Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1899-08-25
A LAND MARK GONE.
The Old Richardson Building
on First Street North De-
stroyed by Fire Friday.

m orning an alarm was turned III
from the First precinct OF the Second
ward. All the hose companies when
quickly responded found the Rich
ardson building, justnorth OF Richard
Bros store, to be one mass OF
flames. As quickly as possible hve
streams OF water, three In front ana
tw O at the rear, were turned on the
burning building. So large ana
stubborn was the fire that the boys
were over an hour getting the flames
under control after which the blaze
was easily mastered. About eight
feet of space separated the building
from the general store OF Richard
Bros. The firemen put forth their
greatest effortsto save this building
for they were obliged to fightagainst
excessive heat and a brisk breeze,
both of which made the work hard.
Richards store was on fire several
times but was not damaged badly
for the flames were soon put out.
The greatest injury to that concern
will be the damage to the stock
caused by the smoke which entered
the store.
b The burned building was owned
BY N. Richardson. It was frame
structureItwo stories high. 1t was
the victim Of fire about a year and a
half ago, but at that time was not
damaged beyond repair. Mr.. Rich
ardson had the building fixed up
and made ready for occupancy.
This fire makes it total loss for the
owner for he carried no insurance.
About half Of the lower floor was
occupied by John Hammer, who
operated ailaundry in it. He lived
in the front portionsof the building.
Mr.. Hamner:was: awakened by the
roar{of the blazef which started6in
the rear 81 bodybuilding: Afteragiv-
ing the alarm he returned to save
his1 iamily) and what household
andl laundry machinery he could.
The{family escaped with simply the
clothes they had on their backs. A
few::pieces of furniture and a couple
of machines are all that could be
taken out, for the flames were fast
eating their way to the front OF the
bu .lding.' AS Mr.. Hammer carried
no insurance his loss will be severe.
He managed to save what laundry
was in the building belonging to his
patrons.
As to the origin OF the fire he says
he does not know how it could
possibly have started for that part
of the building in which the fire be-
gan had not been used during the
entire day. Tie alley in that por-
ton of the city is covered with boxes,
hay and straw SO it is possible that
the fire originated by a spark drop
ping from a chimney in the immedi-
ate vicinity.
Richard Bros. owned a shed to
the north OF the building. In this
room, which was formerly used by
Boyce's photo studio, they had a
couple of cars offlour and feed stored,
most OF which was saved. They
carried nolineurance on the shed so
this will be their loss.
A granary and a couple OF sheds
at tie rear of the building were on
fire several times but were saved
without much damage.
The fireman experienced their
worst trouble with sparks. The
wind blew in the direction which
carried large burning cinders to the
center OF the block. A number OF
small blazes were extinguished by
men carrying water in buckets.
The tiremen are to be congratu-
lated upon the success of their work.
They'll had a hard fire to fight with
buildings at close range to save.
All worked in harmony and with the
assistance of each and the other
made an exceedingly good showing.