The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1904-01-30
DIAMOND DRILL SUFFERS FROM A
VISIT or THE FIRE FIEND.
ENTIRE PLANT IS SAVED
Upper Section Of Building Completely
Burned Lodges Lost All
Partially Insured.

OF the SECOND llIDe In the seven
teen years OF It's existence, The Dia-
mond Drill is a victim Of the fire fiend.
Sunday afternoon fire originated in
the upper story Of the building in
which this printing plant has been
located for the past five years aud be-
fore the fire could be extingnished the
whole upper portion OF the building
was destroyed.
The origin of the fire is Shr0uded
somewhat In mystery but seems to be
the result Of an explosion Of either
kerosene or gasoline which John Skurr
had put into the stove. The upper
floor Of the building was used as a
lodge room and it seems that one of
the lodges intended 20 have a social
that evening. Three OF the lodge
members went down In the afternoon
TO prepare the room. One OF them
was attending to the lire while the
other two were employed in the front
part Of the building The one at
work about the fire went ont some
where and came back with can or
what he supposed was kerosene. He
threw portion Of it into the stove
when an explosion occurred that
scattered the fire all over the room
and was SO violent as TO raise the roof
OF the building. Flames Immediately
shot out and the fellows in the front
| part OF the room ran for their lives.
One jumped through the window
while another kicked the door down
and, grabbing the man who had been.
stunned by the explosion, dragged him
out and rolled him in the snow His
clothing was burned from his body
andhe sustained severe burns about
the face. His companions took him
to the hospital where his wounds we're
dressed and he is now improving
rapidly
The explosion was heard by several
parties, among them A. Justified and
JAS. McCourt. Mr.. McCourt yelled to
a man at the fire hall to ring The bell
while MrLustfleld telephoned to the
power house for pressure. In a very
short time the firemen were on the
ground and water was turned onto the
building The flames were all in the |
rear end of the lodge room and were
shooting olt OF the windows, the glass
OF which had been shattered by the
explosion, and IL was difficult 60 get at |
them at first. -Four streams were
finally played onto the flames and the
fire was checked after consuming the
upper floor
lt was an intensely cold day and the
hremen suffered terribly from the cold
many Of them having frozen ears as a
OF the occasion.
There was no damage from fire to
the lower part OF the building or tol
the material therein contained. The
immense volume Of water poured on
10 the building flooded everything be-
low and the damage from water is
quite severe for that reason.
Henderson Bros. occupied the front
portion of the building with their
iewelry store. They took everything
)ut before any water came through SO
hat their loss Is represented only by
he interruption to their business
The rear portion of the building was
by the printing plant OF
Moriarty q Conlin, who were also,
With Dr. A. M. Darling, owners Of the =
The plant Is very expen- 8
i've one including a simplex type set
ing machine and new Cranston press
md for q time IL looked as II the 9
Whole was doomed But the only Y
amage 90 the plant is that resulting
rom the water, as before mentioned. =
70 heat got below the floor sd that y
one Of the machinery Is hurt from :
hat atsourcc ~
The lodges which met upstairs were y
he /. o. O. H., the Maccabecs, the
Iodern Woodmen, Odd Fellows Camp y
nd the Rcbekahs. The Odd Fellows u'
'st their paraphernalia, rituals ETC.. ~
mt their records, which were I'm the
esk In the front part of the building,
ere saved. They had insurance e. IN
be amount Of 800 on their paraphcr- W
ALA and will come out pretty ncr 81
ven, The Maccabees had no insur- al
nee. They lost their paraphcrnalia re
ut their records which were IN the 81
ont part Of the building, were saved. "a
he Maccabecs had an expensive out III
and are quite severe losers. The cs
[oOdmcn lost everything excentlnp NJ