The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1911-01-26
Three FARGO BUSINESS
HOUSES WIPED OUT
Continued From Page One.

the first fire, it was some little time
before they reached the scene of the
big blaze.
A number of the witnesses of the
confiagration stated that when the de-
partment arrived, they had given up
| all hopes of saving any of the build
ing, so great had been the spreading
of the blaze. The fire fighters jumped
into the work without any hesitation.
and although the smoke was very
dense, they put up some good work
with the blaze.
In remarkably short time the fire.
man had the blaze under control and
instead of the entire building burn
ing, as was expected, only the rear
! portion was damaged Much praise
was given the department for the eff
| fective work done.
| iFiremen Overcome.
| While fighting the flames, Chief
Sutherland became overcome with
smoke and was in a very bad condi-
ton. He was taken to the fire station
and although somewhat sick through
out the day, from the heavy smoke
which he breathed, he will recover in
few days.
Fireman Eddie Loden was badly in
jured while working in the basement
when the smoke was the worst He
was overcome with black clouds and
| fell to the floor. In falling he struck
his head on some hard object which
stunned him. Some of his colleagues
came to his rescue quickly and as
sisted the stricken man to the open
Al,
house, where the injuries were dress
ed by physician. Later, during the
day, he was taken over to the new
station, where there is less noice, and
he will be allowed to rest easier. Be
sides being injured, Loden is very
sick from the gases he breathed while
| fighting the flames.
While the firemen were at work in
the basement their task was most
arduous one. The flames here were the
iercest and lack of pure air. made the
smoke and gases very bad.
Cause Not Known.
| The cause of the conffagration is not
known. Starting as it did from the
front corner of the basement, where
there was nothing that is known to
cause a blaze to begin, much specula-
ton has been started regarding the
cause of the blaze. The most reliable
authorities seem to think that it was
started from a defective electric wire
| Of some kind. Others think that spon
| taneous combustion might have start
ed the fire.
This basement, while under the
tailor shop, was not used by the firm.
The trading stamp house used por-
ton of 1t, but not the front. where
the blaze originated. The combustion
theory started from the fact that the
front of the cellar had not been clean
ed for some time.
The Losses.
The Fargo Tailoring Co. was the
heaviest loser. This business. is owned
by Skoog & Rydstrom, and according
to H. u. Rydstrom, one of the propri-
etors, their loss in stock alone win
amount to about $4,000 while with the
fixtures and other things in the room
the total will possibly. reach $4,000.
The firm carried about $1,000 worth
of insurance on the stock and about
$500 on the fixtures.
Yesterday a large stock OF goods
was received and placed on the shelves.
all of which was destroyed. The men
connected with the shop had just COM
pleted placing the goods in position
last night before closing time and the
boxes remain along the side of the
building this morning which held the
goods when they were shipped.
"As YET we have no plans for the
future, although of course we expect
to start again as soon as is possible"
said Mr. Rydstrom this morning.
Alex Stern 81 Co own the building.
Alex Stern is out Of the city attend
ing the legislature, and his brother,
Max Stern, is looking after the inter-
ests of the Arm. The loss on the
building will be over $4,000, which is
fully covered by insurance,
Architect O'Shea had men at work
by o'clock this morning erecting a
temporary front to the building. The
structure will be enclosed and work
will be started at once towards re-
building the damaged property. and It,
is expected that this viii be completed
In sixty days.
The S. e H. Green Trading Stamp
Go. will lose about $4,000 worth OF
goods. which is fully covered bv In