The weekly tribune and the Cape County herald. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1914-1918, 1916-05-12
WIRING STARTS
$4,000 FIRE IN
CLOTHING STORE
Flames Eject Three Families
into Main Street-NOne
Injured.
FIRE HOSE SPLITS
IN WELLER STORE
Roof Of William Street Residence
Is Burned 10 Minutes
Before.

IRE, Which Is believed to have
started from defective wiring in 4
room in the rear part of q clothing
tore at 124 North Main street, last
night drove three families into the
street and resulted in damage approx
mating $4,000 None was injured and
lie blaze was confined to one room and
Il tin-lined light shaft between the
building occupied by the clothing store
and the y. S. Weller jewclry store.
The occupants of the apartments
overhead were forced to move much of
their furniture into the street when
their rooms became threatened with
The flames. The confusion of moving
INTO the street was doubled when one
OF the links Of the city's fire-fghting
hose broke in the doorway of the
Weller store. doing much water dam
are to the fixtures of the store as well
- to the floor The contents OF the
cases inside the store had been coy
led up in anticipation of sale which
was to have been held Saturday.
The clothing store wherein the fire
first got its start is conducted by w. L.
.;oTrels. who moved to the Cape last
November with his family. He opened
the store in February and carried. he
SAID last night, a stock OF goods worth
approximately $4,000. He has it in
sUred to the extent of $500 he said.
There were two rooms i'm the rear
Of the store room proper. One of
these, in which the fire occurred. Is
used as store room and contained q
quantity Of boxes and cartons in which
clothing supplies had been shipped TO
Sorrcls.
This material had been completely
burned By the flames. The blaze broke
cut O. a window opening into the light
court between the Sorrcls place and
yhe Weller store, and the flames made
their way to the second floor up this
shaft.
" Samuels, who resides with his
family over the Weller store, was
called to his home when the fire broke
out. and began carrying furniture
from the building When he saw the
size of the blaze mounting up the
light shaft, however. he desisted from
trying to save his furniture and
fought the fire out OF the windows Of
his apartment with buckets OF water.
He managed to keep the flames out
of his home and confined it to the
lower part Of the shaft
The firemen, on their arrival five
minutes after an alarm had been sent
in, fought the blaze from q window in
The rear part Of the Weller store. A
half hour after the fire had started it
had been extinguished. The alarm was
turned in shortly after Z o'clock.
The rooms over the clothing store
were occupied by r. W. Fox, a waiter
at the Crescent lunch room, likewise
by Arthur Flat, painter, and Sam
Mill. In the apartment next south
lives the family of Charles Sepranzo,
who is part owner of the Sweet Shop
across the street.
The damage on the second floor is
slight. and it is believed the damage
to the jewelry store will be compara-
lively small. The entire stock of the
clothing store was damaged by water
and smoke which filled the place.
Mr.. SorreIs resides with his family |
on Broadway over the Umbeck gro
Gerry store. He had locked his store
at o'clock and after talking with |
Thomas f. Clark, the music man, for !
few minutes departed to take his |
wife to the skating rink
He said that at the time he had left |
he store there was no fire inside in |
any of the rooms. Mr. Clark declared !
that when the fire first was discovered |
he saw, through the windows in the |
door. the flames sputtering about an
NlSAIl II iiSll Wiz, IlbNll SSS II Nllt /
flames had originated at that point.
A large crowd of people gathered on
Main street last night to watch the
fremen fight the blaze.
Scarcely ten minutes before the
alarm for the Main street fire had |
been sounded, the fire department had
returned to the station after having
extinguished blaze which destroyed
the roof of the home of Robert Moore
and W. E. Gentry at 512 William
street.
The cause of the fire on William
street is unknown. 1t was confined to
the garnet of the one-story brick house
and the damage to the furnishings in
the double home was caused for the