Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-03-27

1
" oTTUMWA, IOWA. y
they were at first able to throw
upon the flames seemed helpless, to
even check the progress of the fire.
But the work went steadily on, Every
moment more hose was being laid.
Then stream was brought to play on
the fire from the roof of the Donelan
building. Then the pressure on the
water increased and the work of the
department for the first time seemed
to be making an impression on the
conflagration.
The Wind Changes.
But all this time the wind had been
hurting the flames to the southeast.
The front and top of the First Nation
al bank building were in flames, and
1T looked like a hopeless case. One
of the officials of the bank telephoned
to the president, w. B. Bonnif1eld, ST.,
that it was no use to come down to
the fire, that the building was doomed
and would soon be entirely in flames.
And then the wind changed, and drove
the fire back against itself.
Not to be robbed of the glory Of a
successful fight by even the elements,
the fire department went at their work
with redoubled vigor. A stream was
brought to play from the top of the
First National bank building, there be-
ing at this time eight streams Of water
thrown on the fire.
Under Control.
From this time on it became merely
a question of time for the fire was
under control Once again it threat
ened the First National bank building
for an instant but prompt work soon
removed this danger.
For several hours after this, in fact
all through the night, streams of wa
ter we're kept playing on the Scase
building, which, this morning, was a
mass Of smoking ruins.
Thousands View Fire.
| Fully thousand people gathered in
Market and Main streets to view the
fire and the work Of the men who were
fighting it. So thick did they gather
that many times they interfered with
the work Of the department until the
crowds were driven back by the po-
lice.
The night was made light as day by
the glare of the flames. The many
streams of water playing over the
! blazing, smoking timbers, the dense
volumes Of smoke that arose above the
| fire turned to brilliant crimson by
the light, and the raw cold wind that
blew pierced through the clothing of
the bystanders, making them SILVER
with cold, while the blazing brands
which the wind carried sent shivers
Of apprehension to many a property
owner in the crowd.
| Does Gallant Work.
| All praise Is due to the work of the
| fire department and the volunteers
who so heartily assisted them. Some
of the men were called upon to do
work that easily bordered upon the he
roic. Not a moment did they falter,
working as only firemen at big fire
can, contrasting desperately every inch
that the fire gained, and fighting ex.
ultantly as they threw 1t back.
Mr.. Scase Talks.
j. e. Scase said, when questioned
by representative of The Courier
last evening: II have not the
slightest idea of what caused. the
fire. AS far as l know there
was no explosion. We were
working at the store preparing for the
| opening that was to have been held
today. Some Of the boys had been
up on the third floor resting, as we in
tended to work all night. Then we
called them down to the second floor
and got some model gowns we were
going to use in the display windows
Taking these down to the first floor
and carrying them forward to the win
dows, we were standing there admir-
ing them when one Of the men hap
pened to look to the rear of the store
My God, look at the fire. he cried
| l looked and the whole rear of the
room seemed to be in flames. Rushing
to the rear tried to lock my safe but
the heat prevented me accomplishing
my purpose. | rushed back to the
front door and out upon the street
Before l had crossed the street. the
curtains on the front windows were
ablaze."
John w. Grays Story.
John w. Gray, formerly chief of pc
lice, saw the wall fall. Mr.. Gray, il
speaking about this said: Twas walk
ing down Market street, going toward
the river, and had just about reached
the Modern Grocery company's store
when my attention was attracted by
the flames on the Scase building
which were then blazing as high as
the roof AS l looked the wall started
to fall ran to the nearest available
fol t11rn in ole
Mr. Gray is inclined to scout the the
DRY of an explosion because the wall!
were falling slowly and not as though
they had been blown out.
Interrupts Solitaire Game.
| w. NJ Duncan of this city, who live!
at the McElroy restaurant, was sitting
: in his room, right across the alley from
, the Scase store. Mr.. Duncan wal
playing game of solitaire at the time