The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1911-03-10
MARROW ESCAPE OF S. n. GRAN.
MS DURING FORENOON.

the Elevator of Byrnes Bros,
He Rushes Forth With Clothing
In Flames; Men at Work There
Cover Him With Gravel; Body
Scorched; the Loss.
From Saturdays Daily
Fire this forenoon badly damaged
Byrne Bros elevator on Cherry
street, conducted by S. H. Grannis,
and it was by the merest chance
that the latter did not receive fatal
burns. AS il was, the clothing was
burned from him and his beard and
eyebrows and hair We're singed He
was covered with sand and the
flames squelched.
load of corn on the cob had
come in, and Nj. Grannis thought
that he would start the corn shelter
and shell it. The gasoline engine
under the elevator was cold, and he
soaked a rag in gasoline and set fire
to it under the cylinder, to warm
it up, so il would run. He found
that the engine needed more gaso-
line, so he put out the fire under the
cylinder as he thought, and started
to pour in some gasoline from a
can holding two or three gallons.
Must Have Been Sparks.
There must have been some sparks
of fire left under the cylinder for the
gasoline exploded and threw 2 sheet
of flame upon Mr.. GranniS and all
over the surrounding woodwork, and
this at once blaZed up. Mr.. Gran
MIS- clothing was set on fire. He
threw off his overcoat and under coat
and this relieved the situation for
him momentarily but the fame i'm
! his trousers spread upward and
| burned the garment partly off. He
tried to put out the blaze with sack
but this had no effect whatever He
, then rushed out of doors, with his
clothing in flames, and made for the
big pile of gravel a few feet away,
that the city is piling up for use in
street paving.
Buried in the Sand.
Mr.. Carpenter and others who are
doing the teaming were on hand and
realized Mr.. Grannis' serious predica-
ment, and they literally buried him
in the gravel This put the flames
out, but not until his flesh had been
scorched, his injuries were fortu-
nately very slight as compared with
what they might have been, and his
personal loss was confined to a suit
of clothes
In the meantime the flames shot I'D
the ELEVATOR shaft and blaze was
started in the top of the elevator
The fire department was summoned
at about eleven O'Clock, and soon had
water on. More hose was sent for,
and holes were chopped in the sides
of the building, and the fire was
| finally flooded out. All elevator fires
are difficult TO cope with the building
being OF inflammable material, dry
and dusty, and in view of all the
| circumstances the firemen made a
! good stop and with reasonable
! quicknesS. Had there been a heavy
northwest wind blowing, the fire
might have been much more serious,
as the sparks would have fallen on
the store buildings close by. What
| little wind there was blew from the
south and sent the sparks into the
street. The water pressure was ex.
! cellent
Building an Old One.
The building is an old one, that
was elected by j. G. Roller, now of
! Denver, Col, and was operated by
him for many years. He sold it
to Mr.. Grannis, and the latter dis
posed of it to Byrnes Bros, and re-
manned with them as manager. Mr..
Grannis states that the loss on the
building will not exceed $1,000 and
that the insurance on building was
$500 The elevator contained bins of
shelled corn, wheat, oats and clover
seed, of total value of about $4,000.
The loss on this is largely from
water and smoke, and will be COW
cred by a blanket insurance carried
on the contents of Byrnes Bros line
of elevators.
Expressed His Appreciation.
Mr.. GranniS stated this afternoon
that the man who really saved his
life is De Forest Carpenter. Mr.. Car
penter is the one who told Mr.. Gran
mis- to run to the sand pile, where
workmen covered him with sand and
smothered the flames Mr. Grannis
expresses his appreciation for what
the men did for him.