Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-09-30
Leading General Merchandise
Establishment, Owned BY
R. G. Pinney, Burned
Loss CLAIMED TO BE $1,000
lPinney Carried a Stock Of $4,000, and
Less Than $1,000 Worth Was Saved
]. Insurance of $4,000 on Building and
Contents carried-Pinncy Will Prob
ably Rebuild.

A bad fire at Albion, early SUNDAY
morning, completely DESTROYER 'ne
large general store of r. 9 Pinney, the
leading general merchandise business
of the town. Mr.. Pinney carried
$4,000 stock, and less than S1,Ooo worth
was saved. The fire was dlscoVereu az
g O'Clock by VIII Young, who sa"
smoke pouring from the basement VI
the building.
Help Of all the citizens was u hand
early, and three quarters OF an hour
before any blaze was visible but e"-
ing to the density of the smoke the
A fire fighters We're baffled on every turn
THE town has no fire protection of any
kind. Mr.. Pinney carried $4.ooo lnsur-
lance in the Capital of Des Moines, w.
900 being on the building and S2,ooo
ON stock. He claims his loss 10 De
~ 900. as rough estimates already
/ made on a new building Indicate that
a new structure of the same size ana
4 quality could not be built today Tor
$4,000.
Not Just Certain of Origin.
Mr. Pinney is not Just certain as to
the cause of the fire, which had its
origin in the basement At first he
thought that perhaps the old and de-
fective furnace in the basement was
responsible, as he had built up a small
fire Saturday morning to take the chill
off the room. This was allowed to Gle
out, and when the proprietor left the
store in the evening he did not think
there was any fire left in the furnace.
There is possibility that the f1re
started from spontaneous combustion.
Building Landmark.
I The building, which was very sub
stantial two-story frame structure,
40x40, was one of the landmarks of
Albion, having been originally con-
structed as a school house. 1t was
built as We're buildings put up several
years ago, and cost new $4,000, which
was lots of money to put into struc-
ture of that kind thirty years ago. The
character of the construction stood the
test of the fire to a marked degree.
and II was not until Il hole was
burned thru that much smoke was let
out of the walls.
New Goods Destroyed.
Mr.. Pinney's building was double |
store room, divided on the ground floor
for groceries and dry goods on one
side, and boots and shoes. hardware.
and queensware on the other. The
second story was used as ware room,
and contained large assortment of
new goods, largely winter clothing and
underwear. and rubber goods. These
were all destroyed. about the only
thing saved from the upper story be-
ing a. few small articles of shelf hard
ware. From the first floor the largest
class of goods saved was in boots and
shoes. Mr.. Pinney had just finished
making some repairs and improve
ments to his building, including new
coats of paint both inside and out. Only
Saturday he was complimenting him
self that he would be to but little ex-
pense for repairs or Improvements for
"a few years.
Will Probably Rebuild.
4 Mr.. Pinney will probably rebuild in /
the spring, and for the present will
take possession of the Odd Fellows
hall, the only vacant store room on
High street, formerly occupied by j. J.
Whitacre. Mr. Pinney has, been in
albion only since March, having
bought the store from w. S. Coulter
The store was formerly conducted by
John d. Fraley & Son, who sold to
Coulter.