Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-01-15
Graves Cigar Co. Plant n
Destroyed; Heavy Loss
to Adjoining Store
DAMAGE ESTIMATED
AT ABOUT s5O,Ool
City Commissioners and
Deputy Fire Marshal
Called to Scene


origin Thursday evening ana thlo
morning which aggregate : los e.
$4,000. ssS
They were 1t the Graves oleaeSS|
factory on South Market street auA
the Dunbar indoor baseball court G.
East Main street near Jefferson. Thos
fact that both followed so closely g.
the heels Of the 100000 blaze witch
wiped out portion OF the retail dis.
trict Tuesday morning and that thsVA 4
had gained considerable hoadway ~.
fore they were discovered ID being -
garded by many people IN OttumWa u. 4
day as more than a mere coincidence.
Deputy State Fire Marshal "A. H. Zim-
norman. who was in the city on NJ
call from the commission in regard W
Tuecday's blaze, is working on the new
cases.
Breaks Up Dinner.
The first call came at $3.50 from the
Graves factory while Mr.. Zimmerman,
the commissioners and Chief Sloan
were being entertained at dinner By
the Retail Merchants association at \
the Commercial club. Mr.. Sloan left
at once and was soon followed by the
commissioners who assisted In direct.
ing the work OF the men. When they
arrived at the cigar factory. flames
were shooting from the roof Of the
shop room at the southeast corner Of
the second floor rear. The aerial
truck was run down Commercial street
but the plug at Main and Market was
frozen and no water could be had
there. Hose streams were than play
ed on the blaze from the alley be-
tween the Graves factory and the
Lagomarcino-Grupe wholesale fruit
house toward whicn the flames were
reaching. Another line from the front
stairway checked the blaze which was
moving toward the front OF the build
ing. ssss
Lett Stove Banked.
Fred Bills, who Is foreman at the 4
Graves factory, says that he left the
stove well banked for the night and
could see no reason for the place lavs
ing become ignited from that sourc0sa|
The fact that the blaze all seemed
to be In the manufacturing room,sa
where there Is quantity OF work3
benches and equipment made OF light
perishable lumber, together with what
stock would be left for the next day.
leads to the theory that 1t started 81 1
there. The front room Of the factory
which Is store room for box goods
and as dry room for filters, and the Il
cellar where the leaf tobacco is stored
both suffered the former from smoke
The loss to the cigar factory is esti.s;
mated by it's owners to be $4,000. In
sured for $4,000. The T. D. Foster
-. j. l>,,i1dl~~ o,,N
Foster says that 1t is worth III, 900
fully covered by insurance.
Damages Niemeyer store.
The south half Of the lower part ofsS..
the Graves building and all OF the II
next adjoining structure are occupied
by Niemeyer Brothers with their
wholesale paper house and paper box
factory. While the flames did not 4
reach their place yet their loss ~
heavy from water and smoke. The
box factory was drenched and water
poured into the cellar where several
cars of paper, tablets. matches, etc..
were stored. The loss there is estissS
mated at 100000 The Foster estat1s
owns that building, too, but little dam
age was done to it. The cellar ia
filled with water and the roof Is dam
aged. ss
other Places Escape. slss
The ]. I. Finnerty commissions
house. the Salvation Army hall and
the M. P. r. & L. cigar factory which
Join the Graves building on the north
facing on Market street, and the Lago-%
marcino-Grupe Wholesale fruit house
which faces on Commercial but iS
near the rear of the place, were not
damaged to any extent. The fruit
house was not injured at all, Mr.. F1ns5
nerty has smoke and water damage t0&
the extent Of $500 to 800 fully insur.S
ed, the army hall was drenched and
the M. P. r. e. L. people escaped
with loss of $500 to $1,000 fully in-S
sured. 81 y
Baseball Court Burns.
The second blaze Of the night was
at the A. r. Dunbar baseball court. 3D.
East Main street. It was discOyereds
about 2 o'clock by Charles CelaniA,k q
who was in his place OF business di@saa
rectly across the street The falling
of glass when the front blew out atss|
tracted Mr.. Celania's attention and
he turned in the alarm. Il
Continued on Page n
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