Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1910-09-21

The city Of Sharon, ten miles east
of this city, faced crisis on Sunday
evening and for two hours it,
seemed that the destruction of the
greater portion of the business sec
tion of the town was inevitable. A.
w. Schnelle & Sons large depart
ment store caught fire in the in
terror, from an unknown cause, and
in spite of the most heroic fighting
the entire store, consisting of two
buildings, and part of the lumber
yard adjoining, were destroyed. The
loss is estimated at $4,000, with
an insurance of $4,000.
The adjoining buildings were saw
ed by a narrow margin and at great
risk of human life, and great praise
is due the people OF Sharon who
volunteered in the gratuitous work.
A Sharon citizen who was an eye
witness to, and assisted in ex-
tinguishing the fire, furnishes The In
dex with the following detailed re-
port.
THE most disastrous fire in Shar-
on's history was the burning of
Schnelle & Sons big department
store Sunday evening. At about $50
p. m. Frank Upham went to the
front door of the big store and dis
covered that the store was full of
smoke. He quickly notified those
spread. Harve Schnelle was soon
there and unlocked the door but the
smoke was so dense that but few
could stand it. The fire extin-
guishers from Frank Warren's drug
store and E. S. Rules hardware
were brought into use quickly but
the fire was so far on the interior
and the smoke and heat so intense
they could not be worked with much
\ effect. 1t was soon found that there
was no hope for the store and the
fight was to save the adjoining lum-
Der yard on the north and the row OF
frame buildings on the south, that
consisted of Hoyt C Sons double
room furniture store, the post office
and the Globe Hotel. 1t seemed as
though the entire population .of
Sharon was in the fight after the
first ten minutes. The general fire
alarm was given from the telephone
central over the rural lines and the
people came from the country, Med
icine Lodge and Attica, almost as
if by magic, in 80 minutes from the
1000 people were on the streets anG
in the fight, some making the rur
from Attica in twenty-five minutes
The battle royal came in keeping the
fire out of Hoyt's furniture store
when the flames broke through the
big plate glass front of the Schnel
lie store. This was done by one
crew of fire fighters on the roof O.
Hoyt's store, with water in pals
and wet blankets, the blankets be
ing the most effective. Anothe
crew fought from the side-wall
with the water that came in pals
from the several wells around anC
the gasoline engine in Burgett'
blacksmith-shop and Rules garage.
Men, women and children worked
like Trojans, carrying out furnitur,
and before the real crisis came ev
cry piece of furniture was out o
the building scattered up and dowI
the street for two blocks. TIL,
Brehm Jewelry Co., who kept in th
Hoyt store, was also cleared out a
well as the post-office and the Glob
Hotel. At $3.50 p. m, the fire wa
practically under control except 70
a high wind, and the firefighter
kept up. their work until a. m :.
The loss was almost the entire stoc
of dry goods, groceries, shoes, hard
ware, etc. kept in the main store
and the big brick building, 50x1O
feet, except the walls, the old il
Fair & Son frame building tha
stood just north of it., and a par
of the lumber stock that was store
near the frame building. The lun
ber, farm implements buggies an
wagons were mostly saved. The los
TO Mr.. Hoyt will be considerable a
the falling of the fire wall on tn
roof of the adjoining building cave
in and the loss to the furniture
considerable. Mr.. Schnelle had a
insurance of $13.7Oo.OO. His ac