The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-06-21

parts of the yard, out of reach of
the flames. Yet some were left on
the other side of the crossing on
Elm street, and the roofs were soon
covered with spectators. All trains
were blocked for several hours, as
the malt house stood on the side of
the tracks, and any trains passing
would be in danger of catching fire
also, while the distractions of which
fell from the building, would not
permit any train to pass the build
ing.
Early in the evening, the oil bar
rels in the basement caught fire and
loud explosion occurred. The fire
men shouted to the crowd to get
back, as there was live wire some
where near the building. which
might at any time fall, and electro
cute those coming in contact with
1t. The current running into the
malt house was shut off after this
explosion, and only the street lights
| used. However, no other illumination
was needed near the fire, as the
flames made night like day.
Many Lines of Hose.
AS soon as it was possible, some
thing like seven or eight different
lines of hose were connected with
the Front street main, but this les
sened the pressure to such an ex-
tent, that the number was decreased
as soon as the buildings were out of
danger, and only those necessary to
throw water on the burning building
itself were used. 1t is said that the
, water main on North Front street.
opposite the building, is only six
inches in diameter, which, of course,
could not feed the water fast enough
J for seven streams and give anything
, like the desired pressure
Barley Bins Burst.
About ten o'clock, the barley ele-
vators and bins holding the barley,
burned through and burst, sending
down several swift streams of grain,
which poured out through the win
| dows near the bottom. A box car
containing $4,000 pounds of barley,
had been unloaded about three hours
before the fire, and together with
the other grain, it is said, thousands
Of bushels of barley and malt went
down to teh ground in a heap, al
though not all of the grain was con-
s'lmed. The tall tank, which is
made of iron, crashed to the bot
tom, through the partitions and
floors, to the ground, and with it
the 100000 pounds of barley. This
tore through the floors with terrible
] force, sending up fresh storms of
sparks and clouds of smoke.
The mailing drums were also
made of iron and these were de-
strOyed, when their foundations
burned away. At $40 one whole
wall crashed toward the ground,
hanging half ways, as it were, and
ready to complete it's fall at any
moment The corrugated iron wall
! in the scale house was one mass of
red, melting into black sheet of
| iron. $50.
There were in reality about five
buildings, connected by chutes and
built close together. The highest one
was of concrete and slow burning,
so that there was little danger of
spreading the fire to the nearby
buildings from this structure. 1t
was the woodwork in the cheaper
built structures in the rear that re-
ers. The huge eighty-foot chimney
near the main building, was in lit
tie danger, although at times, it ap-
peared as though it would crash to
the ground, but guy wires and con-
! Meeting rods with the building, held
it intact. The walls of the building
;, were very thick especially near the
base. One of the buildings had two
foot thick walls at the bottom, which
gradually tapered to fourteen inches
near the top. The building that burn
i ed the quickest and that received
most of the attention was in the
!, rear of the concrete structure. and
was a frame affair, covered with
galvanized iron sheeting
; The coke which was used as a
. water filter to clear the atmosphere
|, in the drum room, was also burned,
the boiler room being practically the
!, only building that was saved
Origin Is a Mystery.
Just how the fire started is a mys.
, terry. The supposition is advanced
, that the building caught fire from
friction in the sawdust, but this is
, hardly correct. Peter Paa, the night
foreman, made his rounds ten minutes
! before the fire was discovered, and
) at that time could see nothing that
: would indicate that there was any
5 fire or smoke. Emil Hildebrand, the
= day foreman, went through all the
7 buildings at $40 and at that time
could notice nothing wrong. The ma
chinery shut down at five o'clock
although steam was kept in the
) boiler, but the fire is said to have
r started from the elevator shaft