Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-11-17
The Packing Plant of Armour
& Co. Destroyed by Fire
Sunday Morning.
LOSS NEARLY MILLION DOLLARS
Entire Plant, Covering Three and One
half Acres of Ground, Goes Up in
Flames Six Hundred Men Thrown
Out of Employment - Will be Re-
built.

Sioux City Nov. 1.-THE packing
plant of Armour g. Co., which occupies
three and one-half acres of ground at
the extreme south end of the stock
yards district, was totally destroyed by
a fire which started at 1850 o'clock
Sunday morning on the second floor OF
the fertilizer building. The loss, esti-
mated at 2:4O o'clock by Charles W..
Lennon manager of the company, was
total, or 100000.
The cause of the fire was said by Mr..
Lennon to have been either spontane-
Gus combustion or an imperfect dryer.
There is $721, 500 insurance on the Ar
mour property. Six hundred men Will
be thrown out of employment all win
ter by the fire.
The fire was discovered by watch
man of the building, who only few
minutes before had pulled messenger
box on the floor where the flames
started.
Quickly the plants private fire de-
the city department was notified Every
fireman in the city was called out
BY 1920 o'clock six streams of water
were being thrown upon the. fire, which
was cutting the fertilizer building, but
the pressure was inadequate. The fer
tilizer building, which was of brick, 20
by sixty feet, four stories high. was 10
Gated between the beef killing house
and the Chicago. st, Paul, Minneapolis
& Omaha railroad on the east.
The floors and contents of the build
ing went like chaff. At LIS O'Clock
the roof fell in and a second later the
fire burst thru into the beef killing
house. Instantaneously with the catch
ing of the fire in the beef killing, house
the cattle chute ignited and lasted
about seven minutes, when 1t fell with
& great crash.
Once in the beef killing house the
flames began to dance madly. From this
house to the oleo building was only
step, and when the lard started 10 burn
the fire presented a most spectacular
appearance. The big beef house, where
500 carcasses nicely dressed, We're
hanging, caught at 2 O'clock. by this
time the whole plant, except the hog
house, was lake OF fire. The roar was
terrible The country for miles around
was lighted up. Sunddenly there was
terrific explosion, followed quiz ky by
another and then another.
Those are the ammonia drums"
shouted Mr.. Lennon to Fire Chief Kel-
There is danger OF suffooation." Tween
-. a. ,,r .,,,,t,
MIA each exploded before the reserve
supply in the ammonia cistern was
reached. That ignition almost raised
the entire plant of. its foundation.
At $50 o'clock the flames burst thru
the heavy fire wall which separated the
big hog house from the other buildings.
The hog house was the last building to
the north and the largest of all.
Steadily the fire crept against the
wind and thru the office building, which
from the first had been enveloped in
flames. Not a scrap of paper of any
kind was saved from the office.
About this time, when the last of am
monia drums was going off and the en-
glnes were blowing their whistles the
hardest. burning roof of chute fell
upon bunch of live hogs and their
squeals were added to the appalling
chorus.
When the hog house caught all
streams were turned in that direction,
but the water seemed like OIL In the
building were $500 dressed hogs and
100000 pounds of pork product.
After the fire got a good Roadway in
the hog house all hope of saving any
part of the plant was abandoned. The
shops, chicken packing plant. ice houses
and Ice runways and smaller depart
ment houses were consumed in quick
succession.
At o'clock the fire continued with
unchecked fury. The efforts of the fire.
men were as feeble in effect as drops of
rain in an ocean. Their puny streams
of water sizzled up in steam the mo-
ment they struck the seething crater of
flame. The terrible roaring continued
una bated, the high brick walls crum-
bled and crashed one by one and the
conflagration gradually ate its way thru
building after building. Brick walls
were as paper before 1t. Fire walls
were absolutely useless From a spec
tacular point of view this fire was one
of the most splendid sights ever seen in
the city.
At 3:45 o'clock the fire department
had given up the fight. 1t was apparent
that all efforts were useless and that
the whole plant would burn down
eventually On the other hand, the
feeble streams that came from the
lines of hose were ridiculously inef-
fective. The pressure was hardly
strong enough to reach the roof of the
pork packing department.
When the walls of this department
burst the firemen were called down
from the roof and they played their
streams in a desultory manner on the
few remaining outbuildings.
The fire continued to burn all day
Sunday and in the afternoon there was
another terrific explosion which threw
bricks and pieces of iron for hundreds
of yards, endangering thousands of
spectators, but no one was seriously
hurt.
Will Rebuild Plant.
Kansas City. Mo-, Nov. 17.-C. w.
A -. Ait,