Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 120, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 May 1911 — Bad Fire Causes Big Less Fer Ed Oliver, of Barkley. [ARTICLE]

Bad Fire Causes Big Less Fer Ed Oliver, of Barkley.

Ed Oliver, of Barkley township, had a big fire Friday afternoon that almost wiped all the buildings off his big farm near Newland. Save for the fine work performed by a volunteer corps of firemen the fire would have been much worse. At about 3 o’clock in the afternoon fire was discovered issuing from the root of his house and several carpenters, who were at work on the construettan of a tenement house, hastened to fight the flames. The fire seemed to have started in an Upstairs closet and it had made quite rapid progress when the bucket brigade started to throw water on the roof. Four farm hands, who were working in the field, joined the fire fighters and the fire av the house was conquered, but the flames spread to the large barn and this it was impossible to save. The barn had been remodeled and enlarged last year and was 68 by 75 feet in dimensions and one of the largest barns in the county. It was totally destroyed, together with the contents, which included Mr. Oliver’s Maxwell automobile. Two stacks of hay and one of straw also burned, as did about five or six acres of muck, in which onions were planted. The firemen had a difficult time to save a large new corn crib not far from the barn. All of the property was insured in the Home Fire Insurance Co., of New York, except the automobile, whi -h was insured in the Lloyd Co., loth agencies represented here by R. D. Thopapson. An estimate of the loss to the house is S2OO, to the contents SIOO, and this is covered by insurance. The barn loss is about $2,000 with $1,500 insurance. The insurance on the automobile was SSOO. 4 rL D. Thompson says that he never saw a better job of fire fighting th in that put up by the men that saved Mr. Oliver’s house and the corn crib and other buildings