The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-07-17

ed for the damage done bv the fire to
the slate roof which was somewhat in
interior.
The efforts of the fire department
were directed solely to maintaining the
fire within the bounds of the factory
site and in this they succeeded ad-
mirably. The books and files of the
company were secured from the office
before being reached by fire, the office
was flooded with water for this pur-
pose and the fight was won.
Employees Narrow Escape.
The fire spread with such startling
rapidity that the workmen and the Of
fice force barely got away in time.
E. E. Feurt, the manager and his
stenographer, Miss Nathanson, jump
ed out through a window. Il had just
time to put the books in the safe and
slam the door when the fire was there
and the room was filled with smoke,
said Miss Nathanson. My, but it
came quick"
Several carloads of cottonwood, some
of them in the form of logs, and the
rest already manufactured into box
material, with heaps of sawdust. and
the frame buildings over them furnish
ed adequates fuel for the hottest fire
that the fire department has had to
encounter for years. The men went
where it seemed it was impossible to
live. Though the fire continued to
burn for over an hour and half
from the time of the alarm, control was
established within 20 minutes.
Was in Hands of Receiver.
The company went into the hands of
the receiver on the application of eight
creditors filed in the United States
court Monday. W. E. Sterne was ap-
pointed receiver. The creditors repre-
sented claims to the amount of $500.
The panic and the fall of the price OF
IL al AOxNd nTa
reasons assigned for the failure, though
the company was doing an immense
business and had branched out largely
within the past year and hall.
The insurance was just assigned over
to the receiver yesterday and this act
alone saved the insurance as the pom
cies provide that such an assignment
must be made if collection is demand
ed. Even at this there is some ques-
ton over $500 of the insurance on
which the assignment lad not oeen
completed. ~
that on the gas engines, new ones
three in number which cost about S4,-
COO.
AS the first swept everything clean
the creditors will probably face nard
oropos;tion on their claims while the
owners will lose almost all OF tneir
holdings. The officers of the company
were T. E. Armstrong, president; ). =.
Cooper, vice president, and L. Il. Heurt
watched by Thousands.
While the fire was at its height tnou
sands of spectators watched tne Si.h
from nearby vantage points, the sixth
street viaduct being lined with a mass
of humanity anxious to get a better
view of the confiagration. Ihe pig
steamer was attached to nre pug
lust across the street from the santa
Fe hospital and claimed Its snare Vi
attention from the curious.
A strong wind prevailed from tne
southeast and burning bits of lum per
were carried hundreds of feet In the
air and into the shop yards OF the oah-
ia Fe The old freight depot at one
time caught fire from flying embers
though the blaze was extinguished Dy
the chemical engine before any head
vay was made. The slate roof on the
Wells Fargo brick barn which was
completed last November at an eXpen-
diture of $4,000, saved that pullolhS
though the loss will amount to several
thousand dollars In this building was
a carload of oats which were ruined py
smoke and water and a consloeraple
amount of baled hay though the loft
was practically free from hay as a car
load stood on the sidetrack and would
have been unloaded this afternoon
Heavy Loss on Machinery.
Five thousand dollars worth of new
machinery has been placed in the box
factory during the last ninety days
and this of course is a total loss. But
sixteen men were at work in the fac
tory at the time of the fire, about one
third the usual number, and all OF
these are supposed to have escaped.
Between twenty-five and thirty car
loads of lumber were stored about the
yeards and in the factory though most
of this was destroyed; a number OF
huge piles which were east of the fac
tory were saved.
The property was owned almost en-
tirely by local people. Among those
who own stock in the concern are T.
E. Armstrong, J. r. Mulvane, t. J.
Nichols, Wolf Brothers. ]. c. Cooper,
Mrs. D. L. Lakin, E. E. Feurt and
Clara Green of Lincoln Center.