The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-03-02
GAME down WITH 4 CRASH
SMOKESTACK ON THE COUNTY
JAIL FALLS INTO THE
STREET
SEVERAL NARROW ESCAPES
Trolley Wires Knocked Down and
Street Car System Tied Up
for Nearly Two
Hours.

The big steel smoke stack on the Cedar
street side of the county Jail, long con-
| Sidered menace to life and limb, and
twice condemned by commissions ap-
! pointed to inquire into it's stability, IS
now mass of wreckage and twisted
| sheet steel 1t came down with a crash
about o'clock yesterday afternoon.
struck the street with a crash and sent
shiyer through surrounding buildings,
that brought the occupants out in hur-
ry. In the minds of many Providence
alone dominated it's course, for though it
landed in a spot traversed by crowded
cars and general traffic, not person was
hurt
The accident, so long expected by
many, occurred while the big stack
! was being lowered to the ground by Con-
tractor Forrestal and a crew of men,
The stays removed, guy lines and tackle
had been attached with the idea of slow
ly lowering it to the ground, they being
arranged so as to bring the mass of
iron down lengthwise with the building,
| The stack had probably been lowered
half way when there was a sudden part
| ing of rotted lines, the big affair Iunged
| toward the street and came down with
! a crash that could be heard for blocks.
In its downward course, the stack
| struck the two trolley wires in the GEN.
ter of the street, and the mass of mud
| the ground was illuminated by a blue
| flash from the electric fluid. Next to the
| jail were four big insulated feed wires,
and these also were carried down in the
rash, while for block there was snap
| ping of glass insulators and guy wires
as the tension Increased.
SOME NARROW ESCAPES.
When the fall came the street was
clear, though on the corner above just
turning in from Wabasha street, was an
interurban car heavily loaded with pas.
sengers. Contact between the stack and
the trolley wire robbed the latter of it's
deadly fluid and the car then under
brakes was brought to a standstilf
Passing at the time. were also a horse
and buggy but the driver seeing the
danger whipped up the horse and flew
by as the mass Swished through the air.
In front of the Northwestern Telephone
exchange was ex-Deputy Sheriff Dahl
and some friends watching the work of
lowering the chimney. Directly toward
him the stack came and though there
was lively scrambling for place OF
safety, he did not escape the mass of
mud and dirt that filled the air. He was
literally covered with mud, lady stand.
ing near him suffering a like fate.
Thanks to a guy line the stack fell
obiiquely, one end just touching the curb
l..
1t sWerved a few feet to the east it
would have crashed through the building
of the Northwestern Telephone company.
This calamity was further averted by
the fact that two, sections Of the
structure had been removed previous to
the attempt to lower IL.
While the damage to the stack repre-,
sents number Of lengths of badly
twisted and ruSted steel, the delay and
loss to the street car company were
heavy, the pulling down of the feed
wires and the blocking of the tracks
practically paralyzing the system all
over the city. For nearly two hours,
while the obstruction was being removed
and the trolley and feed wires replaced,
| not car moved and tho line that
stretched along Wabasha waiting to
| make the loop extended from the Robert.
street bridge to the state capital When
the current was finally turned on the ear
starters had busy time Strengthening
out the mass while the crowds who stood
on the corners waiting for a car cussed
and grumbled at the delay. 1t was just
at the time when trailers are put on for
| the supper rush and as the regular run
ming schedule was not reached until
nearly 6 o'clock the loss by reason of
| the delay must have been considerable
| On the Selby street line the delay was
| equally as great. Crossed wires caused
some damage, the Northwestern Tele-,
phone company losing by the same.
| The stack was twenty sections in
! length and weighed 5000 pounds A
| rather bad feature of the affair was that
| no precautions had been taken to block
off the streets for safety purposes The
| sidewalk along the jail had been shut off
| from public traffic but nothing had been
done to warn those who used the street.
F'orrestal is under bonds to the county
! for the removal of the building and any
| loss sustained by the street car company
| or others will necessitate the attacking
! Of his security.
| Because of a broken insulator caus-
| ed by the falling Of the CHOKE stack. an
iron electric light pole at the corner of
| Wabasha and Fifth streets. became heav-
lily charged and badly shocked number
of persons. The luid ran down into the
ground and the close proximity of a
| stream Of water from the melting snow.
and a wet curbstone which acted as an
excellent conductor supplied much amuse-
ment for the crowds when some luck
less pedestrian stepped into the charged
| circle. policeman was finally placed
on the spot to warn passersby.
Must Pay Penalty.