Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1906-1908, 1906-09-21
FIRE IN CUDAHY PLANT.
IEo-.cTER PACKING HOUSE BURNS
AND LOSS OF 100000 IS
SUSTAINED.
CATTLE AND HOGS PERISH.
Millions Of Pounds Of Lard, Hides and
Dressed Meat Is Consumed
by Flames.

Thursday night in the tankrOOm OF the
packing plant of the Cudahy Bros. com
pany at Cudahy, destroyed more thar
one-third Of the plant and caused a loss
estimated BY Patrick Cudahy at $500,
900,
The killing and tankhouscs were
burned. a large part Of the machinery
Of the concern was destroyed. which
viii nccessitate the laying off Of 1000
men until the damage can be replaced.
ID addition, 5.OOO,OOO pounds Of lard
were made unfit for marketing. 5000
hides and 1000 sheep pcItS burned. and
100 head Of cattle were lost. The loss
IS fully covered by insurance.
One Man Injured.
Only one man was injured during the
IRE. William RciIIke, a butcher. had his
left wrist broken and sustained scalp
wounds in a fall from a platform. He
was attended by DR.. X. {. IcScllan.
who announced that the injuries were
not serious. The plant was shut down
Thursday because IF the state far. and
to this is ascrbed the fact that no other
accidents occurred.
it vas J:.JJ O'Clock Thursday after
noon when the fire was discovered 1t
started III the darkroom at the middle
Of the building, after an explosion. The
cOmbustble nature Of the contents OF
tile room made the conflagratit easy,
and in Il short fine. the entire building
was in flames. The lardroom was fired.
then the beef house, which was Of wood
en- construction, and the piles OF hides
in the cellar ignitcd. The lard was
stored q t the south end Of the cellar be
meath the hog house. The progress Of
the flames was stayed there only after
the building had been Quilted.
The alarm Of fire came when the
flames ate their way through the roof
and shot into the air. The 6hrill call of
the plant whistle aroused the Cudahy
volunteer fire department. The plant is
protected also by its own department.
Employees gathered quickly from the vii
lagc and manned two large pumps sta
toned at the lake for the purpose. The
fire department of the Power 81 Mining
Machinery company and the Milwaukee
Rubber company also answered the call,
while the South Milwaukee department
sent aid
The flames could not be checked. The
storage house was fired, and two large
ammonia tanks, situated at the top of it,
were drained off to avoid an explosion.
Animals in the buildings became panic
stricken, and added their frightened
cries to the uproar Benjamin Boden
md John Milo entered the hog house on
ne third and fourth floors and drove
100 head of swine down the open tram
ny. Although the building crumbled
bout them rs they worked, they re
manned on the scene until the place had
been cleared. The steers were saved in
n similar manner from a building near
the north end of the structure.
Milwaukee Department Called.
When it was found that five streams
of water could not check the flames, an
emergency call was sent to Milwaukee.
Sherburn NJ. Becker dispatched engine
companies Nos. IA and 10. in charge of
Capt. Roddy, to the Florida street sta
ton of the North Western road. There
was a delay Of half hour, due to in
sufficient loading facilities. The run to
the village was made i'll five minutes.
Efforts were made to save the hog house,
Mt the south end of the structure, where
the lard was stored.
Reinke and number of volunteers
were working on q platform twenty
five feet above ground when he was
hurt. The volunteers were playing their
streams about them, when suddenly the
platform gave way. precipitating the
men TO tile ground. Reinke was the only
one injured
After Il hard fight of two hours, the
beef house was entered and the flames
subdued. The destroyed section of the
plant was known as the killing and tank
house. 1t was 500x150 feet, with addi-
tons at the center. With the exception
Of the northern end, it was four stories
high, Of brick and stone construction.
The north end was occupied by the beef
house, two stories high. Back of the
beef house was the lard room, and the
rendering tank room, which contained
twenty-five tanks filled with lard. The
plant consists of two long buildings. The
destroyed portion was one long build
ing, made up of buildings about thirty
feet apart connected by tramways.
Firemen Work Hard.
The fire was extinguished only after
one Of the hardest battles which the
Milwaukee fire department was ever
called upon to fight. Capt. Patrick
Roddy with only eighteen men and two
engines bore the brunt Of the fight. fight
ing the flames step by step for two
hours, until the blaze was under con-
troll. The volunteer departments rem
dered wonderful aid and worked mag
niicently. At one time, it appeared as
if the entire plant was doomed, but the
wind shifted to the northeast Mt the cru
cial moment and famed the flames in
the opposite direction, saving the threat
encd portion.
Although the fire is extinguished. the
huge mass of ruins is still a red hot
oven of smouldering Goals. Employees
are stationed about them today. cXtip-
gushing incipient fires that start here
and there and working at raZing the tot
tering walls of the burned buildings.
which threaten to fall at any time Ey-
cry effort is being made by the manage
ment of the plant to resume work as
soon as possible. and the plant will be
reopened when the machinery can he
replaced and damage repaired sufficient
ly to allow this.
Patrick Cudahy Fights Fire.
Patrick Cudahy, president of the COM
pany, was at dinner at his home, a
Prospect avenue, when news of the fire
was telephoned him. He left at once
for the plant. where he superintendent
the work of the volunteers. After the
fire, he estimated the TOSS at 100000
Il estimate the loss at 100000 on
building and 100000 on supplies" said
he. I'VE keep a general insurance of
so per cent. ON the plant, so the loss
IS pretty well covered. | hope to rebuild
Immediately and work will be com
menced without delay. The loss is the
more serious at this time, as it is our
busy season.
Cudahy Will Be Handicapped.
Even with an immediate start at re-
building, the destruction of this portion
of the plant will prove serious handi-
capt to the company, as well as to the
management large contributors to the i'm
during the last year, but the ma jority
INVITE MR. R00SENEI