The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1909-02-12
CHIMNEY WORTH
$4,000 ONE TIME
Experts Riddle Base and Then Holes
Are Blocked With Wood Which Is
Afterwards Set on Fire and Chin
ney, 139 Feet High, Collapses In
Heap.

Had Hammond citizen casually
walked over TO the half-wrecked ruins
of the G. III. Hammond company this
morning at 1890 he would have seen
brick chimney, 1876 feet tall and
weighing hundreds of tons, sway in the
wind, move perceptibly at the top and
then plunge to the ground.
The iron bands which bound it were
bursted, there was puff of dust in a
dozen places in the old chimney as it
gained momentum by the fall and
broke in two or three places while
topping Ger.
And then it seemed as though several
minuees had passed, in reality they
were only seconds, the whole brick pile
seemed to collapse and when the cloud
of dust had blown away not one brick
that formerly composed the costly ffue
adhered to another.
All that remained OF the 135-foot
chimney. which FOR fifteen years has
lowered above the buildings OF the G.
H. Hammond company was a long
mound of brick in which iron bands
and reinforcements were hopelessly
entangled.
The score or more people who learned
y
toppled over, looked on in amazement
as it fell and it would not have taken
much of stretch of Imagination to
have believed that the chimney was
being shaken from it's foundations by
a terrible earthquake.
1t is estimated by brick masons thai
the original cost of the chimney was
at least $4,000. OF course it would
~ hot ,c11 to low ;Clx
one on top of the other, but in the
building of chimney 135 feet high Il
is necessary to build an enormou.
almost as much as the building of the
chimney
Unique Method Used.
The manner of wrecking the build
| ing was most unique. 1t might b,
| thought that a charge of dynamite il
the base of the chimney would be al
that would be needed to topple it over
! However. the trouble with this plan i
! that there is no certainty which wa.
! the chimney will fall and there Il
| danger of a loss of life or possibly o
| destruction of adjacent property.
! The wreckers first tear out enougl
brick in the side of the chimney t
! enable them to put in pile of woodel
/ supporting blocks five or six feet tai
AS the bricks are torn away thes
wooden supports are put in thei
| places, until finally all that is left /
the brick on one side and three or fou
wooden supports.
These wooden piles of block are the
surrounded with rubbish of an inf1am
mable nature aud are covered wit
two gallons of kerosene. The materia
is ignited and shortly the fire burn
away the chimneys support.
The chimney was wrecked by Ere
| Bruecken and Arnold Keldenicl
Bruecken has wrecked five other chin
neys and Keldenich furnished the mon
ey which was required when the tw
men contracted for the brick in TIL
chimney.
For the past five days Fred Bruecke
has been gnawing away with a pickax
at the base of the big chimney. Tt
last day he worked it appeared ths
; on him at any time
It was the triumph of mind owe
matter when the chimney fell toda
: and as Fred Bruecken looked at tt
ruins. enshrouded In dust, he realize
that a puny man had conquered Al
tons of brick and had reduced a stat.
ly pile to a chaos of debris.