The daily Republican., 1902-11-17
PACKING PLANT =,
! ISDESTROYED
Fire Licks up Big Buildings Of
Armour and Company at
Sioux City.
ESTIMATED LOSS 100000
Burning Lard and Provisions
With Exploding Tanks Of :.
Ammonia Cause Spec
tacular Blaze.

SlOUX CITY, Ia. Nov. 1.-THE biz
plant of Armour Il Co., which occupied
three and half acres Of ground at thu
extreme south end of the stockyards
district, has been totally destroyed by
fire which started at an early hour
Sunday morning on the second floor OF
the fertilizer building.
| The loss estimated by Charles w.
Lennon. manager of the company, Is
total, or 100000. The insurance is
1921 800
The cause Of the fire was said by
Mr.. Lennon to have been either spOn.
taneous combustion or an imperfect
drcr
Six hundred men will be thrown out
Of employment all winter by the fire
The fire was discovered by a watch.
man of the building who only a few
minutes before had pulled a messenger
box on the floor where the flames
started
Quickly the Armour private fire de.
partmcnt of six men was called out,
and the entire city department fol.
lowed.
In short time six streams OF water
were being thrown upon the fire which
was destroying the fertilizer building,
but the pressure WIS inadequate. Tho
fertilizer building, which was of brick,
12O by 60 feet four stories high was
located between the beef killing house
and the Chicago, st. Paul Minneapolis
and Omaha railroad tracks on the east.
Th" floors and contents Of the building
burned like chafr. In less than an hour
the roof fell in, and moment later the
fire burst through into the beef killing
house. Simultaneously the cattle chute
ignitcd and lasted five minutes, when
ii fell with a great crash.
From the beef killing house to the
olco building was only step, and
when the lard was ignited the fire pre-
sented a most spectacular appearance.
The big DecfhOuse, where 500 car
casscs were hanging, soon caught. BY
this time the entire plant, except the
hOghouse, was lake of fire The roar
was terrible. The country for miles
around was lighted up. Suddenly came
terrific explosion. followed quickly
by another and then another. Twenty
four drums of hundred pounds of
ammonia each exploded before the re-
serve supply in the ammonia cistern
was reached That ignition almost
RACED the entire plant from its founda.
ton.
At 2:3O o'clock the flames burst
through the heavy fire wall that scpa-
rated the big hOghouSe from the Othes
The hOghOuse was the last
building to the north and the largest Of
all.
Steadily the fire crept against the
wind and through the office building,
which from the first had been cnvel-
opcd in flames. Not q scrap Of paper
was saved from the office T.
About this time burning roof OF a
chute fell upon a bunch Of live hogs,
and their squcals were added to the ap-
lalling chorus.
When the hoghousc caught fire, all
streams were turned in that direction,
but the water seemed like oil In the
building were $500 dressed hogs and
!, 900, 600 pounds of pork product. 2
After the-ire got Il good hcadway in
he hoghOuse all hope of saving any
,art of the plant was abandoned. The
shops, chicken packing plant, icehouse
md ice runways and smaller depart
ncnt houses We're consumed in quick
The efforts Of the iiremen
seemed without result The terrible
caring continued ,Inabatcd. high brick
wallis crumbled aud fire walls were abb
olutcly valueless.
The fire continued to burn all day,
md IN the afternoon there was another
errlhc explosion which threw bricks
nd pieces of hot iron for hundreds OF
ards, cndangering thousands of spec
ators, but no one was seriously hurt.