Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1908-10-17


Railway company's cars to Forty-sixth
street.
Linemen were at once on the scene,
and repairs on the telegraph and pow
er transmission wires began immedi-
atcly. Workmen were busy digging
holes for new poles almost before those
supporting the wires before had fallen
in ashes and while blast of heat like
that from furnace swept over the
ground to the spot where the men
were working.
Had "a Hard Battle.
The fire proved a very difficult one
to fight. The character of the burning
material, and the territory covered,
made it almost impossible to deter
mine which spot required the concen.
trated efforts of the fire fighters. The
firemen of the three cities soon had
scores of lines, of hose playing on the
blaze, and every fire plug for blocks
was in use. The Sash and Door works
engines. too were kept in operation.
pumping water 10 supply the COM
pany's own lines of hose for fire fight
ing, and hundreds of volunteers man
ned the company lines.
The volunteers were probably the
means of saving the main factory
building from complete destruction
The blaze at the time the factory was
menaced was giving the greatest diff
Guilty to the firemen elsewhere, and
they were concentrating their main eff
forts on the lumber shed near Twenty
seventh street and Fourth avenue, and
= the dry kilns on Twenty-fifth street
and Fourth avenue. But volunteers,
most of them employees of the Sash and
Door works, were prepared 10 battle
to keep the fire from the factory build
ing, and armed with the company's
lines of hose, they kept water playing
on the east end of the building for
over half an hour, finally conquering
and saving the structure from deStruc-
ton When the planning mill went be
fore the flames, the big fly wheel
ing, fell and the flames shot across
the factry rooom for over SO feet. Had
this not been given prompt attention
the factory would certainly have gone
with the planning mill.
In the battle at the shaving vaults
connected with the boiler room, The
volunteers also gave efficient aid t
the regular firemen, and their effort!
were successful. The structure wa!
not damaged more than that the roo
and a part of the side were burned
but the floor was not burned.
Was Well Handled.
Never has the Rock Island fire de
partment had a more difiicult' con
fiagration to handleJ AS has beer
stated. the fire seemed everywhere
and, the territory covered was SO grea
that the flames menaced VALUABLE
buildings in a dozen places. The dc
struction of the lumber company's she
would have resulted undoubtedly j
the destruction of many adjoinin
homes, and to prevent the fire froI
working into the lumber shed was
difficult task. and required the cOnceI
trated efforts of several companies c
the firemen At the same time tn
flames menaced the factory building
the boiler room, and scores of piles c
lumber, and to judge which woul
prove the most effective place to Gel
ter the efforts of the firemen was n
small task.
Chief Hastings deserves much cred
for the manner in which he supervise
the work and directed the battl
against the flames. He displayed goo
generalship and able Judgment, an
with less competent man in chare
the loss might. easily have been mu
tiplied many times. The Moline an
Davenport firemen, too, deserve prais
for their efficient assistance to tn
Rock Island department. They worl
ed heroically, and showed the sam
patriotism and bravery that migf
have been witnessed had the bla2
been in either of the other cities.
When they responded to the call fl