The Dickinson press., 1908-07-04

The town of Taylor suffered severe
loss by fire last Saturday afternoon when
the two principal store buildings, the
bank, postof6ce, drug store and a land
Office were burned to the ground with
the greater part of the contents.
The fire started in A.. J. Hennings'
drug store, the result of some chemical
explosion which cost the life of w. w.
Brookings, the drug clerk. DR.. Hennings
and Mr.. Manford we're in the rear of the
drug store when the explosion occurred.
The entire front of The building was
blown IS feet into the street and The
place was Immediately a fire. DR..
Hennings and Mr.. Manford rushed
toward the front of the store
where they saw the apparently, lifeless
body of Mr.. Brookings lying on the floor
near the candy counter. Even then the
entire front of the store was mass Of
flames. There was nothing for the doc.
tor and MIR. Manford to do but to make
their escape through window at the
rear of the building. The flames fol-
lowed them right up and before DR.. Hen
nings got through the window his right
hand was badly burned.
The fire was not long in consuming
the drug store and made short work OF
the Spring Valley Land Company's
building on the west. Then it jumped
vacant lot to ]. F. Christen's general
store with hall above. After this
building was mass of burning
timbers, fire broke out in Baker & Sons
store in the Leutz building just east Of
the drug store where the fire originated.
In the east half of this building the Tay-
lor State bank and the postofice were
located. Nearly all of the furniture, and
a part of the fixtures were taken out.
All of the mail was transferred to near
by house. Baker & Sons were unable
to move many articles from their store
on account of the intense heat.
The Luetz building was one.story
brick veneered, 6ox6o it., and, although
considered fire-proof, the one thickness
of brick was not sufficient to Withstand
the heatand it went up in smoke.
The fire started at 3 o'clock and at
4:3o the Dickinson fire alarm was SCUM.
ded. Chief Harry Gruschus and 20 of
the Dickinson fireman volunteered their
services and at 4:5o special train was
made up and ready to leave the yards.
The firemen took only small amount
of apparatus, including fire extinguishers,
chemicals, ropes, axes and buckets. and
it dion't take long to make the trip to
Taylor, where their services were greatly
appreciated.
Taylor has no fire department and
bucket brigade is the only fire protec-
ton. All of the Taylor people, including
the ladies and children, took lively
part in pumping and carrying water and
an especial effort was made to save J.
F. Christen's store, but the heat was too
f~~ <ha Goo E~h nd kko,
compelled to watch it burn.
was nothing left of the drug store, land
just started on the inside of the brick
building o Inc ROY row ot nop.fs pa9 on the
nsa %ere AUG The Boys orgssned asi
and got busy. Sheds and parts of the
warehouse north of the burning buildings
were pulled out of the way, making it
difficult for the fire to travel in this d.
rection. Then the bucket brigade start.
ed. The roofs of all the nearby build
dings were decorated with. Dickinson
firemen, who were supplied with water
BY other 6remen and the Taylor citizens
Several times these buildings caught on
fire but in each case the blaze was nipped
in the bud. The lumber in the yards
south of the burning buildings also
caught fire three or four times. In each
instance the bucket brigade checked the
blaze before any damage was done. If
the FIRE were allowed any headway on
this side Of the street it would have
been impossible to save the lumber, de-
pot or elevator.
The total loss amounts to sso.ooo.
Mr.. Christen's building and stock. Val-
ued at $4,000, was insured for Sl3 500.
The Leutz brick building, valued at
So. 90. insured for 600. Bakers& Sons
stock, valued at 81 8poo. insured Tor 5$o,-
900. Or. Hennings' stock valued u
1900, insured for $500. The srnallef
buildings, valued at about 81 1000 togeth-
er with their contents, insured for about 80
per cent.
Former Insurance Commissioner Fer
dinand Leutz had an interest in the
large bank building and other buildings
as we'll as other property destroyed.
DR.. Hennings lost, besides his regular
drug store stock all. of his instruments,
satchels, diplomas, licenses from four
states, and his library. He also lost a
set of account books that were in the Of
fee, but in business-like manner he
kept duplicate set at his home, which
were checked up to date. Baker Il Sons
lost valuable invoice book. The Wood
men, Foresters and and Yoemen, who
held their meetings in the Christen. hall,
lost their charters and quite quantity
ofregalia. The barber, Walter. Ihomp-
son, had practically no loss. The res
taurant building, west of the Christen
store, occupied by Mrs. Lena Schmidt,
caught fire several times but the only
damage was few broken windows.
The remains of Mr.. Brookings were re-.
moved from the ruins at about 6:3o p. m.
and the funeral was held from the Ger.
man Lutheran church at 10 o'clock Mon
day morning. Mr.. Brookings was about
AZ years old, single and had been resi-
dent of the county for IS years or more.