Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-08-29
WIND TANNED THE FLAMES
Flremen Almost Helpless In Their
Fight Against Odds at Early
Morning Hour. r.
Loss Placed by Owners ut $50, 900 Was
Not Covered by Insurance
Bicycle Track saved.

heaps of smouldering embers are al,
that remain of the Salt Palace. famous
for advertising the great natural
resource Of Utah. OF which IL
WAS built The fire Of mystel1-
Gus origin, which entailed loss
Of 5000, burst from the interior of
the Third Degree" an electrical
concession. at 2:20 O'Clock this morn
ing in n fountain Of flame. With the
wind blowing a gale, the flames were
carried over the soda water stand and
set FIRE TO the roof OF the Salt Palace.
the main building of the resort, In
dozen places. From these little torches.
the IRE ate into the roof and soon en-
yeloped the large dome. the wind fan
ming the names and carrying them
brlskly over the entire roof.
When the alarm wac turned into
hsadouarters, the Third Degree" was
burning fercely. The fire department
cot the first report second handed from
the police department, and II was nSe
minutes later before a direct alarm
came In. As soon as the water was
,nrned on to the building the firemen
found that they had the wind To nght,
which fed the fire and dashed the shoot
ing flames into a fury The VINO broke
Inc force OF the four streams or water
which were soon playing on the build
,ng and thu ire department was unaoie
10 cope with the situation. ;,
Embers from the Third Degree,
which was buflt of lumber, dropped
into the bleanners OF the bicycle sauc-
er track. The east rdde of the pieach-
ers was soon In flames. A stream OF
water was turned on 10 the track
ana with the asristance OF score of
bicycle riders. who had by this Tune
been aroused and rushed 70 the track
TO save THAR wheels and training
equipment. the track was saved. About
1850 feet OF the bkeacherB wac burned
out but the track was not damaged.
The damaged bleachers will be boxed
in. the track viii be braced under
meath and the bicycle race meets viii
be held as usual.
LOSS NoT-INSURBD.
Frederick Heath, the sole owner of
the resort, did not have a cent of In
suuance on tho buildings. The under
writer's raised the rate so high that IL
was impossible for Mr.. Heath to In
sure me buildings. Francis Heath.
the manager. and hts wife and six chill
dren were living In the Salt Palace at
the rear. Mrs. @. H. Rockefeller and
rear of the building. They were hus-
tied out OF the building and most of
the furniture was saved. The women
and children were taken to the home
OF Harry Heagren, manager of the
Salt Palace saucer track, where they
were cared for. Heagren, who lives
near the Salt Palace. was one OF the
first to reach the resort. With Francis
Heaths assistance, he saved the Of
nee furniture and valuable papers and
season contracts which were in the
main building
WILL REBUILD RESORT.
The Salt Palace grounds which con-
tain 10 acres, Is the last of Frederick
Heath's fortune. After looking the
situation over this morning, Mr.. Heath
broke down completely for a few min
utes. With IL, however. came the de-
termination OF a man of younger years
On the site OF the Salt Palace he will
tuild pavilion with a dome shaped
roof. after the architecture OF the Salt
air pavilion for dancing. musical CON
oerts and conventions. II will probably
have ground floor under the pavilion
Tor concessions and amusemenss Heath
expects to spend at least $4,000 in such
building.
The bicycle track will not be touched
until after the present season closes
Ihen II will be remodelcd with n grand
stand on the east side as well as tho
west and seating CAPACITY increased
accommodate the patrons. In re-
oullding the resort. Mr.. Heath says he
hgures on changing the arrangement
X. &. Condie. the Waterman nj the
resort. was the first to discover the fire.
ne turned In an alarm, he says. and
.len notified the police. The flames
hhd thor enyeloped the Third Degree"
..ppncesslon and the wind was carrying
we sparks onto adjoining buildings
The Third Degree" was owned by
White. Savage & co. J. f. White. the
manager, had failed TO pay for the
."ctricity according TO his contract.
and the power was turned off in the
middle OF last week by Francis Heath,
we manager. The concession had been
,,oAhg money for the proprietors ana
nad been closed down. According To-
Heath and Heagren. nobody had been
", ", the place for two or three days.
mite visited the resort this morning
.hu said that his loss would be about
.LVo0. He was unable to account for
we nre. unless workmen had been en-
.aged In fixing the concession in order
!" operate II for Labor day.
TO INVESTIGATE CAUSE
ne cause of the fire Is being in
nesugated by Manager Francis Heath
ana Mr.. Heagren. An effort win be
n'aue To ind out who was In the con-
cession last where the Are broke out,
end " u was OF inoendiary origin
rho salt Palace resort was built by
y company which was organized in 1899.
, rfederick f. Heath and ]. II. Walker
ieased the land for stock In the COM
ptnN. The walls OF the main building.
which was destroyed. was built out
% blocks Of salt hauled from the Great
ssit Lake. II was first used as an ex-
hibit for the resources OF Utah, and
was u mecca for tourists who caine
through the city.
Capt T. o. Angel built the famous
taucer track In the same year. II was
me first OF its kind in the county and
mas proved 10 be the fastest holding
most all OF the worlds records.
The company organized 60 conduct
'he place failed and since that time