The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1902-05-22
LARD TANKS GO UP
EXPLOSION CAUSES A DISASTROUS
FIRE IN ARMOUR's LARD
REFINERY.
TWfNTy-NINf PEOPLE ARE INJURED
Loss TO THE COMPANY WILL
REACH BETWEEN s75O,OOO
AND 100000.
IWtNTY-NINt PEOPLE ARE INJURED
THOUSAND PtOPlt TAKE A FALL
HOG RUNWAY COLLAPsEs, THROW
ING SPECTATORS TO THE
GROUND.

Chicago, May IS. During the pro-
gress of fire which last night de-
stroyed the lard refinery of Armour &
Co. in the Union stock yards, twenty
zine people were injured, five of them
In a manner which probably will cause
death in a short time. The loss to the
company is estimated by its officers at
between S750,OO0 and 100000, with all
the chances In favor Of the latter figure.
There was a number of accidents, but
by far the largest number of those
who were hurt net their injuries by the
falling of the hog runway upon which
they were stan ling to obtain a better
view of the fire.
The lard refinery had just been COM
| pieted and was considered by its own
ers the most complete establishment or
its kind in the United States. 1t was
filled with new and costly machinery,
and during the day 1000 people worked
within it's walls, The night sniff num-
| bered 100 and all of them were in the
| building when the fire broke out. 1t Is
! thought all escaped in safety, although
! the time allowed some of them was eX-
| ceedinFly brief.
Caused by an explosion
The fire originated with an explosion
of three lard tanks on the fifth floor or
the building. The cause of the eX-
! plosion is unknown, but the three tanks
which were filed with boiling lard.
| went up with a roar almost In the same
second. There was score or work
men in the immediate vicinity OF the
! tanks and a number of them were
burned by the scalding lard, but none
was seriously burned. 1t was not
minute after the explosion before the
entire fifth floOr was mass OF names.
! All the workmen i'm the building made
a frantic rush for safety, and while all
reached the open air without trouble,
some OF those on the fifth floor lost
! their hats and coats, there not being an
instant of time allowed in which 10
pick them up. Despite the utmost Ell
forts of the fire department the names
spread through the entire building, ana
( within an hour after the commence
ment of the fire, all the walls, with the
exception of that on the south side
were lying on The ground. The FIRE was
one of the most spectacular that has
been seen I'm Chicago in recent years
and the display attracted an
Enormous Crowd of People
who crowded all the arrow streets IN
the stock yards and swarmed by thou
sands upon the viaducts which pass
through the yards at a height on
twenty feet from he ground. That por-
ton of the Forty-fourth street viaduct
close to the burning building was
densely racked, and suddenly about 200
feet of hog runway extending from
the viaduct north to tie plant or Ar
mour & Co, gave way, precipitaunS
fully one thousand persons to the
ground. The firemen insanity aban-
doned their work on the building ana
I devoted their energies to saving inc
people. All were taken from the
wheckage within a few minutes ana
paced in an improvised hospital in the
plant Of the German American ProVls-
ion company, which was itself BABY
damaged by fire during the early part
Of the week. 1t is said by the police
/ that the number Of those injured by the
fall of the yiaduct IS greatly in excess
Of the number reported, as there were
many who were but slightly hurt, and
being able to go TO their homes without
/ assistance. no knowledge Of them was
obtained by the authorities.