Rensselaer Republican, Volume 26, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 May 1894 — BIG FIRE AT MUNCIE. [ARTICLE]

BIG FIRE AT MUNCIE.

Total Destruction of the Wh teley ileaper Work 4. The Whiteley reaper works at Muncie were destroyed by fire, Sunday ovening. The loss on the buildings, which were construetedmf wood and galvanized iron, is not great, but the destruction of 3,000 machines ready for shipment and 1,500 almost completed, the patterns, which were an accumulation that havo cost thousands of dollars, and the costly new machinery that filled the factory, brings the loss up to $345,(XX) without a cent of insurance. Vhiteley moved his factory to Muncie from Springfield, 0., two years ago, and has since furnished employment to from 300 to 503 men, a majority oi whom camo there with him from Springfield. Mr. Whiteley arrived from Chicago while the fire was in progress, He said that tho factory would probably be rebuilt on a much larger scale.