The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1924-01-31
LANDMARK OF CITY
DESTROYED BY FIRE
TOBEY FRAME BUILDING ON
MAIN STREET BURNED.
MONDAY EVENING
FIREMEN DO GOOD WORK
F. A. FISCHER WILL START TO
REBUILD AT ONCE-ED.
EVANS WILL NOT

The double-store frame structure
on the east side of Main Street, be-
tween Third and Fourth, was COM
pletely Quilted by fire which started
from a defective furnace in the Fred
Crandall pool hall, the blaze showing
itself about 1870 Monday night.
One of the few remaining old land
marks of the city in the business Sec
ton will be completely removed by
the owners, Fred A. Fischer and Ed.
Evans.
This building was erected in 1867
by Henry Gauger, one of the COM
munity live wires of his day. Upon
the completion of the building he put
in a stock of merchandise, but becom-
ng too ambitious, failed. In January
of 1868 the store became the, prop
erty of P. Lamb of this city and Ma
than Myrick of st. Paul, who con-
Quoted a general mercantile business
for three years, when Mr.. Myrick re-
tired. From about 1875 until the
early SOS the building was occupied
by Tolef ~Fladeland, E. j. Harrison
and L. S. Bishop, Sr. In the early
8O's it became the property of U. M.
and C. C. Tobey, the latter being the
father of Harry E. Tobey of Osakis.
For many years the building was
: known as the Tobey block and be-
longed to the C. C. Tobey estate UNI
til about nine years ago, when it was
sold to Mr.. Weum of Moorhead. The
latter gentleman added paint and a
few minor repairs and then sold the
building to F. A. Fischer and Ed.
Evans, the owners at the present
time.
The absence of a severe wind, the
efficiency of Sank Centres fire de-
partment and the ample water sup
ply available from Sank Centres new
water system made possible the saw
ing of the frame structures on that
side of the street, without damage, al
though the jewelry stock of G. H.
Vandesteeg, to the north, and the
shoe stock and repairing equipment
of Mr.. Palmer, on the south, were re-
moved to large extent. The cigar
case in the Crandall pool hall was re-
moved but nothing was taken out of
the City Bakery.
There was much oak used in the
construction of the building and
while the building burned slowly it
was with difficulty that the flames
were kept under control. They were
not finally subdued until after 400
A. M.
Mr.. Fischer carried insurance of
$4,000 on the main building and the
brick bake-shop at the rear. He also
carried $400 insurance on fixtures
and $1,000 on stock. Insurance adj
justors settled with him for $1,000 on
the building Wednesday afternoon.
Mr.. Evans carried $1,000 insurance
on his part of the building and Mr..
Crandall had 81 900 insurance on his
pool and billiard tables and stock.
Settlement in full has been made
with Mr.. Evans, but the Crandall loss
has not been adjusted as yet. It is
expected that adjustment will be
made on the Fischer and Crandall
contents policies within day or two.
II"
The fire started on the pool hall
side of the building. Mr.. Fischer
stated to the Herald that the furnace
connections in the pool hall were in
poor condition and it is generally TAX
en- for granted that this is what
caused the fire.
Mr.. Evans has entered into con-
tract with B. O. Vogel for the i'm
mediate removal of the ruins from
his lot and Mr.. Fischer will start to
tear down the remains of his building
within few days. AS the structures
are inside the city's fire limits they
cannot be repaired.
Mr.. Evans spent yesterday in the
city getting his affairs in shape. He
says he does not expect to rebuild.
q
Mr.. Fischer, it will be recalled,
sold his bakery business and stock
last week to Felix Kamrowski, pro-
prietor of the Sunlight Bakery, ST.
Cloud, and was to give possession on
March first. Mr.. Kamrowsh spent
Wednesday in Sank Centre negotia-
ting an adjustment. Mr.. Fischer
stated to the Herald last evening that
he will build one-story brick struc-
ture on the site of the old building
and will start this work as soon as the
debris can be cleared away. He said
that he would probably not be able
to have the structure completed by
March first, the date set for the trans
fer of the property, but that the work