The Oskaloosa herald., 1910-10-13
OLD LANDMARK
A FIRE VICTIM
Historic Siebel Mills Go Up il
Flames Sunday
MILL BUILT IN 81 BY BEN ROOF
Many Properties in the Nelshborhood
Were Threatened. but Fortunate
iy There was no Wind--cause
Of the Fire is Unknown.

w mere was no Wtno-Causc
Of the Fire is Unknown.
The old Seibel Mills of Oskaloos
were burned to thu ground Sunda.
about noon. The large mill building
together with metal covered elevate
at the north, the large -four ware
house, stables, corn cribs and stor
age sheds are a complete loss. TIL,
buildings covered square block be
tween High and First avenues, ives
of the Iowa Central railway. The
loss to the owners of the property is
in the neighborhood of fifty to sixty
thousand dollars, but this amount rep
resents only a fractional part of the
amount of money that has been in
vested in the property. Insurance
was carried on the elevator stock and
the floor in storage to the amount Of
about $4,000 dollars.
The fire is as much a loss to Os.
kaloosa as it is to the owners. The
mills were known the length and
breadth of the state and they brought
TO Oskaloosa a vast amount of trade
through the years of their operation.
The loss to the property will be felt
in many avenues.
The fire which had evidently been
smouldering in the furnace room in
the main body of the mill through
several hours, suddenly burst forth
and cyclone of fame swept through
the big structure. The fire was dis
covered simultaneously by a number
of people in the locality and alarms
we're turned in from a half dozen
places. By the time the fire company
was on the scene the flames reached
from the basement on the east side of
the main building to the roof, dis
lance of five stories. The fire COM
pany was powerless. Three streams
of water were played on the flames,
but they had no effect on the fire. The
fire became so intensely hot that the
firemen could not approach close
enough to do effective fighting. They
could not get into the building as it
was almost instantly mass of burn
ing timbers from basement to cupola
The fire fighters soon had demands !
for their services in other directions. !
Fires started in a dozen places south !
and west of the burning structure |
and water had to be thrown to keep
the flames from spreading. A fight |
was made to save the elevator build |
ing and the storage sheds on the |
north, but all to no purpose. The in
tense heat soon made short work of |
the metal covered buildings, the ele- !
Vator on the north and the long -four
warehouse on the east were destroyed. |
These were soon blazing savagely. |
The corn cribs and sheds at the east |
side of the lots were soon burning ana
the firemen who had been fighting in |
the east side of the building, hedged !
in by wall of fame on three sides, !
we're fgorced to retrat.
The cause of the fire is a mystery
and has been attributed to spontan-
eous combustion, an explosion of some /
kind and catching from hot ashes |
from the furnace Saturday afternoon |
when the fires we're pulled. Fireman |
VIII White, who had charge of the /
boilers, said that there was nothing |
in the room for the fires to catch. !
The walls we're Of stone and there !
was nothing combustible in the room |
so far as he knows. Neither was
there any material of an infamable |
nature that could have started a |
blaze from spontaneous combustion. |
The theory of dust explosion is as
impossible as the other theories ex-
2ressd. The mill has not been oper-
ated in the making of -four for several
months and there was TO dust in the
building, nor in the boiler room,
where the first was first seen.
Those who saw the first smoke that /
came from the building state that it !
came out about ,rhe windows, both on
the east and ives. sides, with a sudden
puff, as though it had been fore I'd \
out by an explosion OF some kind.
There was a sudden outbreak OF the
smoke and then the dense smoke and I
flame began pouring forth from all
sides Of the first floor. Those who
saw the first smoke are Of the opin-
ion that il was not caused by the ex-
plosive force that sent 1t out of the /
building the first time They say this
smoke must have been in the room
before the explosion came, as it was
thick and black and was possibly fore
"a out by the breaking out of the fam.
es and the sudden increase Of heat.
The outbreak OF the first smoke
was seen from the platform OF the |
Iowa Central station, from the resi-
denee of NJ. L. Bosworth, west of the
mill and from the home of Alex s.
No 40 First ayenue West,
r telephone calls were sent from these
places and several others almost at
the same instant. t.t.T
The FIRE was beyond the control OF
the Gre department from the start.
The department had no chance to
save the building or the property. The
Iowa Central switching crews were
called from the yards and the cars
81 The sidings BY the elevator and in
Ihe yards Of the Central Supply we're
pulled ont to q place of safety. II /