The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-12-03
THE DUMP ON FIRE.
Old City Eyesore Is Causing Trouble
on East Side.

The old city dump is burning up,
and that would be a very good thing
if it did not make such a tremendous
smoke that the people down in the
east part of town, and especially in the
immediate vicinity of the conf1agratlon,
are getting sick
For two weeks the fire has "raged."
This is a longer time than the Balti-
more fire, the Chicago fire, or any
other great fire in history. So long as
blew the smoke off down the river,
and outside the city limits, there was
not much kicking. But the high north
wind of the past few days has famed
the conf1agration, and has sent the i'll
smelling smoke sitting down through
town, and this started the municipal
machinery to moving.
The old city dump is a sand fiat,
ravine, or dry slough, along the east
bank of the river just where the river
makes its big bend to the north after
passing under the Santa Fe railway
bridge The principal highway be-
side the city dump.
| Every city administration for the
past ten years has been trying to make
people stop dumping manure and
other unsaVory refuse into this hole.
But it seems that it is an impossible
task. The dumping IS done mainly at
night, and the only way it could be
prevented would be to station guard
there night and day. In hot weather
the dump begins to stew and ferment
and hand out large slices OF free per
fumery for the entire neighborhood,
and then is when the city officials be-
gin to get complaints.
So on the whole it would be very
nice thing if the old dump would burn
up, if it would only do it in more
decent and orderly manner.
1t is supposed that some youthful
resident of the east part of town
thought that he would be doing SER
4 1@rrf fvoCr a
match to an infiammable portion of the
dump. AT any rate, the dump COM
menced to burn slowly down in one cor
ner about two weeks ago. People
| thought it would soon go out, and any
way, they didn't much care if it con-
tinued to burn, so long as the smoke
was blowing the right way. But the
fire didn't go out. 1t kept right down
to business; not doing much advertis-
| ing, but simply saving wood and TAX
ing everything that came its way.
| Wednesday the smoke commenced to
get pretty thick, and people were grum-
bling about their eyes hurting. Some
of them went down and tried to put
out the fire. but by that time, the fire
was absolute master of the situation.
1t had eaten its way into the Y1tais OF
on a large scale with good prospects
for expansion.
Thursday. things were really getting
serious Half a dozen families closest
to the fire were laid up for repairs. The
rich fragrance of the burning dump
was too much for the stability of their
! interior anatomy, and there was an cpl
| dennic in which most of the victims
showed symptoms of being seasick- DR..
! Menninger, chairman of the board of
health was called, and said there must
have been some mistake; that it was
the fire department those people need
ed and not a doctor. So Councilman
Joseph Griley was appealed to. He call
ed on Chief Wilmarth, explained the
situation. and he and the chief made an
excursion down there this morning. 1t
is said they almost lost their way in
the dense smoke, to say nothing of the
food which they had eaten earlier in
the rnornig They agreed that some
| thing would have to be done.
| Mayor Bergundthal was called on for
help. He authorized Street Commits
sioner Snyder to lend the fire depart
| ment some men and team. This after
noon Chief Wilmarth went down with
the men and team, and cleared a place
| on the edge of the river where he could
stand one of the steam fire engines. He
then took one of the steamers down
there, and set to work pumping water
out of the river and shooting it into the
burning dump. 1t will probably take
some time to extinguish the fire, as
! large part of the refuse on the dump
will have to be moved with pitchforks
| to enable the firemen to get in their
| streams where they will do the most
good.
1t did not take long, however, to get
the fire under control. That part of the
dump which was burned was total
| loss There was no insurance.
| ---