The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1915-12-17

ton shortly. He said that he would
rather engage in business here than
in any other city.
= Terror Gripped Hearts
While the flames were licking up
toward the sky and the smoke and
steam rolling like a pail around the
burning commercial college block, ter
ror griped the hearts OF guests i'm the
Saulpaugh hotel adjacent, as 1t was
feared that the building might catch
fire I'm spite of the efforts being made
to save IL. A young married couple
who we're spending the night at the
Saulpaugh were much frightened.
Along about six o'clock this morning,
when the fire was raging fiercely they
began to have ideas of changing their
boarding place, and finally gathered
their belongings in a sheet and es-
capped from the menaced building
Baggage of a number of other guests
was also taken out. After the fire
was under control and the people
were coming TO work about 1880 this
morning the young man and wife
were still in doubt whether to entrust
their lives to the hotel or not, but
stood undecidedly at a safe distance
until the remarks of passersby caused
them to re-enter the hotel.
Dangers to firemen in times of fire
are many. and few realize the many
narrow escapes which these men
have. While fighting the fire early
this morning. Z. NJ. Zuel accidentally
collided with a ladder placed against
the building, knocking his temple in
such a manner as to daZe him for a
minute, and was bearing a nice black
and blue bruise on his head this
morning. Walt Daniels, also a fire
fighter, received a little more dousing
than necessary, and was almost
knocked down by a stream of water.
which hit him squarely in the face.
Warming to Crowd.
For awhile this morning, as the
people on the opposite side of the
street were watching the fire, IL looked
as though the brick walls of the
building might collapse. and p. G.
Morrell and others warned the crowd
to keep away from I'm front of the
burning building. Had the structure
collapsed at that time many lives
the falling bricks.
Many young people, who clerked in
the New York store were sorrowfully
viewing the remains this morning,
many having hurried to the scene
while the fire was at it's height These
salesladies and statesmen are now out
OF jobs and, just at the holiday sea-
son. A number OF the clerks had
bought Christmas gifts for their
friends at the store. which were being
saved I'm the office for them and these
gifts also went up in smoke.
Fascinated Crowds.
Fascinated crowds Of spectators
congregated on Front street today to
view the ruins of the Commercial
college block. and the pulling down of
the tottering walls occasioned quite
bit of excitement. street car traffic
being stopped during that time.
Commercial college students who
came to go to school this morning
were much surprised at finding no
school to go to. Other students who
were aware of the fire waited around
tho street. and Professors Brandrup
and Nettleton soon called a meeting
of the students at the Y. NJ. c. A.,
to organize the school, The Woman
hall. and the hall over Richards store
was rented. and will be used for con-
tinuing the school. Each student
lost books and material in the fire
amounting to several dollars.
Cause Of Fire Unknown.
What was the cause of the fire will
probably never be known. Chief Phil
lip Leas Is inclined 10 attribute Il "a
carelessness on the part of employees
of the New York store in leaving
rubbish near the furnace. as a fire that
amounted to very little was started
in that very place in that very way a
short time ago. However. Philip C.
Morrell. the proprietor, scouts this
idea. He admits that a short time
ago fire was caused in this way. but
he points out that at that time the
smaller boiler was being used instead
OF the larger one, and that this I'm
expectedly heated an iron door. which
was In partition, on the other side
OF which rubbish was often placed
Since this little fire had occurred
Mr.. Morrell said, his men had been
very careful to place the rubbish
away from every dangerous place and
, the floor had been swept carefully
He said he did not think any careless
handling Of the rubbish had been the
cause of the fire.
IL is thought that there will soon
be a movement made for better fire
fighting facilities, in the way OF larg-
er water mains, and better equipment
all around. Some recommendation
were made along this line by Engi-
neer E. Z. Townsend, when he visited
Mankato to ascertain what this city
needed in the way OF better fire pro-
lection, in order TO give Il promotion
In the classification OF cities for fire
insurance rates. He required that
the capacity for distributing city
water be increased, and that the well
capacity be increased to at least
1000 gallons per min,he.
What Janitor Said.
, Herman Heller, the janitor. said
Il left the building at six O'Clock last
evening. looked at the furnace
There was little fire. put on no coal
The theatre people told me IL was
warm enough. There were no papers
or anything else around the furnace
that could catch fire."
! From Fridsv's Daily.