The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-05-05

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heasoe Park. u ksa5ilr1E = tie fire.
After an intellectual attempt on his part
and that of Head Watchman Rife to extin-
guish the h4mes. he called to B. g. Mucken-
fuss, assistant bookkeeper at the bali park.
He ran to the nre-alarm box at the front
| gate OF the park and turned in the FIRST
alarm. This was followed shortly by q Sec
ohd and third alarm, which were turned in
oy hen Swingiey. secretary Of the Fire De-
partmest. Twenty engines went to the
scene. but only ten Of these were Of service,
since others could not get to the fire before
It was practically over From the first II
was seen that the grand stand and payil-
Ions were doomed. and EFFORTS were directed
to saving the property OF the ST. Louis Fair
Association and the bleachers. This was
done successfully. ;.
OWNERS PRESENT
WHEN FIRE STARTED.
\ Frank de Hass Robson, M. g.. Robson
and E c. Becker. who are the stockholders
in the st. Louis Baseball Club. place their
losses Yesterday close to $4,000 They said
that they could not definitely state the
amount Of insurance, but that It approxi-
mates 10000. They believe that records and
other valuable papers belonging,t to the club
are safe In the vault which was In their Of
fees. In this is also the money taken in
yesterday. and II the safe withstood the
heat much is saved to the owners Of the To-
cal team
All the above gentlemen were in the grand
stand when the fire commenced. Frank De
Haas Robson. as soon as he heard the cry
OF nre. ran to the top Of the stand and or
dered the police of the park to man the
hand grenades. OF which there were many
IN different sections Of the structure This
was done. bnt the grenades proved useless,
as many were rusted and choked with dirt.
He then waited until the greater part of the
crowd had left the stand, and made his
way to the extreme northern box and
jumped to the ground. At the time the
flames We're burning ffercely, and a moment
later the roof over the southern end of the
stand caved in.
WIRE SCREEN
HINDERS ESCAPE.
Ihe screen which is intended to protect
occupants of the grand stand from foul
Mes caused no little Inconvenience. and
might have caused loss OF lie. This screen
Is directly back Of the catehes's position
and extends to the right and to the left.
Vnose In the central part Of the stand. In
surs1nE downward to get upon the dia.
mend. were blocked By the screen. Many
lost valuable time In trying to break
through this obstacle. 1t resisted their ef-
forts. and persons who attempted to escape
mere were forced to turn to the right or left
ana make their way to place where this
screen did not intervene between them and
safety. Frank wyman and several other
memberso OF the Cabanne Club were among
those thus incommoded and because of the
delay escaped from the burning building at
the last moment
The st. Louis Transit Company viii lose
several hundred dollars AZ the result of the
fire. The heat melted the wires both along
the Natura, Bridge road and at the loop of
the vandeventer line at the Natural Bridge
road. The fences at this loop. and also the
small station at the; place were partially
burned. John Grant. Transit Company
ofncial. was in the grand stand when the
nre commenced. He made his way down