Rensselaer Journal, Volume 12, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 June 1902 — FLOOR RILL DAMAGED. [ARTICLE]

FLOOR RILL DAMAGED.

Fire Company Succeeds in Saving the “River Queen” Mill. About one o’clock Monday morning fire was discovered in the engine room of Stoner & Day’s flouring mill on Front street. By the time the fire department arrived the flames were under good headway and for a time it was hard to tell which would come out victorious, the flames or the firemen. The latter finally won, after a loss of several hundred dollars was suffered. The origin of the fire is a mystery. Saturday night the fires were all drawn from under the boilers, and Sunday the boilers were thoroughly cleaned. The engineer was there in the evening and says he is positive there was no fire about the place. In the west end of the engine room the cab and coal bin was located and it was in this bin that the blaze started. The engine house is almost a complete wreck and the engine and boilers are badly damaged, if not rendered entirely useless. The machinery in the mill is all more or less damaged and the whole north end of the building is considerably charred and much of it will have to be rebuilt. About 300 bushels of corn, between 200 and 300 bushels of wheat, considerable oats, feed, flour and meal was in the building. This was all damaged by the smoke and water, but can be' sold for feed at a slight reduction, so the loss on this will not be great. The building and machinery was insured for $4,000, but no insurance was carried on the contents of the mill, so whatever loss there was on the stock will fall on the owners. The $4,000 insurance on the building and machinery is more than enough to cover the loss, if the owners can get a satisfactory adjustment with the insurance people. The work Of rebuilding will not commence until the loss is adjusted. The present mill was built a few years ago to replace a former mill destroyed by fire. The building was three stories in height, with a basement, and the machinery was modern throughout.

This fire demonstrates again the wisdom of the oity fathers who constructed the water works, and those who originally opposed the improvement now have nothing but words of praise for the system.