Democratic Sentinel, Volume 21, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 August 1897 — BRAVE FIREMEN DIE. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

BRAVE FIREMEN DIE.

chicagodepartmentsuffers fearful LOSS. Explosion of Dust in the Burning Elevator o; Railway Terminal Company Hurls Brick Walls and Burning Timbers Upon the Firefighters Died at Posts of Duty. Explosion in the midst of a terrific fire brought to a hero's deatli four of Chicago's tiremen Thursday afternoon and stretched on beds of pain more than a score of officers and pipemen, who sought to keep in check a seething furnace of 300,000 bushels of grain in the Chicago Railway Terminal Elevator Company’s elevator at Indiana and Jefferson streets. Not since the cold storage disaster at the World's Fair have so many of the city's fire fighters been laid low, and only twice in the history of Chicago has the list of casualties in the department been more appalling. Oue unknown man dead and many spectators, railroad employes, elevator hands and others injured further mark the record of the disaster. The dead: John J. Coogan, pipeman of engine company 3. William Hanley, of engine company 5. Jacob Stlinur, pipeman of engine company 3. Jacob F. Stiameu pipeman of engine company 3. Unknown man, thrown into the river by the force of the explosion and drowued. Thomas Monohan, a driver for Chief Swenie, is missing, and it is feared he is dead; drove the chief to the fire and has not been seen since. Of the score hurt, three will die, and several will be disfigured for life aud laid up for months. Swen e'e Life in Peril. Chief Swenie’s life nearly paid the pen l alty of years of peril, lie was close to the elevator when an avalanche of red hot bricks, burning timbers and sizzling grain was pitched on the heads of the fire fighters and with severe bruises and burns.

Not a single premonition of disaster warned the men of their impending doom. There was a brighter glow of the heavens for an instant, a rumbling as if the interior, of the earth was lending its heat to the flames, and then the east wall was precipitated on the heads of the firemen and a few spectators who had escaped the fire lines hurriedly established by the police. The noise was different from the ear-piercing roar of dynamite or gunpowder, but its effects were as deadly. There was a mulH-.’d boom, a crash, and the firemen were buried. Edward Westlake, a newspaper man, was standing with Chief Swenie when the wall collapsed. Both were covered with the fallen material and rushed blindly to the nearest shelter. “My God! That was the nearest 1 have come to it,” said the intrepid leader, and turned back, in the face of flying embers, to aid in the work of rescue. Start Work of Rescue. After the walls went toppling over, Chief Swenie, hurt, blinded aud bleeding, staggered forward and.shouted to his men to follow him. Lying on the ground were a score cf injured men, crying for help. Beneath the mass of white-heat bricks and iron sheeting were two men, burned until nothing but the bones were left. In an instant half a dozen streams of water were turned on the blazing mtrss. As the water struck the red hot debris a cloud of steam hid the ruins from view. The injured were first assisted to a place of safety. Three patrol wagons and two ambulances were soon in service. The men were put on stretchers, and Lieut. McDonald directed that the wagons be driven at once to the different hospitals. As the last victim was hurried away from the scene of death and destruction the work of removing the charred bodies of the three filemen from the ruins was taken up. By this time the flood of water had cooled off the ruins sufficiently to allow the firemen and sixty policemen to start their search for the dead. Sergeant Decker was the first man to find a body. He used a long pole in lifting the iron sheeting to one side, when he discovered the remains of Coogan. The body was in a Crouching position and showed that Coogan was running when the mass of bricks felled him to the earth. He was identified by his helmet, which lay within a foot of his head. It was impossible to distinguish the burned bodies of Sehnur and Stramen apart. They lay side by side, and a heavy beam had fallen across the neck of one of the bodies. Chief Swenie directed the men to continue their work, and not until the entire pile had been gone over was the chief satisfied that all the bodies had been found.

Origin of the Fire. The origin of the fire is indefinite. Recently furnace driers were introduced into the structure and these may have been in an overheated condition. High in the bins are hung big lanterns to guide the workmen in their labors and the presence of these has given rise to the theory that a red hot chimney came in contact with the dry dust and set the place on fire. The age of the building and the amount of dust which bad congregated in every crack and eo’ner supports the hitter opinion. Many of the firemen are of the belief that the blaze and subsequent explosion were due to spontaneous combustion. Insurance Inspector Gillan gave the following statement as his opinion ns to how the tire originated: “It was surely an explosion of dry dust. In the majority of cases in fires of this kind they all start from the same cause. The dust from the

grain collect! and when It is heated to the right point it is like powder. It is just as dangerous 'as any explosive. If this elevator had been constructed as grain elevators should be, the chances are the fire would have been put out with a loss of less than fl,000.” Loss Will Reach $300,000. Before the insurance underwriters complete the Ijst of buildings wrecked or damaged and property destroyed the total financial loss will reach $500,000. The tabulated statement of the loss, as nearly as can be learned, is: The Chicago Railway Terminal Elevator Company, on buildings 90,000 Loss to grain In structure...'2lo,ooo Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. loss to frelghthouae and cars 20,000 Engine and machinery in elevator.. 23,000 Loss to Chicago and Northwestern Railroad freight, including valuable teas and spices 25,000 Damage to Hathaway & Co.’s coal yard. Indiana and Kingsbury sts.. • 2,500 Damage to building occupied by the Qrockerand Milwaukee Chair Companies. contents, windows and beams 20,000 Damage to Jung Brewing Company’s plant, 0 Grand avenue 15,000 Damage to building occupied by Wisconsin Dairy Company. Austin avenue and Jefferson street 3,000 Damage to Indiana street bridge, abutments and planking scorched. 1,000 Damage to dock warehouse in Indiana street 1,000 Damage to building occupied by the Star Box and Barrel Company.... 2.000 Damage to tugs and shipping, estimated 3,000 Minor losses to stores, houses and other buildings, estimated aggregate 30,000 Total $507,500 Insurance on the contents of the elevator was placed by D. M. Rodgers, while Fred James had the building in charge. Mr. Rodgers said he was not in a position to give the exact figures. He declared, however, that the losses were fully covered by insurance. The officials of the Chicago Railway Terminal Elevator Company, that owned the elevator, are: • President—C. A. Weare. Secretary—Edward W. Thompson. Treasurer—Charles C. Rubins.

FIREBOAT PLAYING ON THE BURNING ELEVATOR.