Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 174, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 July 1914 — MAN KILLED IN JASONVILLE FIRE [ARTICLE]

MAN KILLED IN JASONVILLE FIRE

Victim Crushed Beneath Falling Walls Whan Dynamite is Used to Cheek the Flames.

JasonviHe, Ind, July 24.—A warning sent last summer, when a disastrous fire wrought havoc here, failed to cause sufficient precaution to be taken this year and today JasonviHe paid the penalty, six business blocks and two residence blocks being wiped out in a conflagration which burned nearly fifty stores, did damage estimated at $300,000 and claimed one life. John Hughes, 50 years old, a teamster, whs caught by falling wadis, after a dynamite explosion, and -was so badly burned and crushed that he died late this afternoon. He leaves four children. A list of the losses follows: Odd Fellows building $40,000; Wallace Thornton building, $15,000; opera house block, $20,000; Ewing building $10,000; Southeastern Railroad depot $10,000; Joseph Williams, dry goods, $10000; Hiatt &Co, $10,000; Rottman’s, $3,000; Beaver’s general store, $5,000; Dr. Collins’s building Shields & Mayfield, lawyers, $3,000; K. of P., furniture and equipment, $5,000; Ave & Frye, grocers, $5,000; Jaiges Robinson, saloon, $3,000; Joseph Spurgeon, grocery, $5,000; James Bryant, dry goods, $5,000; Carey /Harrell, lawyer, $500; Ewing & Stark, grocers, $5,000; Miller barber shop, $1,000; Dr. F. A. Burkhart building, $26,000; Joseph Gold, general store, $5,000; postoffice, $1,000; Griggs grocery, $2,000; James B. Neal, livery and dwellings, $10,000; Citizens Realty Co., $2,000; John Dobbs, saloon; $1,500; Wabash Realty Co., $1,500; Joseph Robinson, building, $2,000; Joseph Humphries, saloon, $2,000; Robert Robinson, building, $6,000; William Stough, barber shop, $1,000; Wallace Thornton, store, $4,000; Goldstein, motion pictures, $6,000; Joseph ‘ Rettieh, building, $8,000; Les Garrison, saloon, sksoo; Ves Ladson, saloon, $2,000; William Keen, saloon, $1,000; Van Meter, hardware, $6,000; Maybury & Gibson, saloon, $2,000. Other losers with a total of approximately $25,000 were Thomas Robinson, Indiana Electric Co., Thomas Hurst, Mrs. J. A. Pate, Joseph Gentry, May Lahr, Ben Taylor, Miles Grocery. • The fire is thought-to have started In the Family Theatre, but was first discovered in the Joseph Spurgeon grocery. The flames were first

seen at 12:45 o’clock in the Spurgeon building on the south side of Main street. The blaze spread rapidly east and west from the store and soon leaped across the street. Dynamite was used in a vain attempt to stop the flames. The fire ate its wav west to the I. O. O. F. building on the north side of the street, Here a cross street the "ifrmien, who,' Try using dynamite, halted the blaze shortly after 4 o’clock. Will Sills And Pete Stevens were overcome while fighting the flames and windows in many buildings not touched by fire were broken by dynamite. JasonviHe has been supplied with water by a corporation, which used deep weMs for its supply. When the flames broke out the firemen brought their hose into play, but only for a few minutes, as the water soon gave out. While the fire was burning a hayfield west of the city eaught. fire and forced several families to move out their goods. Hundreds of persons flocked to this city from Sullivan, Linton, Hymera and surrounding points. It is estimated that less than half of the loss is covered by insurance.

Dynamite was used first to check the fire when two empty houses in the business district were wrecked. This, however, checked the conflagration for only a short time. After the fire was put under control volunteer firemen began blowing up unsupported walls that menaced the safety of the people. The fire made homeless about 25 families who had apartments in room# Above the- stores. In most instances they lost everything.