The weekly tribune and the Cape County herald. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1914-1918, 1915-08-13
PUTS HIS SHIRT
ON MULE TO GET
IT OUT OF FIRE
Henry Buckner Tells How
He Saved Animal From
Lumber Blaze.
FIRE LOSS IS $4,000;
INSURANCE IS $4,000
Fred Frueh, Brewery Fireman,
Discovered Blaze in Phillips
Plant-SmOker Blamed.

How the first men who reached tie
fire which virtually wiped out the
Phillips Lumber and Fuel Co., at JcI-
fcrson and South Fountain streets, ran
down the lanes Of blazing lumber piles
searching for persons whose lives
might be endangered, kicked in tie
door Of a shed and pulled. bIind-foldcd,
a mule from the burning lumber yard,
Sunday night was told to reporter
for The Tribune after fire had dc
vastated the place.
The fire started in the mule shed.
it is believed, from a lighted cigarette
dropped by trcspasser. The first
b,a2e was seen by Fred Fruch, OF 325
South Sprigg street, fireman at the
brewery nearby, who was eating his
lunch about 1916 o'clock Sundar
night.
He Immediately warned Engineer
John Wuchrlc, of 52G Good Hop,
street, who began blowing the brewery
whistle as fire alarm. TIE blasts
from the whistle attracted the attcr-
ton Of many persons in the ncighbor-
hood who ran to the lumber yard.
Patrolman Grocc tclcphoned a fir
alarm from the brewery and it was al
most II o'clock before the fircmcn
could throw any water on the blaze.
The flames swept through the yard,
leaping from pile to pile Of lumbcn
til they enveioped the office buildinc
and small paint house at the right Of
the office
The total loss is estimated by J. w.
Phillips, general manager at S31 900.
The stock of the company recently had
been invoiced at $4,000, he said. The
shed and buildings were valued at
$4,000, the office fixtures and equip
ment at $1,000 and the teams and
hauling equipment at $1,000.
The entire property was covered b.
Insurance policies aggregatinG $23 600 /
The place had been almost complete
ly destroyed by fire about years ago. !
when the loss was similar in size.
It is believed that the fire had burn |
ed for several minutes before it was
seen by Frueh, for he declared he no
tjced a reflection of light on houses in /
tie immediate vicinity before he saw .
tie blaze and had wondered what tn
reflection was caused by.
Probably the first to reach the yard !
after the alarm had been sounded was |
Henry Buckner, who ran through the |
place, when the flames were Canine |
Roadway. He saw no one in the yard. |
He made his way to the stable in .
the rear part of the yard The Flames |
already filled the pace. as he kicked |
in the door and ran inside to attempt |
to, get four mules hitchcd in Their
stalls from the burning building.
He cut one loose and attempted to
lead it out. The mule baked, and 4
piece Of burnig timber falling, set the
name afire. The mule fell t.
its knees and Buckner stripped his
shirt from his body and blind-foldcl
the beast. He then managed to pull
it out of the shed.
He went back for a second animal.
One had fallen near the door. Buck
ncr says he called to some negroes
who were near the door to aid him,
but they fled when he called them. He
was forced to leave the animal when
the flames endangered his own life
Three mules were burned to death.
As Buckncr made his way through
Ike lumber yard to the stable, Arthur
c. Lorimier. of St. Louis, formerly .
member of the fire department there.
who was visiting relatives in Haarig,
together with his brother Ralph Lori
ner, Anton Schrader, $50 S. Sprigg I
street, and Floy Kouchmann, ran t.
he railroad SIDING. They released the
brakes of carload of cement and ran
t out of the yard. The car was partly '
managed by fire. {
Two other cars We're standing on the ;
siding, but by the time the men re
nrned to attempt to run them out, the
ire had completely surrounded them. !
They were forced to quit the yard. i
The fire was one of the largest in
cape Girardeau for several months.
An attempt was made by the firemen |
o save the office building, but on ac- I
cunt of weak water pressure, their 6
work was futile. The flames reached /
| large stock of paint kept in that {
'uilding and it was impossible to clear e
he place of fire.
The paint cans exploded, throwing &
'urning paint several feet out of the t
oadway. Some of the explosions were t
# such violence that whole cans of J.