Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 January 1898 — The Fire Bell Busted. [ARTICLE]

The Fire Bell Busted.

The fire bell made a poor out in giving the alarm of the fire at Babcock’s planing mill. The fact is the bell got a bad crack Monday morning while ringing for the fire in Milliron’s bakery. Tlfe crack is several inches to a foot in length, and the bell is probably ruined, although there is some talk of trying to restore its sound by cutting out a “lip’’ as it is called where the crack is, but the expedient is of such dubtful utility that it probably will not even bo tried. The boll was bought a number of years ago. Its cost no one remembers but it was above SIOO.