Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-08-05
KEYS CARRIAGE PLANTBURNS
Big Factory in Council Bluffs
Destroyed Sunday Morning.
ONE SMALL BUILDING SAVED
Loss u Estimated at sI35, 200, with
$4,000 Insurance-NiEht watch
man Has Narrow Escape
from suROcaticn.

Nothing remained yesterday of the main
buildings OF the large carriage manufac-
tory of Keys Brothers at First avenue
and Twenty-eghth street but a charred
mass Of ruins and crumbled walls. The
fremen, by hard work, succeeded in saw
ing a detached building known as the
wheel house." in which about 1900 worth
Of buggy wheels and other material was
stored and part Of the blacksmith shop.
The main buildings, part four stories and
asement. and the new addition, three
r. les. with their contents. we're completely
Dyed.
Ank H. Keys and Edwin w Keys.
smprising the firm of Keys Brothers. were
unable yesterday to form an estimate Of
their loss. 1t is believed the large safe
containing the books. insurance policies
and other papers is in good condition, and
that when it is opened, it is expected to
find the contents intact, as the firemen did
their best to keep stream Of water on it
all through the fire As far as could be
learned yesterday the firm carried insur-
ance to the amount Of $4,000. while the
loss on stock and buildings may run uu
to H35.00o or $4,000. E. w. Keys estimated
the value Of the stock in the burned build
ings at 81, 900.
Origin of Fire Unknown.
The origin Of the fire is unknown. Fire
Chief Nicholson was Of the opinion yester-
day that spontaneous combustion was re-
sponsible for the conhagration There ap-
pears to be some question as to where the
blaze started. 1t was first stated that the
fire started in the southeast corner of the
four-story portion of the main building.
but the men of No. fire company were
OF the opinion that the blaze started in
the basement The fire must have started
some time before It was noticed. as by
the time the department reached the scene
names were bursting from every window
and the interior was a seething mass of fire.
Chief Nicholson realized as soon as he
reached the fire that there was practically
no nope Of saving the main building and
his men directed their efforts mainly 60
save the detached buildings east of the
main structure.
Waterman Has Narrow Escape.
Thomas RatliT, the night Waterman.
had a narrow escape from being burned
TO death in the main building He oc-
cupied room in the northeast corner and
was awakened by the dense smoke which
filled his apartment. Almost suffocated
with the smoke Ratliff with difficulty sue
ceeded in opening the window and escaped
by jumping to the ground. He ran around
to the south side of the building and by
this time flames were bursting from almost
every window Yesterday Ratliff was in
rather a serious condition frem inhaIing
so much smoke and had to be attended
by a physician The alarm, it is said,
was turned in by a woman on Third ave-
nue. who saw the names issuing from
the factory. Everything indicates that the
fire had been in progress for a consider
able time and had made good headway
before being discovered and the depart
ment called
freight car loaded with new axles,
which was standing near the wheel house,
was saved by the firemen, although the
end Of the car caught fire several times.
Chief Nicholson said yesterday that the
fire was one of the hottest In his ex-
perience. This was due to the combustible
character Of the contents, there being a
large quantity of paint and oil in the
building The fremen suffered greatly
from the fearful heat and had to turn
the water on themselves to keep their
clothing from catching fire. The paint on
their helmets was melted of and the men
had to pour water onto their rubber boots
to prevent them melting. Early during the
fire the men were forced TO discard their
rubber coats on account of the intense
heat.
EiRhty-FIve Men Employed.
The hrm usually employed about 1S5
persons hut at the time OF the FIRE the