The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-08-17
BLAZE in The YARDS
STROYED NEAR THE UNION
DEPOT
SEVERAL CARS ARE sC0RCHED
Twenty Tons of Coal and Quantity
of LubricatinG Oil Helped to-
Make the Fire Spec
tacular.

A fire. which was more spectacular than
disastrous, furnished plenty of excite
ment in the union depot yards yesterday,
afternoon for two hours, and when it
was all over two frame buildings had
been destroyed and twenty tons of coal
had gone up in smoke Several barrels
of lubricating oil and a number Of car
cleaning outfits were also consumed and
several cars belonging to the Milwaukee
and 500 roads were scorched. The total
damage will be in the neighborhood of
1850, divided between the Union Depot
company, the Omaha, Northern Pacific
and Milwaukee roads.
The blaze originated in frame struc-
ture used jointly by the Union Depot
company and the Milwaukee road for
storing the kits of the car cleaners. A
passing stranger, after lighting pipe.
careessly threw a match into pile of
waste used in cleaning metal work.
The oil-saturated material blaZed up in
a second, spreading to barrel of oil be-
fore it could be removed. There was
nothing at hand with which to attempt
to put out the flames, and a telephone
message was sent to the depot asking
that the fire department be summoned In
the meantime twenty five barrels of Oh
were rolled out of harms way and some
of the material stored in the adjoining
cifc and the Omaha roads, was also
taken out.
By the time the firemen arrived both
were burning fiercely, and though sew
eral streams We're thrown on the blazing
pile, 1t was seen that nothing could save
either of the buildings.
The barrels of oil left in the building
which caught first fed the flames, and
a carload of COAL which had been put in
only few hours previously, added to the
f1erceness of the fire.
At the time the fire broke out, the cars
of the 1855 Milwaukee outgoing train
were drawn up within a few feet of the
spot, ready to be hauled into the depot.
Before an engine could be sent up to
take them away, two of the coaches were
badly scorched, all the paint on the out
side being blistered.
TAKING OUT THE CARS.
Two Canadian Pacific sleepers and sew
eral 500 coaches We're on a track within
twenty feet of the burning buildings,
and dining car belonging to the latter
was blistered as it was being hauled to-
ward the depot. This ended the list of
damaged cars, but for an hour or so all
the yard engines available were engaged
in taking cars out of the way. This PROV
ed exciting work, as several hundred
to see the fire. and were darling in and
out between the tracks in a manner that
made switching an extremely dangerous
matter. A number of policemen endeaXor-
ed to drive the children away, but their
efforts were handicapped by the general
confusion prevailing.
A crowd of at least 500 persons watch
ed the fire from the Seventh street
bridge, and for time the street car serv-
ice on that bridge was somewhat imped-
ed ~"
A turntable directly west of the burn
ing buildings was in danger for a time,
it being feared that the intense heat
would cause the big iron structure to
buckle. Two streams of water playing
constantly, however, kept it cool enough
to prevent any damage.
The two buildings were not worth more
than $3.50 each, and w. F. Mcmillan, SUI
perintendent of the union depot. estimates
that the contents could not have been
worth more than $500. There was no de-
lay to the outgoing afternoon trains