Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1901-02-16
ROCK ISLANDS Loss
Destruction Of the High School
q Serious Loss to That
City.
The DAMAGE Estimated at $780,
600 and the Building Partly
Insured.
Library. Laboratory. Apparatus
and Books Of the Students
Destroyed.
rimes-R Republican.

Special to Tines Republican.
Davenport, Feb. 16-Rock Island is
without high school as result of a
destructive fire that broke out there at
an early hour Friday MORNING. The
cause of the blaze has not been deter
mined and will probably never be
known, and the laboratory, furnace
tramps, spontaneous combustion and
other possible causes are dividing the
1olame for it. At any rate it had spread
and was beyond control of the FIRE de-
partment when the latter responded to-
an alarm shortly after o'clock in the
morning and the flames ragged for a.
couple of hours and completely ruined
the building. The loss is placed a. $780,
600 and the building was partly I'M
sured.
Rock Island was fortunate in having
the most modern high school building
in the three cities, and therefore espe-
cially unfortunate in her present ex-
perience. The original building was
built in 1856 and the large and modern
addition was added in 1885, They
formed practically one building ard are
involved in the common catastrophe
Temporary arrangements will have to;
be made for quarteriilg the 31S students
and the continuation of their work until.
new building can be erected. 1t will.
take two days to perfect these arrange
ments, but next week will probably see
the school work resumed. The students
lost all their books and other effects
that were in the building at the time of
the fire.
The high school originally was built
in 1854 and the cost was approximately
$4,000. w. H. Hatch was then the prin-
cipal of the school 1t was not many
years before the facilities offered by the
new building became totally inadequate
and an addition was planned and built
Drack & Kerns were the architects. The
addition was madcsto correspond exact
w with the old building and the cost of
cons truction was about $4,000 The
building as it stood yesterday was a
tWo-story brick. located at the corner
of Twenty first street and Sixth avenue.
In the building were no less than six
teen large commodious rooms. all Of
which We're used and had already
showed signs of further nadequaey for
the demands.
The new part of the building was 9Sx
rs feet, while the old was s0x7S feet,
making a building 17s feet long, with a
width8of Is feet. There was basement
covering this entire length. in which
i We're located the toilets, and an inn
| msnse manual training room, which
had, however, not been put INTO use. On
| the first floor were the study rooms. on
| the second floor there was an immense
assembly room 66x42 feet. In the new
portion of the building on the second
/ floor We're located the physical. biologi-
cal, science and chemical rooms. The
library was also ON this floor In the
obstruction of the library the high
school has sustained severe loss.
There We're in this library 1000 volumes
of which 524 were on English literature,
200 on science 4O5 in history. the ball
ance being encyclopedias and mscel-
| laneous books of reference. The vari-
| Gus science rooms were equipped with
the best of apparatus for the proper
prosecution of the work in these de-
partments.
Principal j. F. Darby stated that the
lorigin of the fire can not possibly be at
4 tributed to the chemical labratory
(which was situated in the center of the
building on the second floor, as TO ex-
plosive chemicals at all We're kept
There. and fluids that might possibly
have caused the destruction had not
been used during the week by the
classes. Heis utterly at loss to account
for the fire and had no suggestion u
offer as to the origin. maintaining alst
that it did not start in the boiler room
4 in the basement.
City Superintendent OF Schools Hay.
4 den did not hear of the fire until
O'Clock when a message was sent TO his
home. He could give no reason what
ever for the fire.