The age-herald., 1901-08-25
FIRE DAMAGES FREIGHT DEPOT L & N Railroad Suffers a Loss of $12,OOO FILLED WITH MERCHANDISE
 
Flames Originated In Record Room and We're Probably Started From Spark by a Passing
 Switch Engine.

The freight depot of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company, opposite the Union passenger station in Twentieth street, was badly damaged by fire that ragged within its walls for more than an hour last night. The damage is estimated at s10,200.
 | The fire originated in the record room 1 near the front of the building. When first discovered 1t had made considerable head way, and by the time the fire department arrived the flames had passed into the | freight warehouse. The fire was dis covered by MT. Cotton, an attache of the office, and an alarm turned in at s:5 o'clock The warehouse was packed with l incoming freight for Birmingham mer- chants and large quantity of 1t was badly damaged. The flames spread with great rapidity from the front end of the building to the section at Twenty-first street where the firemen first went to work.
 The firemen experienced some difficulty 1 in getting the doors of the building open. l In some cases they were forced to use batering rams to effect an entrance. The | entire department was called out, and three of the big engines puffed and pump ed with great force. Four streams of wa- ter were poured onto the burning mer- chandise and within an hour the flames were under control Within two hours the hose was being loaded back into the wagons and the building was under the care of the police force and the watch men of the company. Four cars by the side of the building were scorched by the flames and slightly damaged before they could be moved The damage to the cars was very slight, the contents being bare ly scorched by the heat
 Cause Is a Mystery.
 The cause of the fire is mystery, but L the theory advanced by Superintendent Welch is that a spark from passing en- zine started the flames. When discovered | they were eating the walls and roof of the record room
 The Louisville and Nashville carries no insurance policies with outside companies, but bears all its losses from fire. The | amount of the damage, accurately estima- ted last night will not exceed s1O,0O0 on | the contents of the building, and S120O on the building itself.
 Superintendent Welch, who made the statement of the damage, said:
 "The building was filled with incoming l ,i,ie rhafx merchants The amount stacked up, far as can be estimated. was by no means as much as Is usually carried in the building, for a great quantity had been removed during the day. The loss will be less than slO0OO on the contents of the building and $120O on the building. The latter was damaged for about two hun dred feet.
 "The company carries its own insurance and all the loss will be borne by it. We have placed a large number of men about | the building to watch 1t until morning when workmen will begin clearing away the damaged goods and repairing the warehouse. We have have plenty of room to store all shipments that come in, and will be disconnected but -little"
 A Courageous Act.
 Shortly after reaching the fire a pair of horses hitched to a wagon from the Southsde station became frightened and dashed up Twentieth street at break neck speed. Fireman Tom Cox of the Northside department saw the runaway and ran after the wagon, climbed upon the rear end and was in the seat in a few minutes holding the reins. He had the team under control before reaching Third avenue. and was loudly applauded by the spectators. In climbing in the | wagon he fell on ladder and was slightly | injured.
 Chief Mullin said that the fire origin ated over the record room, in lot of sta- tionery that was packed there
 Before the doors could be opened" said he. "a line of hose was burned up. If we could have gotten in the doors we | would have had the fire extingushed in | one-third of the time. Before we could | get our lines of hose in the building the interior was ablaze. The report that the water was cut off originated from the fact that the Louisville and Nashville Railroad maintains a private line of pipe and plugs, the water coming from a tank. It was these plugs that failed"
 Crowd Given Scare. All of the reserve police were called out and great many of the men taken from the beats and placed around the burning structure to keep the crowds back. | During the progress of the fire some