The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1922-05-01
WAREHOUSE FIRE 7
LOSS HERE WILL :
RUN To s150,0O0
Washlta Valley Broom Storage Com
panys Building Completely De-
stroyed; Only WaIIs and
Debris Mark Place.
WAS LARGEST EXCLUSIVE
BROOM CORN WAREHOUSE
Origin Not Known; LIns and En-
ploye Awakened by Falling Tim
bers; Have Only Tlme to Es-
cape; Caught East End.

Fire of unknown origin early this
morning totally destroyed the build
ing and contents of the Washita
Valley Broom Corn Storage COM
pany's warehouse southeast OF the
city. causing loss estimated at
approximately $i50.000.
The building which, according to
George ]. Line, manager of the COM
pany, was the largest exclusive
broom. corn warehouse in the United
States, was valued at approximate
ly $4,000. It was a large brick
structure, 200 feet by GA feet, two
stories high on the extreme west
end and three stories on the east.
This building was totally ruined In
the flames, only burned walls aud
debris marking the place where 1t
once stood.
Five hundred tons of broom corn
valued at from $100 to $160 per ton.
were stored in the warehouse. This
corn was the property of the Thom-
as Lyons Broom Corn company OF
Arcola, III. Mr.. Lins, manager OF
the Washita Valley Broom Corn
Storage company, is an official OF
the Thomas Lyons company.
Origin Mystery.
The origin Of the disastrous blaze
is q mystery. lncendiarism Is one
of the theories advanced by Mr..
Lins, who. was the first to discover
the fire. Awakened by falling de-
Ebris, Mr.. Lins and Harry Mitchell.
an employe of the company, who
sleep in the building, discovered the
fire Just in time to escape. They
were sleeping in tho west end or
the building The fire started III
the second or third story on the
east end. The alarm was turned In
about $3.50 o'clock.
While Mr. Lins was calling the
city fire department, n crew OF
Rock Island switchmen, attracted by
the flames, saved few pieces OF
office furniture. Mr.. Lins automo-
bile which had been left near the
building also was saved.
The building being located outside
of the city limits and more than
mile from a fire plug. the fire de-
partment was unable to check the
blaze. In fact they could makes no
endeavor Because of the muddy
condition of the road, the chemical
machine and pump could not get to
the scene of the fire, Mr.. Lins said.
Explosions Are Heard.
The mystery Of the fire Is not
confined to the origin. There were
several explosions from the burning
building. Some say these were
caused by combustion In the broom
corn bales, while others advance
other theories. Mr.. Lins says the
loud reports may have been from ex'
plosions Of the fire extinguishers
which were located at different
places in the building.
There were no explosives in the
building, according to Mr.. Lins.
Several dynamite caps were stored
in one of the rooms but these were
{ removed from the building, he said.
Office furniture and equipment
n valued at approximately $4,000; one
l. thousand dollars worth of house
furniture stored in the building ana
. valuable mailing list OF broom
! manufacturers were consumed In
the flames.
!! Loss Partly Covered.
= One-third of the loss is covered by
r. insurance, Mr.. Lins said today.
1t The building was known as the
re old knitting mill building, which was
lie constructed several years ago. Ii
e. 1919, it was purchased by MIR. Linz
and associates and converted int'
ic broom corn warehouse.
d. Whether the company Will con
n, struct a new warehouse here Is no
g, yet known.