The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1907-02-07

on the site of the destroyed store, but
the structure which he will erect will
probably be only one story in height.
Mr.. Jesmer has his salvage stock in
the store formerly occupied by A. N.
Lenertz and L. G. Prescott has moved
into the same building.
T. h. Caley's building, occupied by
E. B. Anderson, was damaged by the
falling of the south wall of the Jesmer
store to the extent of about $500.
The Townsend Fire.
This fire, which started in the oil
room of the Patterson Grocery CON-
pany at about O'Clock on Sunday
night, is of mysterious origin. Mr.
Patterson was in the store an hour or
so previous to the discovery of the
fire and at that time everything was
intact. It is Mr.. Patterson's practice
to enter his store on Sunday evenings
and see that everything is ship shape.
The fact that the store was heated by
steam and lighted by electricity rem
ders the origin of the fire difficult of
solution.
The fire was a veritable holocaust,
spreading with remarkable rapidity
from one end of the building to the
other, and consuming in it's course
Louis Horstman's barber shop, Solo
mon Longs shoe store, j. J. Skahen's
bank, DR.. Armitage's drug store,
the Rural telephone exchange, Martin
Brands clothing store and VIM. Kali
hers barber shop. The household
goods of G. 81. Gottwerth, Ira G..
Stanley and W. H. Townsend, who re-
sided on the second floor of the block.
were utterly destroyed. Victor Osell
and Abel Holm, who occupied rooms
on the same floor, saved a portion of
their belongings.
AS the fire demolished the Patterson
grocery store a series of explosions
occurred, one of which blew out the
entire north wall. There were other
explosions in the Armitage drug
store. but they we're light in COMPARE
son with that in the Patterson place.
The flames from the drug store, fed by
oils and spirits of various descrip-
tons, roared and leaped in an i'm
mense volume, and the heat therefrom
was so intense that persons half a
block away could scarcely withstand
it.
The fire at one time threatened to
take hold of the Roadstrom building,
and only the determined efforts of the
hremen and others on the roofs of that
building and the Sjoblom & Olson
saloon, saved the structure from
destruction. Had the Roadstrom
building caught fire the chances are
that the whole block would have been
wiped out-that every building down
to the Jesmer ruins would have been
destroyed.
Scarcely anything was saved from
the Patterson grocery. Mr.. Patter-
son, IN his excitement, placed his
overcoat containing S25 in silver on
the floor of the store while he carried
out a few articles and found that he
was unable to again reach it.
solomon Long saved a portion of
his shoe stock, but the largest part,
which was in the cellar, was con-
sumed. Mr.. Long has moved tenn
porarily into the Newbert building.
recently vacated by Mrs. Jaax.
J. J. Skahen was about the on]v
man who saved most of his be-
longings. Mr.. Skahen is transacting
his business temporarily in the Office
of Chas. F. Keith, and expects to later
move into the building now occupied
by Miss LIE Mieux as millinery store.
Little stock was saved from the
drug store, but DR.. Armitage managed
to get out few of his surgical instru-
ments from the Office above. DR..
Armitage's Office is now located in the
Odd Fellows block, his drug store is
in the building formerly occupied by
Thos. F. Scheen, and the Libby build
ing, one door west of the First Ma
tlonal bank, purchased this week by