Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 November 1897 — Not Like a Thousand of Brick [ARTICLE]

Not Like a Thousand of Brick

But Like Sixty Thousand of Brick Fell C. C. Starr’s New Warehouse Last Monday Night. Monday night about 6:30 o’clock during a heavy down-pour of rain, a new brick warehouse C. C. Starr had in process of erection on the alley in the rear of his store, suddenly collapsed, and the entire structure fell with a mighty crash. The building was 2 stories and a basement, was 40 by 20 in size,

and the brick work was completed within four or five feet of the top. The number of bricks in the walls was about 60,000. There was no one in the building at the time and so no one saw it fall, but the crash it made when it went down alarmed the whole neighborhood. The cause of the collapse is not at present very clear, but it may appear when the basement is cleared of the debris. Perhaps the foundations were insufficient. It is also evident that the mortar used had failed to set, probably owing to the continued wet weather. Most of the bricks in the building can be saved without much loss, especially as the mortar does not adhere to them. The sleepers and joints and window and door frames will many of them be saved also. John Kohler and Frank Minikus were putting up the building, at a certain price per thousand of the bricks used and the bulk of the loss will presumably fall on them.