The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1907-09-27
BLAZE EARLY THIS MORNING
Flames Start i'm a Pile OF
Rubbish Near Heater.
SWEETS DESTROYED BY HEAT
Loss Cannot Be Estimated, Several
Families Are Given Scare; the
Departments Good Work.
From Tuesdays Daily.

From Tuesdays Daily.
Fire early this morning in the base
ment of the Pay Candy eompany's fac
tory did good deal of damage, and
but for the excellent work of the
fire department the building might
have been destroyed, as well as Others,
for a strong northwest wind prevailed,
that would have carried sparks for
blocks.
The first was discovered at l:30 a.
IN. by Officer Barr, and it was then
bursting out of one of the basement
windows in the alley. He telephoned
80 the central station, and the firemen
responded quickly. Realizing the serious
nature of the task before them, the
firemen turned in general alarm
from box 26. This brought the vol
unteers out to assist in fighting the
flames.
Flames Bursting Out.
The fire was by this time coming
out of at least three of the alley
windows from the basement, and APP
peared as though it extended through
the entire basement. 1t had also
worked its way through the floor near
the northwest corner of the building.
The firemen put two streams at work
through the windows and in a very
short time had the flames out, but the
smoke was so dense that it was diff
cult problem to know whether there
was more fire or not. Finally the
last vestige of fire was put out.
Started in Rubbish Pile.
The fire started in a pile of waste
paper, sweepings and other rubbish
that lay beside the heating plant in
the basement How it started is a
mystery. There were no greasy rags
in the pile, so it is said. The only
fire that has been in the furnace since
last spring was had Sunday.
The damage by fire is confined large
" to the ioists and under side of the
flooring over the part of the basement
where the heating plant and fuel are
located The joists We're not so much
burned but that they will be strong
enough when reinforced with half a
dozen new ones.
Damage by Water and Smoke.
The greatest damage will be to the
stock by water and smoke. The loss
bv water is mostly confined to a
carload of sugar in barrels that was
stored in the basement and was just
in line to catch the streams of water.
The damage to the sugar will not be
great. but little of it will be unfit
to make white candy. The rest of the
stock in the basement was mostly
empty boxes and barrels.
A good deal of candy was damaged
bv smoke. including all in the cho-
colate room. that in the starch room,
and the top layers in the packages
that did not have covers on. The seal
ed packages may not be damaged
much The factory was just beginning
to accumulate supply for the Christ
mas trade, and this is the busy season.
The full force of employees was at
work again this morning.
Cannot Estimate the Loss.
1t is impossible to give an estimate
of the loss at this time, as everything
depends upon how much the stock is
damaged by smoke and water, but it is
stated that the loss will be covered by
insurance.
Several families reside on the second
floor of the building, and they were
given a scare.
Too much credit cannot be given the
firemen for the splendid work that
they did They went at it intelligently
and stopped the fire effectively, while
doing the least possible damage with
water. Had the fire gotten ten minutes
more Roadway it would have been
to have stopped it, for the basement is
piled with barrels and boxes and the
floor was nearly burned through in