Free trader-journal and Ottawa fair dealer. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1920-1927, 1922-10-02
RUSH TO ASSISTANCE OF
FAMILY AS FLAMES
ATTACK BARNS
100 CHICKENS DIE
MARSElLLES AND SENECA RALLY
TO AID OF l. G. DRAkLEY,
WHOSE PLACE WAS THREAT.
ENED LAST NIGHT BY TOTAL
DESTRUCTION.

The fire departments from Marseii.
les and SeAeca, assisted by large
bucket brigade, battled blaze last
night which burned 100 chickens, two
calves and destroyed barn, corncrib,
chicken house, machine shed. pig
house, windmill, large amount Of
hay. cobs and some farm machinery
at the l. G. Drakley farm, mile and
a half north of Seneca. The blaze,
which started from an unknown origin.
created damage Of about $4,000.
which was only partially covered by
t. urance ID was discovered burning
at 8; % O'Clock by Hans Gjerde as he
passed along the road in his automo-
bile.
Members of the Drakley family
were In bed at the time of the fire
and were awakened by Mr.. Gjerde s
calls when he saw the blaze. At that
time Il was burning in a hay shed at
the end of the barn. Call were sent
to the neighbors and to the fire de-
partments of Seneca and Marseilles.
who responded and aided In battling
the flames. A new corncrib the gar
age and the house with one of two
small sheds We're the only buildings
on the farm which were not leveled
the fire spreading with great rapidity
to the other structures.
AS soon as the fire was discovered
the automobile was backed .out Of the
garage The building Is built of con.
crete blocks and has a tin roof. The
woodwork of the building, however,
and crib which were saved were root
ed with fireprGof shingles.
Two small wells on the place were
pumped dry by the MarseiIle5 depart
ment soon after they arrived The
windmill over the largest well was
burning before the department
reached the fire, which made it i'm
possible to get any water from there.
h the barn mower, planter, double
dish for a tractor. several sets of
harness, and a great deal Of other
machinery were destroyed. A valua-
BILE calf which was in the building
when the fire started broke and ran
cut tosafety saving its Cwn life The
structure, which was large barn in
good condition. was filled with hay,
as was shed at the end of the build
ing. This was all destroyed
All of the horses and cattle of the
farm were in the pasture. The chick
en- house, in which about 100 fowls
were roosting. was burned to the
ground and all Of the birds were
killed. The corncrib was filled with
cobs.
Practically all of the machinery was
carried from the machine shed and
tool house before the fire ate its way
In there. Rescucrs were forced to
abandon their work, however, before
completely emptying the shed
South Side Barn LeveIled.
Two alarms were turned in over
Sunday and the fire department made
that many runs. The first call was a
false alarm when a small girl pulled
box IS ty mistake and sent the de-
partment on wild goose chase. The
false alarm was turn in at 2:05 from
the box in South Ottawa.
At 1880 the department was called
over to the South Side to extinguish
a real fire in barn belonging to Mrs
Lena NJ Pratt. 6lS Van Buren, street.
The barn was located at the corner of
Van Buren street and Fourth avenue
and has not been used since August,
when it served as a garage for Mrs.
Pratt. The value placed by the owner
on the barn or whether it was insured
could not be learned, as Mrs. Pratt
is at Stubjar, Kan, on a tour Of the
western part of the United States.
The barn was totally destroyed, and it
took an hour and e half to extinguich
the flames. Origin of the fire has
not been established by Assistant Fire
Chief Stevenson.