The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-07-24

totals ................ .Si53, OOO S33l, $50
Two-thirds Of a million dollars went up
IN smoke yesterday forenoon in a fire
which completely Quilted the huge dou-
BILE warehouse Of the St Paul Cold Stor-
age and Warehouse company, at 201 to I'll
Eagle street, adjoining the right Of way
Of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul
railway.
The warehouses were both packed with
| merchandise, largely Of the perishable ma
ture, and the wreck was complete.
The most hopeful estimates of the in
! surance adjusters who viewed the wreck
yesterday was that the salvage on the
insurance might reach 10 per cent, this
being an outside figure
If the figures as above, necessarily. es-
Inmates, as the goods, and the records
of the same, are neither of them Access
| sible now, are correct, then the fire IS
the most disastrous in property loss that
st. Paul has even had.
The fire was discovered few minutes
before o'clock yesterday morning, and
an alarm turned in from Box Is. Of the
fire alarm system, which IS at Eagle and
Washington streets.
In sending out the call to the various
engine houses, however the call was in
correctly distributed by Operator John
son as from Box Is, which is at Third
and Wacouta streets, in the wholesale
district A detachment of the fire de-
partment was on the way to this location
before Operator Johnson discovered his
mistake and sent out the correct alarm
Being relieved from duty at o'clock. he
hurried after the wandering companies
on MS bicycle and started them right
Chlef Cook, however, who had responded
10 rQn
heard the correct call before leaving HE
apartments, and on finding no fire at rba
district given hurried the companies there
to the right location
me chief Is Of the opinion that tho
mistake was not mOmentous, as two com
pahles were at the scene as quickly as
they could have been less perbane tho
minute 1t took to discover the error an5
Dy that time the flames had spread so
as TO enYeiop the warehouse nearer the
river entirely. From this the flames
spread to the nOrtherly warehouse botb
oelng completely Quilted.
Inc neat was intense, and large en-.
LIS were hurled out as If by an e1Dlo-
sion; area after area Of the floors faII
OF time the second floor held. and tSg
savage corps attempted to Law their tar-
pauIlns over the furnishings of tho ~
hces on the first floor.
- y" ME they were inside a noise cauead
1 - ~ o"u 10 look towards the TOP of the
pu I'LL The walls were Cracking
ne hremen saw that this presaeed O.
IaIIhg OF The roof and thew raised =
sAout' which saved the lives Of the me-
INSIDE the building. Just as the Tnar
AIMS out, four of them through q rr.te
grass window, which they broke for an
eAll' the debris of the roof tore dovya ha
tween the bare walls, Carving tho -
nants Of the third floor and the eac115
floor with it, 70O'A@
Chlef Cook caught a CLEAN of fire IN
e"e other and larger building, which WIS
VeiltaDle refrigerator, and deemed ars
piooI' Inc only entrance to the bufldios
was through the structure which va
wrapped In hames. He sent two Arer,sr,
on the perilous errand OF forcing W.
doors on the second floor which 0Deno6
CUT on either side of the fire escaDe.
Inc hremen did their work. but vba,
Inc uoors were opened they met with a
wooden wall, and were called down -
the relief Of the crowds below
Inc hre spread even faster in this b,,yd-
ing than 1t did in the first
The building was stocked almost sott71,,
with Grated eggs, butter and other proJ,.
uce packed in sawdust Being a mode,
cold storage building the air and ~
packing inside was not damp. and Tia
FIRE found dry material.
Within fifteen minutes after the blazs
was discovered in the second buildlnp tn ,
roOt IelI' but the debris was caught on
the floor below, the fourth.
The sudden change in Temperature bad
Continued on Second Pe~e