Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-01-28
DURING A FIRE IN SUPPLY COM.
PANY STORE 500 POUNDS OF
EXPLOSIVE WRECKS PROPERTY
DAMAGE DONE IN ALBA.
FIVE INJURED;
NONE SERIOUSLY
THE COMPANY STORE TOTALLY
WRECKED BY FIRE, ENTAlLlNG
LOSS OF 5o,ooo-DAMAGE FROM
EXPLOSION WAS NOT HEAVY.

Hooking, Jan, 25.-(SpeciaD-Du
ing fire at the store of the Hooking
Supply company this morning at
o'clock, five hundred pounds of dyna-
mite in car on a side track, fifty
feet away from the blaze, exploded,
wrecking scores of houses in the town
and breaking windows in Abba, sever
la miles away.
Although hundreds surrounded the
burning building when the explosion
occurred, only five were injured, none
Of them seriously. The supply store
Of the mseriously. The supply store
was completely destroyed, entailias
loss Of from $4,000 to 100000, we'll
covered by insurance.
The three who sustained the most
painful injuries by the dynamite ex-
plosion were:
John Cluett; coat torn completely
from his person; cut and bruised by
| flying glass and tfmbers.
Frank Davis; knocked down by
force of explosion and bruised about
| head and body.
! VIII Pilkington; cut by shattered
glass.
Explosion Throws Crowd Into Panic.
The fire in the Supply company's
store was discovered by night watch
man, who Immediately gave the
alarm. Nearly all the men and boys
in the mining camp and many of the
women, turned out to render what aid
was possible. and practically the en-
tire town was out before the fire had
gained full Roadway Volunteers set
to work fighting the flames, but the
fire spread rapidly until the intense
heat drove the crowd back.
Suddenly there was a terrific explo-
sion when the heat set off the car of
dynamite and for few minutes the
crowd was in panic. When it was
seen, though, that no one was seri-
ously hurt, quiet was restored, and
the work of fighting the fire was re-
sumed, but without success.
Freaks Of the Explosion.
The explosion was not without its
freaks. There were ten cars in the
: string with the one containing the
: dynamite and these were blown from
} the track in all directions. Directly
| beneath the car of dynamite a hole
four feet deep was ploughed into the
earth and into this the trucks of the
car and the rails were imbedded. One
hundred feet away there was another
string of box cars, and these were al
blown from the track.
Another freak of the explosion was
that comparatively little damage was
done to the residence property in the
town. Chimneys were blown in, glass
(. was broken and plastering was broker
!, loose, but this was not as serious
: damage as might have resulted. The
: fact that but five were injured out O
: a crowd of hundreds is also consider
ed nothing short Of miraculous.
Explosion Felt In Abba.
| The explosion awakened nearly al
: Abba. Windows were broken in dill
. :, ferent parts of the town, Including
!, the big plate glass window in from
of the Armstrong & Simons drui
:, store The explosion was also fel
= In Blakesburg and in the communit
surrounding
While the fire was burning in tn
Supply company store another blaz
broke out in the t. S. Gorbett restaul
r ant, caused presumably by the ovel
turning Of lamp or stove by the el
6 plosion. This was extinguisned befor
serious damage was done. The U. N
w. A, has Its rooms upstairs over thi
8 store and sustained light loss. l
l. the barber shop of Joe Townsend mex
g door the mirrors were broken by th
explosion and the chairs were turne
,f upside down.
& The Hooking Supply company ca
q ries stock of about $4,000, whic
was totally wrecked. The company
expected to rebuild.
- Explosion In Wisconsin.
s. Madison, Ill.,, Jan. 25.-A myster
5. Gus explosion in hard coal stoN
started a fire which destroyed tt
greater part of two city blocks in tt
:. heart of the business section today
- The loss will exceed $4,000
III Forty persons were left homeless.