The public ledger. [volume] (Maysville, Ky.) 1913-1968, 1918-03-18
$4,000 FIRE LAST NIGHT
c. u 0. COAL DOCKS AND LARGE
AMOUNT OF COAL DESTROYED
r --HOBOES SUSPECTED OF
HAVING STARTED FIRE
AT DOCKS.
Sphar Pressed Brick Plant and Mays
vile Street Railroad Also Have
, Small LOss-All Traffic on G.
Il 0. Suspended Until Al.
ter Mldnlght-DOcks
VIII Probably be
Rebuil; az
Sprlngdale.

An explosion Of a can Of oil In the
boiler room of the G. & o. coal docks,
just east of this city, last night about
$3.50 o'clock set the big building on,
fire and 1t was burned to the ground.
When portion Of the burning docks
fell across the c. & o. tracks and the
tracks Of the Maysville Street Rail-
road Company the fire soon spread to
the upper sheds Of the Sphar Pressed
Brick plant and burned up a large
section.
Five men are employed on the night
shift at the docks and all of them
were busily engaged in their duties
when the blaze was discovered Will
liam Cobb, foreman, was operating
the engines, H. Brubaker was coaling
the engine of an eastbound freight
train, Hendricks Forman was unload
ing coal out of car into the cellar,
James Fannin was in the cellar feed
ing coal into the bucket and Simon
Hornback was cleaning out the ash
box of an eastbound freight train.
Fannin was the last man in the boil
er room, going there to fill his torch
from a large can Of oil. About ten
minutes after he left the room Horn
back, who was out on the engine, no
ticed fire in the room and gave the
alarm. He rushed to the room and
was about to enter when thirty gal
Ion can Of coil exploded and caused
the whole room to become a mass Of
flames. Had he entered the room a
few seconds earlier he would have
undoubtedly been burned to death.
The fire spread quickly and after a
very short time 1t was seen that there
was no chance to save the building.
There is $4,000 gallon water tank
southeast Of the docks but it was of
little benefit as there were only two
faucets on which hose could be at
tached and these were in the building,
making 1t impossible to use them.
Included with the loss of the docks
was $50 tons Of coal in the large stor-
age bin and 80 tons in the chutes.
However, a large amount Of this will
be saved as 1t was piled so high that
it could not be burned entirely up in
whole year.
The storage sheds of the Sphar
Pressed Brick plant fronting on the
street car line burned for distance
of about $50 feet. These sheds were
filed with pressed brick, which will
be partial loss because of the in
tense heat burning them. That the
whole plant was not destroyed was due
| to the fact that the wind was blowing
east, which is away from the main
buildings and ovens, and also because
large section Of the shed was torn
away, keeping the fire from spread
ing.
I The Maysville fire department was
called upon for assistance but could
render little assistance because there
was no fire plug close enough to at
tach line Of hose. However, mem
bers Of the department we're on hand
and rendered some assistance in di-
recting the. work of tearing away the
sheds and in using chemical ma
chimes.
The origin of the fire is unknown
but 1t is believed that two men who
wanted to stay all night at the docks
on Saturday night set the place af1re.
The men were seen in the vicinity OF
the docks at various times yesterday
and it is thought that they waited un-
til dark and when all the employees
were busy to slip into the boiler room
and start the blaze. II is supposed
that this was done as means Of get
ting revenge for not being permitted
to stay on Saturday night
The coal docks we're built about
nine years ago at cost Of $4,000.
They were modern in every particular
and were equipped with some very ex-
pensive machinery. The building was
of pine, but because it was painted
black many people we're under the i'm
preston that 1t was built Of steel. The
loss to the c. & o. will be about $45,-
900.
The loss to the Sphar Pressed Brick
plant will amount to about $500, as
many Of the bricks will be saved and
others sold as lower grade.
The Maysville Street Railroad Com
pany also loses about $500 In damage
done to ties, rails, poles and wires.
The fire was under control last
night at $3.50 O'Clock but the big pile
Of coal at the docks is still burning
this morning and will continue to
burn until some means can be de-
vised to get water from the storage
tank. All traffic was delayed on the
C. q o. last night until 1910 O'Clock
when the debris had been cleared
away and a new track laid where the
flre had been.
! A large "clam SHELF, or coal dig
ger was sent here this morning by the
c. . o. and viii be used In coaIIns
trains