Montpelier examiner. [volume], October 06, 1905, Image 1

About Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937

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MONTPELIER. ^EXAMINER.
I
VOL. XI.
MONTPELIER, IDAHO, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1905
NO 33.
FLAMES DO DISASTROUS WORK
Fire Started in Lower Floor of the Oakley Hall and Qnickly Spread to
Adjoining Buildings-Heroic Work Done by Citizens and Absenca
of any Wind, Saves Business Part of Town from Almost Total
Destruction-Origin of Fire Unknown-Notes.
Seven Buildings Destroyed by Fire which Started
at 1:20 Monday Morning,
LOSS $25,000: INSURANCE ONLY $4,250
We got it at last—a destructive
fire—just what everybody m Mont-'
pelier has long expected we would
get, but what everybody has fervent
ly hoped the hand of fate would
really withhold from our town. And
, .. . , . I
the only reason that almost the en
tire lower business portion of town j
isn't in ashes today ils, that fate, |
when it did see fit to tpuch the fire j
brand to one of our tinder boxes, j
was kind enough to do so at a time
when not a particle pf wind was
blowing. Had there been even a
slight breeze blowing from either
the south or west we would have a
much sadder story to relate, and
quite likely our presses would also
have been in the ruins.
It was at twenty-five minutes
after one, Tuesday morning, that
- j
tire was discovered in the bowling
.. . . 1 ,
alley portion of Oakley's hall, l he
, . , . I , , ,
alarm was quickly soijmded and sev
, , . , ,
eral who were m the restaurant and
nearby saloons rushed to the build
ing with buckets of water in the
hope of being able to subdue the
fire, but as soon as the door was
forced open, which gave a draft to
the flames, they apparently spread in
a second to the entire lower portion
of the building. Tho$e present then
realized that the Oakley hall was
doomed and adjoining buildings as
well.
Within a tew minutes after the
alarm was sounded almost the entire
population of the town was at the
scene of the fire arid hundreds of
willing hands set to work, as best
they could without a|iy fire fighting
apparatus, to cheek the fiâmes and
remove goods from buildings that
were known could not be saved.
Jonlev <fe Trill's restaurant, across
the narrow street on the west, was
ablaze before scarcely an article was
removed from it, and the heat was
so intense that it kept the heroic
workers at considerable distance
from the burning buildings. How
ever, the men succeeded in removing
rant the flames
rapidly continued to ignite the
buildings to the west, namely, Riley !
Barkdall's barber shop, Wedel <fc
Hnghart's and C. S. Ellis' saloons.
Mr. Barkdall got everything out of
his shop, and from the saloons all
j of the fixtures and much of the stock
was removed. While
several hundred dollar's worth of
merchandise from Wm. Hughes'
store, which adjbined the Oakley
hall on the east, before the heat
forced them away.
-— 7 —^
hrorn the restau
j
men were
working like Trojans in that section,
removing goods and doing what
they could to check the progress of
the flames, scores of others were
doing equally as good work on the
! 80U th and east.
i „ . „
For a time it looked as though
the flames would leap across the
, , „
vacant lot between Hughes' and
.. T . , , &
Mose Lewis stores and ignite the'
, , , , , ®
latter, but a bucket brigade saved
Mr. Lewis' building. They were
materially aided by the absence of
any breeze from the west and the
distance from the Hughes building.
Had] the Lewis building caught—
well, we will not attempt to predict
where the fire would have ended.
During the time it looked as though
the Lewis Store was doomed, men
were hurriedly removing his goods
to a fire proof cellar, at the rear of
the building, and not until nearly
his entire stock was removed, was it
absolutely certain that his building
was safe.
The hardest and most heroic work
that was done was the saving of
Brennan & Davis' building, across
the street north of the Oakley hall.
Messrs. Brennan and Davis, with
a score or more of assistants, kept,
the blanket,*, which were hung from
the top of the building, and the roof
drenched with water.
Even with
the hard work that was done, the
heat broke all the glass in the win
dows, and badly scorched the front
of the building. Good work
was
also done in Having the Maguire
lodging house, east of Brennan &
Davis'.
An illustration of what effective
work even a small stream of water
will do toward quenching afire, was
shown by the stream that was
thrown from a hose attached to the
railroad company's hydrant at the
pump house. The hose was only
long enough to permit the stream to
ju8t reach th f " Me " f tl,e b,,ild -
»"LTZm to doling work!
By „ominuaiij shifting the stream
from the Ellis building to the build
ings adjoining it on the west, occu
pied by Waggoner's cigar factoiy
and W. M. Hoskin's saloon, the
flames were prevented lrom continu
ing their progress of destruction.
It was about 4 o'clock when the|
w " S < ,tm "»der control and it
*'*" known that n0 mm ' e P ro »> erl y
woald be destroyed, but in the two
hourR and a balf ' blll| d">gs »nd
m< ' rcbandia,! value of $25,000
had bcen rRd " ced to " moke and
The origin of the fire is unknown.
Everything about the building was
apparently all right when Frank
Oakley left the dance hall about 15
minutes before the fire was discov
ered. After dances were over he
£ enerall y down the back stairs
and out through the bowling alley,
but on this occasion he only went
j . » .
down the stairs a short distance,
and seeing that everything in the
bowling alley was in usual condi
tion, be went back, closed the trap
door and went down the outside
stairway. At that time there was
no smell of smoke or burning wood
in the lower room where the fire
started.
A conservative estimate of the
losses places them as follows:
William Hughes, general mer
chandise, $0,500; insured for $750.
Stagner <fc Co., cigars, stationery,
etc., $1,050; insured for $1000.
Oakley hall building and Hughes
store building, owned by Mrs.
Hyman Lewis of Ogden, $7000; in
sured for $2500. v
Frank Oakley, bowling alley and
improvements made on the building,
$3000.
Wedel & Hughart, building and
loss on stock of liquors. $ 1500.
Jonley & Trill, building and res
taurant outfit, $700.
Cement Block Co., loss on blocks,
cement and damage to machine,
$ 000 .
W. M. Hoskins, damage to saloon
fixtures and loss on stock by remov
ing from building, $ 200 .
C. N. Ellis, damage to saloon fix
tures and loss on stock, $250.
Mose Lewis, damage to stock by
remoying from building and goods
lost, $3000.
Mrs. Mackin, loss on building oc
cupied by Ellis' saloon, $300.
Hi ley Barkdull, loss on building,
$ 150.
Waggoner «& Co., loss on stock
and manufactured cigars, $ 200 .
Brennan <fc Davis, damage to
building, $ 200 , covered by insur
ance.
C- W. & M. Co., breakage of
window lights and loss on buckets
donated for use by bucket brigades,
Kirk Brands
Misses Jonley & Trill state that
they will not likely engage in busi
ness again.
Mose Lewis desires to publicly
thank all who assisting in removing
his goods to a place of safety,
Mr. Waggoner cannot inanufaot
"re any more cigars until the gov
ernmenl's special agent comes and
ohecks up number ot cigars stolen.
Not a single thing was removed
from Stegner & Co's place, but Lon
is feelipg pretty good over the fact
that he had just taken a $1000 in
surancs policy on the stock.
One or two women fainted, sever
al men were slightly burned about
the face and hands while
carrying
goods out of the burning buildings,
and two or three were more or less
injured.
C. P. Mars, brother of the "bal
loon man," was one of the hardest
workers, and while helping to pull
down an old shed some timbers fell
on him, breaking one rib and in
juring bis back.
C. N. Ellis removed his stock of
liquors to the old French bakery
building on Depot street and
ready for businiss Wednesday,
is fitting up the adjoining room and
will run a restaurant in connection
with the saloon.
was
He
It would be impossible to name
all who did noble work in fighting
the fire, but it was quite noticeable
that among those who took the
greatest risks and worked the hard
est, were many who had nothing
whatever at stake.
Some people were so considerate
for the safety of the goods they
were carrying out that they have
forgotten to return them. This
was
particularly true of about $200
worth ot cigars that was taken from
Waggoner's factory.
There was never a loss so bad but
what it might have been worse.
Fjank Oakley had recently, pur
chased an elegant new piano tor use
(Continued on last page.)
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