The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-02-02
NEW ELEVATOR BURNS
Structure Belonging TO Green
and Culver Destroyed.
LOSS is VERY HEAVY
Building Was Only Completed
Last June.

Yesterday morning, shortly after 5
o'clock, the new elevator south Of the
Santa Fe depot, on the tracks, the prop
erty of the Wichita Elevator company.
was burned to the ground and totally
destroyed.
The alarm was first given by the con-
tinued whistles Of the Santa Fe switch
engines and afterwards turned in over the
fire alarm circuit. The fire department
made quick run, but when they arriv-
ed it was impossible to check the flames.
Two lines of hose were Immediately laid
and the water turned on the burning
structure, but the water did little good.
for the fire had too much progress. The
origin of the fire is unknown, though
there are many theories.
The flames lighted up that part Of the
city and within a short time after the
fire department arrived there was a large
crowd Of people on the scene watching
the fire as it made progress. The elevator
and it's contents made one of the hottest
fires in the city and it was long before
the mass of ruins had cooled sufficiently
for the firemen or any one else to get
close to the site of the building. There
were number of freight cars standing
near the structure, but these were taken
away by a switch engine. The wood
work was charred on two of the cars so
that it will have to be replaced.
The building was well filed with grain
It had a capacity for something like 40,-
900 bushels of grain and at the time of
the fire there was nearly that much in
it. The elevator company had been doing
a big business the past season and the
fact that they had ben handicapped by
the non-arrival Of cars accounts some
what for the large supply of grain in
the structure.
The elevator was one Of the best in
Kansas. 1t was completed last June, but
all of the machinery was not in place
until the wheat crop began to roll just
after harvest. The elevator was complete
in every detail The machinery was bet
ter than that in the usual elevator
Everything was up-to-date and the firm
had spared no pains TO have an equipment
by which they could handle grain and
handle it fast, too. The main belt Of the
elevator, the one which carried the most
grain, was one of the largest in the west
and the cups on it were very large, and
there were many OF them.
The insurance on the property amount
ed to about $1,000 and the entire line was
carried by H. H. Dewey. This will not
cover the cost of the building by any
means, for that structure cost many
thousand dollars more than the amount
called for in the insurance policies.
The elevator company was composed of
w. W. Culver and W. F. Green both Of
this city. They are experienced men in
the grain business and this accounts for
their success in that line Of work It Is
not known whether the structure will be
rebuilt or not, but from the remarks of
the men interested it is probable that it
will
The grain business in this city is such
that it demands more elevators, and since
Messrs. Green and Culver. are experienced
men in this line, it would only be a mat
ter of course that they would go into the
business again.
There are several peculiar things about
the fire. The engines were not fred up
but the heat was so great that the boil
ers were soon giving out steam This
frightened the crowd to some extent. as
It was thought that perhaps they would
blow m