Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1907-06-18
DISASTROUS FIRE.
Entire Plant, Except Boiler Room, of
Wausau Box and Lumber Co.,
Is Destroyed.

Shortly before five o'clock yesterday
afternoon, fire was discovered in the
planning mill of the Wausau Box and
Lumber Co. and in less than it takes to
write these notes on the subject the
entire plant was one mass of flames.
and all the water in Wausau could not
have saved the building, though had
there been better water and hydrant
service the fire might have been checked
and confined to the plant alone.
AS soon as the fire was discovered an
attempt was made to use the company's
hose. Some difficulty was experienced
in getting it down from its hangers
and connecting it, aud before it could
be made use of the flames swept so rap
idly through the building that the hose
had TO be abandoned and the building
left to its fate. An alarm was turned
in: bat even then the building was a
mass of flames, and by the time the de-
partment made the long run the roof
had fallen.
So rapidly did the flames sweep
through the building that many of The
employees lost their coats, hats and BIZ
cycles, in their hurry to escape from
| the building. Efforts were directed to
saving the papers, files, furniture, etc,
from the Office and most of it was got
ten out and carried TO place of safety.
The office was situated northeast of the
| plant and the wind which was blowing
strongly at the time carried the flames
to this structure and it soon disap-
peared. Two G. & N. w. and one G.
Nj. q st. T. cars, standing on siding
near the plant and loaded with manu-
| featured stock, were consumed Four
warehouses, all filled with manufac-
tured stock, nails, etc, were wiped out.
There was more or less sawdust around
the plant and the fire crept through this
and spread all along the river bank,
| killing many of the large trees and
burning tiercely in the old sawdust and
slab heaps. The company was for
innate in one respect. Recently
several Improvements were made,
among them the building of fire
wall between the engine room and the
| plant. This was constructed of con-
| crete blocks and to this is due the saw
ing of the engines and boilers. The
wall today shows that it withstood the
fierce fire we'll In some places the
blocks are pulled apart from contrac-
ton and few are defaced Recently
J new Corliss engine of $50 horse power
with enormous drive wheel was placed
in the engine room. This was all ready
to be connected with the boilers, and
had it been destroyed the loss would
have been much greater.
Every hydrant in the yards and every
foot of hose in the engine house was
brought into play and the fire steamer
put into action, still the water had APP
parently little effect on the burning
mass. A bucket brigade also worked
like beavers. The lumber piles were
situated some distance from the plant
and it was fortunate that they were.
The heat was so intense that some of
them caught fire and were badly
scorched. The firemen worked until
early this morning and the fire is still
burning and perhaps will continue to
burn for several days. The cause of
the fire is attributed to a shaft box run
ming hot.
The loss of this plant is a severe blow
to the industrial interests of the city.
1t employed 100 men both summer and
winter and paid monthly $1,000 in
wages. 1t had a capacity for turning
out three car loads of manufactured
stock daily and consumed a great
amount of lumber annually. 1t was
built in 1892 by Messrs W. B. Scholfeld,
G. S. Turner, &. V. Bardeen, 5. Nj.
Quaw and others, and later fell into the
control of the two former, who bought
out the others. Since the above date
number of additions had been built I'M
til it covered quite an area of ground.
The direct loss to the owners will reach
over $4,000. They carried $4,000 in
surance. Whether it will be rebuilt or
not cannot be stated at this time. 1t
would be impossible to get new
machinery before six months, as all
machine shops are crowded with orders.
The company has large stock of lum
Der on hand and also a stock in Eau
Claire which was being shipped here.
The firms box factory in the above city
was destroyed by fire on Feb. Is last
At present the company has orders
enough on hand to keep factory of the
size of the Wausau institution running
for year
1t was an unfortunate thing that the
factory was destroyed at this time. For
the past four weeks the box manu-
facturers of the city have been having a
little labor disturbance. and when the
fire broke out yesterday afternoon
idle tongues started story to the
effect that the strikers might be re-
sponsible for it. There was abso-
lutely no foundation for the story.
There have been no strikers on the
grounds for several days and we don't
believe there is anyone in Wausau with
| malice in enough in his heart to set
| such a plant on fire. Messrs. Turner
| and Scholfield are two of our best citi-
zens and even their ex employees out on
strike sympathize with them in their
| loss.
A noticeable fact yesterday may have
something to do in the future with
Wansau's Industrial growth unless con-
diuons are changed. 1t was proven
that our water service is not adequate
to cope with a large fire on the outskirts
of the city. There was hardly pressure
enough to throw stream fifty feet and
IT is discouraging for hremen to work
| under such conditions. 1t is true the
| plant was situated in remote section
Il - 4.