Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-03-06
AFFAIRS At SOUTH OMAHA
Old Stack at Hammond Plant Blown Down
by Dynamite Blast
BRICKS FALL CLEAR or MORTAR IN Pill

Great crowd Assemblies 10 witness
Unique Experiment in way of
Destroyipg chimney that Has
Outlived UsefuIhe,s
A iargs crowd gathered on the - street
viaduct at 10 clock yesterday morning
10 witness the lowering Of the old square
stack of the Hammond plant Originally
this stack was one Of the highest in South
Omaha and it was the first, but since the
building came into disuse 1t has been sur
passed by the active companies. II had
gotten out Of repair so as 70 be Of no
further service, 50 when II was desired
TO clear the space for the introduction Of
the new boilers and the more commodious
new stack the National company began
to look out for the best means TO lower the
brick work AT first several feet were
taken of by hand, but the process was
slow. II was given out g few days ago
| that the company would dynamite the
stack and bring II all down al once.
[ About lce feet OF the stack wss left in
/ position. This accounted for the large
/ crowd that assembled TO see the bricks
4 come down Parks johnson * Parks had
/ charge Of the work, and they had the as
| sistsnce Of Mr.. Christisnson, chief OF con-
/ struction Of the National company, and
/ Messrs. Anderson and Gardener Of the
local force.
The first step was the undermining OF
/ one side Of the stack as far as safety
/ would allow Then q few sticks Of dyna-
mite were placed on the other side. II. c.
! Murphy was given the honor Of firing the
fuses which lowered one Of the old land
/ marks and marked new era In the activ-
| tiles OF the Hammond plant and the in
! dustries Of South Omaha. On the moment
Of the explosion the firm looking structure
simply dissolved and dropped in a shape
less mass Of rubbish. The blast was a
! perfect success in every way. Not only
/ did the brick separate from the mortar,
but most Of them fen uninjured ana can
be used again.
In the place Of the old stack the Ma
tional company will build a new 2Oo-foot
! stack of large capacity. With the removal
! Of this stack the most Of the ground has
/ been cleared for the erection Of the new
power building and some Of the new con-
struction is already under way. Quite a
force Of men is busy clearing and exca-
waiting on the ground. besides a very large
/ force occupied in the main building. The
construction Of the new reinforcing wall
on the west side of the largest building is
! almost completed.
Two Firemen Hurt.
One or two narrow escapes on the part
I of the fremen were recorded at the
/ Koutsky FIRE Saturday night ana two were
slightly injured. Assistant Chief Fred Linn
was one who fell one story and received
several scratches and minor bruises. but
nothing of a serious nature. Jack McKeal.
one Of the firemen, was also similarly in
jured. Lou Vsnscoy fell into the IRE and
managed to come out without a scratch.
With two other companions he volunteered
70 assist the department The chief sent
them UP the stairs at the front of the
building which had burned through near
the ceiling of the paint store, but could
| be mounted from the bottom for about
| half the distance. He gave them a hose
! TO handle while he went about other duties
| When he returned he heard the men shout
| ing from the stairs. He rushed TO the
\ spot and was informed by the two men
| who were left that Vanscoy had just fallen
| over the top step Of the partially burned
1 stairs into the FIRE. he ordered the men
| 10 throw the hose down al about the place
| where the man disappeared and ran down
! the steps to the first floor Of the paint
! shop. where the fire was rapidly working
its way TO the front. Here he met Nanscoy
walking out of the flames with the remark
They never touched me-" So far as could
be seen the man did not have a hair
singed
The fremen kept a line OF hose on the
fire all day anc the ruin has ceased 10
smoke. The Koutsky brothers, who own
the paint store. are both out Of the city,
SO it cannot be lesrned what the precise
damage to their stock will be. 1t was
stated that there was an insurance Of s6,5Ot
( on the building and that Koutsky Bros
were insured adequately to cover most OF
I their loss r. z Anderson. on the third
floor manager for Schneider & Mueller
| had considerable household goods which
| were destroyed. but these were also pro-
tected by insurance. The estimated loss
bv fire was about $4,000 II is likely that
az least $50 900 is covered by the insurance
The stott Stationery company suffered a
loss Of about 500 from water in the base
ment and the Young Mems Christian asso-
citation estimates its loss at about $50
which was insured
Anonymous Circular.
The time Of the political stampeders has
arrived and with II appears an anonymous
circular, charging almost every oficer who
has become a candidate for reelection with
al degrees Of shameless graft. There i.
no distinction as TO party, although it is
said that the distribution among the ranks
of the democrats is more general thar
among the republicans The following is a
part Of the circular, insofar as il ap, liss C
local affairs:
The prospects for our city this year i.
good ii We Keep out Of office grafters anc
corrupt officials. Remember the 500, 90 stea
to corporations without one cent OF return
70 the city. Remember the FIRE hall site
for s. 500 when the adjoining lot could b.
bought for s. 400, OF a corner lot one bloch
north Oh Twenty-hfth street for $500 Dom
forget the attempted city hall site graft
Don't forget the corporation steals Rnt
graft OF individual manipulators while IN,
necessary taxes are increasing and small
homes are sacrificed. Don't forget that ths