Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 41, Number 94, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 August 1909 — BARCUS FACTORY DESTROYED BY FIRE MONDAY NIGHT. [ARTICLE]

BARCUS FACTORY DESTROYED BY FIRE MONDAY NIGHT.

Fire at Wabash Results in Loss of $85,000, With Insurance of Only $30,000. Fire Monday night destroyed the factory of Geo. Barcus & Co., entailing a loss of $85,000, covered by S3O/ 000 insurance.— The firm of Geo. Barcus & Co., composed of Geo. Barcus and A. B. Rowley moved to Wabash a few years ago from Rensselaer, where they manufactured the Barcus horse stocks. They were given a good bonus to move to Wabash, where they purchased the buildings of an abandoned furniture factory and began manufacturing other lines of goods and they were doing a big business and prospering. At the time of the fire they were engaged in manufacturing school seats on a large scale. A dispatch from Wabash says: The flames started in the storage plant, where several thousand seats were stored for shipment and sale. From here the flames rapidly spread to other sections and soon the fire was beyond control. Owing to the large stock of oils and varnish in the building the fire was a dangerous one to fight, and the local department could do but little more than keep the flames from surrounding buildings, several of which were in danger. Several men were slightly injured during the fire. Mayor Murphy assisted Fire Chief Stephens in directing the fighting from the roof of a building, although he did so at the risk of his life. The Barcus plant was purchased from the American Seating Company, after the trust abandoned its manufactory in Wabash. The valuation was then $85,000, but the sale was made at a lower figure as the result of the activity of the Wabash Commercial Club. The Barcus Company is the largest independent manufactory of school seats in this section of the country and was employing 100 men at the time of the fire, this being smaller than the usual number.