Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1913-10-21
FIRE DAMAGES
BUSINESS HOUSES
CONTINUED From Page ~

tage from which to watch the flames.
Mahagony, walnut and other hne fur.
niture pieces that were scattered about
the street awaiting wagons to cart 1t
on, was scratched and covered with
mud by thoughtless spectators
BY the time the fire was well Under
way in the Cooper store, the heat be-
came so intense that persons nearby
were forced to seek more distant
places to watch the scene. Hundreds
of feet of rope was stretched about the
street from Main to the railroad tracks
on Court In order to keep reckless
sightseers from the danger About
1880 the east wall Of the Cooper store
fell in and this did more than anything
else with the aid of the wind which
had then changed, to stem the spread.
ing Of the fire into the next block.
With the falling inward OF the wall
the firemen were able to play several
streams into the building and 1t was
soon seen that the fire had reached It's
limit : II was not yet past danger,
however, for as the mass OF burning
matter In the various structures fell
with floors in the different buildings,
showers of sparks and large burning
embers would be thrown out into the
air and float about the business dis.
trict. At intervals the wall between
some OF the buildings world fall with
la deafening crash and scramble Of
the fremen would follow for the outer
| walls were threatening to collapse.
! The danger Of. the front wall OF the
Cooper store failing led to the police
Z. As.,,. &,,1 a. a vr1 ~
were not at work and prohibiting hem
from going into the street near the
building, About 9 o'clock the crash
came and the mass of brick and stone
that stood four stories high fell In q
heap The scattering Of the debris
endangered number Of OttumWa and
Oskaloosa firemen who were playing
stream into the east side Of the struc-
ture at the time. The wall fell into
Court street.
Seven Are Injured.
Failing glass caused several injuries
to persons aiding the fremen In the
blaze Of last evening. None OF the In
iuries were very serious and most OF
them proved to be slight. The injured:
GEORGE DAY. ia East Myrtle
street. cut by falling glass.
NJ. A. DE HART, $40 West Mechanic
street, hands cut by falling glass
JAMES L. KIRKPATRICK. fireman,
cut around head by falling glass.
HENRY HOWELLS. All West Sec
| ond street. shoulder. leg and wrist cut
by falling glass; slight burns about
face and hands: will be laid up about
three weeks
HENRY WILLIAMS, porter at Elks'
club. shot in the leg by exploding
cartridge.
! ADOLPH LERCHE, 1917 East Fourth
street. slight cut on head by falling
| glass injury not serious.
n. A. Brown, superintendent OF the
Naterworks. was knocked down and
! cut about the arms by falling glass
from the Ottumwa Hardware Co.,
building.
| This Is the second big fire Of the
Cooper firm which had It's stock des-
troyed some two years ago. The ap-
rroach of cold weather found NEST OF
! the firms that suffered loss, we'll stock
cd for the fall and winter trade. and
the losses are thereby augmented con-
siderably.
Dillon Gives Alarm.
| G, S. Dillon who conducts q restaur-
cnt at III West Main street, turned IN
the alarm by telephone from Frank
Res fruit store at 440.
Mr.. Dillon was seated at the counter
~ his restaurant which Is located
directly opposite the Ottumwa Hard
ware company, talking to his wife who
was seated at an oppiste counter.
Glacing out Of the window he saw
smoke coming out from around the
window stills OF the two west windows
iof the second story, Of the hardware
conpany's building. He ran out and
hurried into the fruit store Of Frank
Re which is located a few doors east
and called the fire department.
Many Broken Windows.
Many Of the business buildings with
in short distance Of the fre zone
we're sufferers in varying amounts
though not large Plate glass windows
and doors as we'll as the windows in
the upper floors were either entirely
DESTROYED or cracked by the heat In
some instances small stock damage
re suited amounting to a few hundred
dollars Awnings took fire from
sparks and some Of the windows were
= AV As,sA II