Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 308, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 December 1915 — FIRE AT STATE HOUSE THREATENED RECORDS [ARTICLE]

FIRE AT STATE HOUSE THREATENED RECORDS

Flames In Elevator Shaft Cause Sev.eral Thousand Dollars Loss— Governor’s Office Hit.

Fire caused damage estimated at several thousand dollars to the state house about 7 o’clock Wednesday evening and threatened valuable records, but was extinguished after three hours of hard fighting. The exact amount of the loss will probably not be determined for several days. Defective electric wiring is held responsible for the blase. The fixe had started in a small room in the basement directly under Governor Ralston’s office but was not discovered until it had reached the elevator shaft where the flames leaped up the oily sides to the roof. Governor Ralston had left his office just half an hour before the discovery of the fire but returned when he learned of the blaze and remained until the firemen succeeded in putting it out. Attorney General Stotsenfburg and a few other state officials were in the building when the blaze was discovered. The offices of the governor, the state board of charities and the board of account* were damaged, principally by water.