The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1913-07-01
The Blaze Was First Discover.
ed 10 The Roof
And Spread Very Rapidly
Over Entire Structure
The Loss VIII Reach $l0,O00
MANY Men Ont Of Work


Frsdsrsektown, Ohio. June 27-A
stunning blow wac dealt Fredsriek.
town industry when the J. D. Foote
Foundry Co.'S plant wac. slmost total.
" destroyed BY Nrs bstwssH to:3o o.
clock and midnight Thursday night.
the ssss wsIs sssrssats nearly. $4,000
and will seriously affect about fifty
families vine have bssn dependent vp.
on thIs foundry for iiveilhood. The
matter ef rebuilding 10 uncertain
end will not bs definitely dsoidsd up.
On Tor . period Of several days.
The fre started In the roof Of the
molding room and It Is believed to
have been caused By q smouldering
spark dropping into one Of the vent
holes Of the roof during the afternoon.
Tue spark came from the cupola
while mould was being poured. but
did not ignite the dry timbers Of the
roof until late at night. Nightwatch-
man Jacob Hoenich was making his
rounds Of the factory shortly before
1880 O'Clock and noticed ANAL
iblsse % the roof Of ~ noldins room.
This was mo unconnpA occurrences
and, being skilled ~ Anch practice,
hastily made his. way aloft and at.
tempted to extinguish the are without
aid. The flames, however. he'd gained
much moro headway than was appar-
.ent from below and hs could do moth.
ting with them. He descended and
raised an alarm. Soon the viiiage was
astir and the rather Inadequate nre
department was hastily brought Into
action.
When preparations had been com.
pieted to fight the Are Il had spread
over nearly the entire roof and the
flames were rapidly gaining In size
and strength. The amount Of water
that could be thrown by the firemen
was feeble In comparison with
the size OF the confiaaration and moth
Ing could be- done to save the molding
room and practically everything con.
nected with II was totally destroyed.
The vain fight was continued In
hopeless manner for q time and then
Il was seen that buildings nearby
were being threatened. Attention
was then turned toward the saving
Of these and the walls nearest the fire
were kept soaked with water. The
machine shop and assembling room OF
the foundry Is two story brick
structure and stands near the molding
room. This was saved after q hard
fight, but the entire department to
which the m0lding room ID connected
was burned to the ground. The once
also stood near to the scene OF the
nre and the officials Of the foundry
company made haste to remove the
books and valuable records to q
place OF safety. This precaution was
unnecessary. however, a. the building
Vas saved by means Of water beins
thrown on the roof and walls.
Under ordinary circumstances Il u
believed that the destroyed buildings
could be saved. but dust explosions
that occurred after the call had haeu
sent for the Are department and be
fore Il arrived scattered burning
brands throughout the entire building
and gave the Are such a large area
that the available fire Aghtins appar
stus was ineffective. No one Wal
injured by the explosions although
several OF them were of . more or lesi
violent nature. The roof Of the fac
tory was very dry and made the bss
possible fuel for the hames. Tn,
vent holes In the roof through whicl
the sparks dropped arc for the pui
pose Of getting rid Of smoke AM
steam that collected Ia the room b.
low.
The foundry proper which wa
destroyed was q one and one hal
story affair and covered a large are
OF ground. II was constructed q
wood and brick. The brick buildin
destroyed was the old facrory forme
~ known as the Bell Foundry. br
ahe wooden buildings were creation