The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-02-14

Was Destroyed With All It's Con-
tents, but the Wind Kept the
Fire From Spreading to Other
Portions of the Plant-Loss VIII
Only he About One-Tenth ON the
Insurance. t
The Northwestern Grass Irvine COM
pany sustained a $4,000 loss by fire yes
terday, when the large warehouse stu
ated at Front and Mackubin streets was,
together with 1000 tons of raw material,
totally destroyed. The loss is fully COW
cred by insurance The fire broke out
shortly after 9 O'CLOCK in the morning. and
within half an hour the big structure was
afiame throughout All Of the fire appa-
ratus in the city was called to the scene,
but the inf1ammable nature Of the con-
tents Of the building, and the fierce head
way gained by the flames, made It inn
possible to check the fire, and the big
efforts Of the department. The fire burn
ed all day, and relay of flremen were
still pouring water on the smouldering
debris last night.
How the fire started is a mystery. The
building was one-story frame structure,
500 feet long by 60 feet WIDE and when
first discovered the flames were leaplng
from the roof about the center Of the
building. A Waterman had passed
through the building twenty minutes be-.
fore the fire broke out, and noticed no
sign of danger. Electric light wires ran
into the warehouse, but the current had
been shut off at s o'clock. so 1t is hardly
believed the fire started from this cause
AS soon as the flames were discovered
the company's fire brigade set to work,
and had a, dozen streams directed on the
flames early. With the arrival of the
first apparatus of the city department, it
was realized that the fire was of dan
gerous nature, and general alarm was
turned in. By the time the full fighting
force Of the department was on hand, the
big building was a mass of flames from
one end to the other.
AT no time was the company's large
brick buildings at the west of the burning
Wareroom in danger, as brisk westerly.
wind carried the flames and sparks away
from the main plant. Residents on Mac
kubin street, east of the plant, Front
street and other localities close to the
burning building, were much alarmed dur
ing the rapid spread of the fire, and be-
gan moving their household effects into
the streets. 1t was early realized, however,
that there was little or no danger to sur
rounding property, and the alarm was
quieted, though the dense smoke drove
the occupants of several houses outside,
during the flercest part Of the fire.
In fighting the fire the members of the:
department suffered severely The mer-
curry was below zero,( and the firemen.
handling hose were quickly covered with
| Ice Their task was hopeless almost from
the first, but twenty-five streams Of water.
were directed at the fire until the build
Ing was in ruins. After the walls and
roof had burned away the grass within
| continued to burn, and while iiremen We're
kept at work on the ruins, it was merely
a precautionary expedfent, as the 1re
simply burned. itself out.
Nothing in the building was saved. In
the south end there was a small amount
| of weaving machinery, which was de-
| stroyed, while in the north end Of the
| building was stored small quantity OF
| completed stock that was also burned.
| The remainder of the contents was com
| prised solely of the baled grass. An Of
| fetal Of the company says the loss IS
| about equally divided on the building
| and the stock, practically $4,000 each.
The fire will in no way, according to
an official of the company, interfere With
the manufacturing plant or the firms
business. The company has fully as much
raw material on hand as was destroyed,
and can obtain any amount desired I'M
mediately from It's other warehouses. The
manufacturing plant was in full operation
yesterday, after the first danger of the
fire had passed. The companys insur-
ance Is in blanket form, covering the.
entire plant. According to Weed Il Park
err, by whom the insurance was placed,
the loss on the stock will reach 20 per.
cent, and on the machinery and building,
10 per cent. The Insurance was placed as
follows:
On Stock 90 mn