The weekly soliphone., 1915-01-29
(From Mondays Daily Press)

Nearly seventy-five thousand dol lars worth of merchandise was either consumed or badly damaged last night when fire broke out in the gro cery department of the S. L. Joseph Mercantile Go. on Pruet street and ragged fiercely for three hours. From the grocery department the flames spread to the main building, thence to the adjoining property on the south, completely gutting the build ings occupied by Lackner's Jewelry store and Hopkins drug store. The First National Bank building, which adioins the Lackner store, escaped without damage except from water and broken windows.
 The first information that fire had broken out in the Joseph store came at half past ten o'clock when Burley Beyille, engineer on switch engine, observed a light in the rear of the building. The alarm was quickly giv- en and the city's fire fighting crew responded promptly. Connections were effected with three hydrants, and continuous streams of water were played upon the flaming inter- for in a vain effort to confine the ckiflagtion to that department. Soon, however, the fact became ap- parent that no amount of eXertion could possibly prevent a spread into the main building, whereupon atten- ton was given to the work of mimi mixing the destructive forces. The splendid work accomplished is very readily apparent to anyone who has taken the trouble to go through the interior of the main building and the upstairs sections today. Although the wall paper and ceiling paperings were charred and burnt away, and many of the fixtures in flames, the damage to the building is confined almost exclusively to the front end, where the glass show windogs and cases containing displays of merchan- disc only recently placed on exhibi- ton were kept. Almost the entire front of the building is destroyed, and such articles as counters, cabi- nets and containers throughout the entire store were either scorched or charred In front may be seen a large display of hats-many of them John B. Stetsons only received last week-now complete loss. Water, fire and the burning ends of falling timbers played havoc with things that actually escaped the blazes in this section. All of the bundle bas- kets were burned from their fasten- ings, veneering upon many of the cabinets became overloaded and puff ed up, keys on the Dalton adding machine in the accounting depart
 ment were melted from their set
 tings, some records that had not been placed in the safe went up in smoke, and upon every side one can see the trail of destruction. That the main floor escaped complete devastation can only be accounted for by the fact that the fire fighters put their whole energies into the task at hand and at the risk of personal injury and in the face of falling debris pushed the streams of water into every nook and corner of the building. num- Der of chemical extinguishers were kept on the second floor. These, op- erated by some of the clerical force, did excellent work. But for the time- ly assistance from this source it is not at all certain that the second floor could have escaped heavy tax when the flames fought their way through the entrance leading from the grocery department and began the work of rendering comparatively valueless a stock of merchandise val ued at fifty thousand dollars. Irwin Wolf, one of the managers, stated this morning that only last week, and the week before, several thou sand dollars worth of new spring dress goods and suits for ladies were received and had just been unpacked. The white goods, exposed to heat and smoke, are spot and discolored, al- though not entirely unstable. Hand some gowns of the latest styles de- signed for spring wear had been put in cabinets on the second floor. These cabinets, although supposed to be