East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1913-08-06
TWO FIRES MAKE WOE.
Contained from page one.)

i iully COfeIS the QdmdRe.
Fire Proves Stubborn.
The fire in the laundry building
proved a stubborn one to fight, the
flames having burned their way up
! into the rafters, but after an hours
hard work, the firement finally con-
| quered them. The roof and upper
part Of the engine room was entirely
destroyed and the upper story Of the
laundry building proper badly dam
aged by fire and water. Fortunately
the flames were kept out of the ad-
dition which J. F. Robinson, the own
er, recently constructed. Mr.. Robin
son Is unable to make an estimate of
the damage done to him but it is safe
to say that it will amount to $1,000
or $500. He carried $4,000 insurance
on the building and about $4,000 on the
machinery but there was little ddam-
age done to the latter. His greatest
loss will be in time as he will be un-
able to operate for several days al
though he has orderedd laundry ex-
pert from Portland to assist him in
| getting his plant in shape. But little
OF the laundry in the building was
damaged and Mr.. Robinson is send
ing patches of clothes to Walla Walla
| today to be laundered.
Spark Probably Started 1t.
| Mr. Robinson is undedr the impress
sion that the fire started from a spark
| settling on the roof from his smoke
stack. He states that he had had a
hot fire in the engine and that early
in the evening he had noticed that the
SCOT in the stack was burning out.
He thinks it very probable that it
burned out again later in the even
ing and a spark alighted upon some
dry leaves on the roof igniting them.
Ii was impossible for it to have been
started from defective wiring as all
OF the wires had been cut during the
Improvement which was under way.
The fire threatened for a time TO
| spread to the F. E. Welch residence
Just west of the Power home but by
the use of garden hose this was pre-
vented. Had there been any wind at
all, the work of preventing the spread
of the flames would have been much
more difficult. Fortunately, however,
the breeze which had sprung up ear
lier in the evening, died down just
before the fire broke out.
Believe Other Fire Set.
/. The firemen were still fighting the
laundry fire at 1925 but had it well
in hand when another alarm was
sounded and the fire fighters were no
, titled that the academy building was
burning. 1t took some little time to
reel up the hose and get to the scene
of the second fire and by the time wa
ter was secured, the building was
doomed. One company played it,
stream upon Brown Hall, the dormi'
tory. and saved that building while
another kept down the flames on the
north side and prevented them from
igniting the tall, dry grass on the ole
cemetery.
1t is almost the universal belief IL
the city that the second fire was Sc
by an incendiary who took advant
age of the opportunity offered by th'
other fire. More credence is givel
by the report of two young men that
. while making their way to the laun
, dry fire along the river road, the.
were attracted by noise in the acad
emy building and thought they OBJ
served a small light but deeming /
? to be a reflection of the other fire
paid no heed to it The building ha
been unoccupied for more than {
year. II was owned by Lincoln Mea
dor a prominent real estate dealer o
Walla Walla. and he had it insured
for $4,000 with the Citizens Insuranc'
.. Company of Missouri for which Heart
and Folsom are the local agents.
Miss Crafts, a sister of Mrs. Marion
Jack, was one of the first TO notice
: the blaze and gave the alarm. II. w
Judd, undertaken at Bakers, made tn
ddiscovery as he was going home from
/ the downtown fire and returned t
notify the firemen. He caught
/ glimpse of the blaze through one o
the upper story windows The fir'
was set. if set il was, in the garret FOL
it broke through soon to the roof ant
spread lazily from the center down the
slopes of the roof until the whole tor
was a mass of flame tongues. No
until the roof began falling in did the
fire leap very high into the air bu
when the interior walls, which were
Iall of wood, caught, the building be-
came a veritable pit of flames. From
time to time portions of the roof fel
to the ground outside the brick walls
and ignited the grass but these little
blazes were quickly subdued. Resi-
, dents of the neighborhood were al
armed for fear the burning cinder:
would alight on other houses anC
garden hoses were brought into play
The absence of any wind undoubted
edly prevented other fires for stiff
breeze would have endangered the
entire north side.
1t was probably 8 O'Clock this morn
ing before the flames died down anC
today the embers are still shoulder
ing. The brick walls are still stand
ing but the building is regarded a!
almost a total loss.
Water Force Good.
Quite a good deal of criticism ha'
, been heard because the Court stree
fire plug was not in working order
superintendent Frank Hays of the wa
terworks declares its refusal to wori
was caused by the use of hydrants t
fill the street flusher. He states
that the threads on the hyddrants arr
calculated to allow quick action bu
/, are easily worn out and that constan
use of this one by the operator o
the street flusher had put 1t entirel!
, out of working order. At the last ties
about three weeks ago. he states tn,
hydrant was in perfect working or
| 4 hnAl