Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-01-05
lowA's ss,ooo,o 900 STATE HOUSE
At DEs MONIES IN
n'an.ss A--4., FLAMES.
ASSEMBLY is POSTPONED
trwenty-Ninth State Legislature Will
Not Meet Next Monday - Big Loss
i to State as Building is Not Insured
s Fire Began At II O'Clock.

Fk
~ Des Moines, Jan. 4.-(speciaI,
$3.50 o. m.)-The announcement
is officially made that the meeting
Of the twenty-ninth general assem-.
bly,, set for next Monday, is indefi-
& riteIy postponed. The loss is now
s5ooooo. The fire was brought
under contsoI at 8 o'clock this aft
!, ernoon. FIRST floor will be saved.
The capitol building, in common
/ with all stateS buildings, is unin.
sured. 1T was one of the finest
state buildings in the country.
Des Moines, ,Ian Especial. y
Iowas So 100000 capitol building. the
pride of the entire state, is practically
doomed to complete destruction by. fire
and the session of til 9 state legislature,
which was to have convened in the
state house. next Monday has been
postponed indefinitely. Up to 8
o'clock this afternoon the flames were
still defying the efforts of eleven com
Ipanies of firemen and indications are
that the building will b.f totally ruin
ed. ...3.e.....
The Pressure Insufficient.
The water pressure is insufficient to
orce water; to the oi the fire,
which is in the atticNof the capitol
building, 200 feet above the. ground. A
stream from the hose will go to q
height of only about It's feet and can.
not reach the flames.
Caught From Electric wire.
The fire is said to have caught from
an electric light wire in the attic be-
tween the ceiling of the. house chamber
and the roof of the. capitol at the
northwest corner of the buildingl An
alarm was at once turned in as soon
as the blaze was discovered and the
fremen have been working valiantly
ever since their arrival on the grou nds
but thus far their efforts have been
unavailing.
Ceilings Fall. 4 r.
The ceilings in both the house and
senate chambers fell at about noon
and the increased draft gave the
flames in the attic a new impetus.
Soon flames and smoke began to pour
out from under the beautiful gold dome
of the capitol building There is great
excitement all over Des Moines. The
capitol is visible from almost every
point in Des Moines and even for sew
eral miles around and the news of the
fire spread rapidly today. Soon after
the arrival of the firemen hundreds of
people were standing around the state
house and the crowd soon increased to
thousands. Telephone calls from all
over the state are coming into the
newspaper Offices, asking for niforma-
ton, and the scene is one of wild ex-
citement.
Library in Danger.
The splendid library is in great dan.
ger from the fire. This afternoon
scores of willing workers. are removing
the books from the library rooms
which are high UP in the corner
where the fire originated. The loss OF
furniture and books in the house and
senate chambers is already large. as
the fire ruined these two large rooms
almost before anything could be saved
Says Origin is Mystery.
Des Moines, Jan. 4.-(Special y
The, roof of the north wing of the cap
itol building fell at 2:30 o'clock. The
origin is mystery. Leon Brown.
STRICKEN MOTHER MAY DIE.