New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1905-02-08
FIRE DAMAGES COURTHOUSE
Ruin Amounts TO 81 900 in Chin
ney and Courtroom.
Chimney Will Have to Be Rebuilt
From Basement Up.
Burning SCOT the Cause County
Officers Garry Water.

Officers Garry Water.
Fire damaged the Brown county
courthouse to the extent of 81, 000I
Monday forenoon, running the main
chimney and burning away a portion
of the floor in the courtroom, and had
it not been at time OF day when all
the officers were in the building, the
imposing structure would doubtless be
a smoking ruin today. AS it was a
bucket brigade formed by the officers
and assistants and the quick work of
the fire department prevented the
spread of the flames. The loss is fully
covered by insurance.
The fire originated from burning
chimney, and it is supposed that the
partition which separates the smoke.
shaft from the ventilating shaft was
burned away and red-hot Jumps of
SCOT allowed to fall into the latter
shaft and so drop through the venti-
lating register onto the floor. The
damage was confined to that portion
of the courtroom on the west side near
the chimney.
HOLE BURNED IN FLOOR.
a great hole was burned through
the floor, the walls around the chimney
were burned or torn away by the fire.
mems axes, and the jury box in which
the twelve men who tried DR.. Koch
sat, was partially burned, two. of the
chairs nearest the chimney being
tossed out the window all ablaze.
By far the greatest damage, how
ever, is to the chimney itself and it
will have to be rebuilt from the ground
up, in the Judgment of experts who
examined it.
The chimney burned out at o'clock
Monday morning, says Henry Rowles,
the courthouse janitor. It had not been
cleaned for several years and he was
not surprised when he discovered that
the SCOT has caught fire.
/ About 10 O'Clock Miss Rose Schneid.
/ err, who works in the Office of hel
father, County Treasurer j ohm Schneid.
er, heard a cracking sound above hel
head and thought at first it was mice,
but she soon suspected fire and gave
the alarm.
BUCKET BRIGADE FORMED.
Ernst Wicherski then telephoned te
the waterworks station and the officers
in the courthouse and jail and all thu
assistants formed themselves into !;
brigade to carry water.
From the basement to the secont
floor a stream of putting fre-fghter
struggled back and forth and when thu
department arrived the spread of th'
blaze was checked Andrew j. Eek
stein. chairman of the board of count,
commissioners was now on the seen
and asked to frmen to use as littl
water as possible, as a great deal Q
damage could be saved if the waite
we're not needed.
Chief John Herzog decided that thu
fire could be handled with chemical
: and these alone were used. Be
! fore noon the last fireman, with tn,
) exception of the man left to watch, b IA
gone.
EXCITEMENT RAN HIGH.
i There was wild excitement for
short Time. Everyone thought that til
building was doomed and all the book
I'll were put into the vaults, and judy
a WeIber carried many volumes fro1
: his valuable library downstairs to
place OF safety
The chimney burned is..the main on
e in the courthouse and the only on
j which carries off smoke from th
: furnace. It is divided by a partitio
into two compartments, one of whic
;. is used to carry off the smoke and th
a other to ventilate a portion of th
: building.
: This partition has been burned ava
) in places, it is thought, and the SOC
S has clogged up the ventilating shat
o creating damage which cannon /
! mended without tearing down tn
: whole brickwork.
I. Contractor August Pullman We've
the ruin and estimated the probab
j cost of repair at fully $1,000. It is NJ
probable that the work will be dor
before next May
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