The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-02-13

1OE
ness here are entitled to consider what
| sort of fire protection the city has in
placing their insurance. If the water
company fails to give decent pressure.
it looks to me as though somebody
could be held responsible. Our attor-
neys will certainly look this matter up
I'VE will be doing business within a
few days. We can not afford to allow
our trade to get away. We are now
renting buildings on Kansas avenue as
fast as We can, and will fill our orders
as rapidly as possible, when we get
things Strengthened around a little"
OTHERS WANT DAMAGES.
If there is any chance of holding the
water company liable, the fire insur-
ance men and the heavy losers will
take the chance.
William Schick says: eff any of
these people are able to recover from
the water company, / ought to be one.
My stock would not have been injured
If we had had good water pressure, be-
cause the firemen say that they could
have stopped the fire in the ParkhurSt-
| Davis building.
! V. Kaczynski says: 1.-The water pres
sure was miserable, and somebody is to
| blame. We have no loss, however; it
| all falls on the insurance companies
represented by w. ". Webb. They are
the ones who will be interested in the
| water company business.
| w. w. Webb says: 1.-The trouble was
all with the water pressure. I don t
| believe that Wilmarth or the fire de-
partment was to blame. They did all
/ they could"
MCCORMICK HEAVY LOSS.
B. L. Rees. local manager of the Me-
| Cormick Harvester company. said to-
day:
iAll the insurance on our stock here
is managed from Chicago, and do not
| know how much was carried. But feel
confident that we were well protected
We will have man here from Chicago
| Sunday to look after the resumption
of business.
Our business here in Topeka has
been very satisfactory, and I do not
think the agency will be moved away.
| The only trouble will be to get another
building which is suitable. Buildings
are hard to get.
"On our first floor we had III. 900
pounds of binding twine, and in the
| basement we had 300 moving machines.
176 wheat binders, 15 headers, 8 shred
ders and huskers, and header binders.
| On the second floor we had machinery
repairs, to the value of about $2S,000.
estimate that our total loss Will be
| about $4,000.
Our books and supplies are in the
vault. and will probably be safe. All
our correspondence files, copy books,
| etc., were destroyed. We are now con-
/ QuCIlIS our UQSl1ISSS Jul LC1A1pOh-
ary Office in the Central National bank
building
The fire department began about $3.50
! this morning to tear down the topllng
walls which were left standing on the
east side of the ParkhurSt-DaviS build
| ing and the Sells building. A portion of
the fifth story wall of the former was
hanging by a few bricks and it was
extremely unsafe for the firemen to go
near the base. The aerial truck Was
/ Iaf in of the wall and
the ladder raised. It took the entire 10
feet of the main ladder to reach the
dangerous portion of the wall.
Fireman George Goodrich, driver Of
the aerial truck mounted the ladder
with a. long rope and after considera-
Bile trouble, threw 1t over the connect
ing arch between the windows OF the
fourth and fifth floors. After the truck
had been pulled out of the way a dozen
men seized the rope, and few hard
pulls brought down portion of the
wall including the pinacle of brick
which had threatened to fall without
assistance. The next attempt was on a
portion of the wall of the Sells building,
| near the dividing wall. This wall, al
| though it looked weak, proved to be
more substantial. The squad OF men
who pulled on the rope got hard fall
! by the breaking of the rope, but the
wall remained intact A second at
! ten1pt was more successful. A larger
| rope was used, and twenty men tore
/ down a large section of the brick shell.
The northeast corner of the Parkhurst-
/ Davis building stands alone, so feet
! high. like a chimney. being supported
/ by the east-and-west wall Which dl-
vided the buildings. Several other por--
tions of the walls were torn down until
the safety was insu@ad. At the fall OF
the first section of brick and plaster
string of wires were broken. and they
fell across the trolley wires in the mid
die of the street. 1t looked for an in
slant as though some of the spectators,
who were being kept back by rope,
would be electrocuted. Fire flashed in
several places until the wires burned
in two and fell into the street. Line
men were busy taking down all wires
along the west side of the avenue at
FIRES STARTED IN NORTH
TOPEKA.
| Were it not for the fact that the
slight breeze which was blowing at the
time of the fire was from the south in
| tead of north the Baltimore disaster
might have been duplicated in Topeka
/ last night While the fire was raging
/ houses in North Topeka were set or
fire by flying blazes which scared across
the Kaw river. L. Newman, who lives
| in Shorey, three miles from the hre, was
awakened by the intense light, He got
up. and while standing in front of his
house watching the great blaze, which
he thought was much nearer, piece
of burning paper came sailing slowly
through the air and aiighted in his
ward. less than ten feet from the house
(Continued on Page Six.)