-02

being fully satisfied as to the cause Of
the fire. Mr.. Denegre said there was
some trouble in getting witnesses to
appear and testify, as the majority of
those acquainted with the facts that
would throw light on the cause of the
fire were afraid of the fire department.
He knew of about twenty witnesses
who could give valuable testimony, but
unless there was some power to compel
them to attend and testify it would be
almost useless to commence an inyeSti-
cation.
President Freeman, of the fire board,
was Of the opinion that any investiga-
ton held should be by the fire board
and not by the council committee. Mr.
Reardon, however, was anxious to go
on with the investigation, stating that,
as the fire board had not given those
who desired a chance to be heard, the
council should. This appeared to be the
desire of the other two members of the
committee, arnd E. S. Kaye was call
ed and Intercepted by Mr. Denegre,
who acted as counsel for the investiga-
ton.
Mr.. Hayes testimony was to the eff
feet that a line Of hose on the top of
the Schultz block would have prevent
ed the building from being totally de-
stroyed. The fire started on the roof
at the top Of the elevator shaft and
went down. 1t was thirty minutes
after the fire started in the Schultz
block before any water was put on the
building. The entire force Of the fire
department was engaged on the other
side of the fire and seemingly paid no
attention to the Schultz block.
Nels Sandberg, elevator man in the
block at the time of the fire, testified
that the fire started on the roof So
far as he could tell the building was
on fire before the wall fell. 1t was
twenty minutes after the fire broke
out in the Schultz block before any
water was put on the building. A
couple Of streams were then thrown on
the building from Seventh street, but
the water reached only as high as the
third story. Chief Jackson interrupted
the witness and said there was an ex-
tension ladder raised on the building
and streams thrown on the fifth floor.
Continuing. Sandberg said he saw fire
on the roof Of the building before it
was noticeable at any other point.
DR.. Denny thought the tenants of
the building should have been notified
Of the fire. He was of the opinion that
If he had been on the scene he could
have sized up the fire at once and could
have saved considerable of his per-
Sonal effects.
President Freeman said it was not
| the duty of the fire department to mott
fly tenants of office buildings when fires
occurred.
| John Neff, another of the tenants,
said when he arrived on the scene at
o'clock the entire building was ablaze
and no streams were on the building
at that time.
In answer to questions put
by Secretary Hall, Messrs. Kaye
and Sandberg stated they did
not see the wall between the
Ryan annex and the Schultz block
fall. Mr.. Kaye was positive that the
block was on fire before the wall fell.
Secretary Hall said the whole question
settled down as to the falling of the
wall between the two buildings. The
fire board had satisfied themselves that
the falling Of the wall was the cause
of the burning Of the block. This had
been asCerta1ned from the firemen who
were working on the Hale block and
others about the fire President Free
man said he had been informed by
two railroad officials of the Omaha
road who witnessed the fire that the
Schultz block had not caught fire I'M
til after the wall fell. This. Mr.. De-
negre said. was just what the tenants
in the building at the time of the fire
wanted settled. He requested Mr..
Freeman to assist in having the wit
nesses present at the next meeting of
the committee to tell what they knew
about the facts. Mr.. Reardon was Of
the opinion that If the names of the
witnesses were handed to the city clerk
they would all answer to the summons
Mr.. Denegre said he would hand the
clerk list of the names of those want
ed and the committee adjourned until
Monday evening at 1870 o'clock.