Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 20, Number 62, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 April 1899 — A Fire in a Mail Train. [ARTICLE]

A Fire in a Mail Train.

Joseph Sheurick, who carries mail on the star route between Rensselaer and Sharon, had an exciting and very unpleasant experience, Tuesday afternoon. While coming in from Sharon with the mail sack, in the top buggy be uses for the trips, he thought he smelled fire several times, but thought he was mistaken and paid no special attention to the matter. Soon after, and when on the gravel road south ot‘ town, he heard, the roaring of fire very distinctly, and looking back he discovered the back part of his buggy all on fire. He stopped and threw out the mail bag, which was also burning, but before he could do anything more he had to take off his horses, which were frightened by the fire. Then by wetting a blanket in a ditch by the road he succeeded in putting out the fire, bnt in rescuing the contents of the sack he burned his quite badly. The contents of the mail bag consisted of a package of letters which were not injured at all, and a registered letter package, only the outer edges of which were burned off. The mail bag is ruined as was also the box of Mr. Sheurick’s buggy. He is at a loss to account for the fire, as he had not been smoking while driving in. Probably there was a match in the buggy which took fire from the shifting about of the contents of the buggy.