Fire
-
1899
Macoupin
County IL Courthouse
Macoupin County Enquirer Wednes Jan 25,
1899, p1
Fire At The Courthouse
Fire broke out in the office of the county
clerk at the court house
last night and destroyed an alphabet case containing the original
papers of all pending and unsettled cases before the probate and county
court. Between 500 and 1,000 blank forms which were in the case, are
now charred and unrecognizable. County Clerk Hartley and deputy clerks
Seehausen and Fletcher have been working hard these papers, so that
they are nearly all on record. A most fortunate occurrence.
Luckily the docket was saved and the county
officials believe there are
no papers of which an accurate record can not be obtained. The loss
will entail much extra labor on their part to get things in the same
shape as before the fire. It is believed the conflagration originated
from a box of
burning sawdust used as a cuspidor, into
which some one had carelessly
thrown a lighted match or cigar.
Considerable damage was done to the windows
and walls of the building
and Clerk Seehausen's desk was destroyed.
Macoupin County Enquirer Wednes Jan 25,
1899, p1
Casper Saves
Courthouse
But the Kodac Fiends Faile To Get a Snap Shot of the Act.
Casper Westermeier, Jr., the jovial insurance and abstract man, was
modestly receiving encomiums Wednesday on a heroic act he performed
last night "all by his lonesome." There are no scars on his manly
person to tell of the brilliant dash made and efficient service
rendered by which our "million dollar" court house is still spared to
us with its beautiful and potent $720,000 mortgage.
'Twas ten o'clock last evening when leaving his offices in the basement
of the building, his sense of smell, sharpened by years of insurance
inspection, detected the acrid odor of something burning. Rushing up to
the main corridor he found Circuit Clerk Homer's office filled with
smoke.
To think was to act. Grasping the ice cooler in the corridor, he fought
through the blinding, stifling atmosphere, reached the conflagration
and with celerity extinquished it. 'Twas a box filled with sawdust.
Someone had cast a lighted cigar into it which had lain there and
smouldered, and after the inmates of the office departed, had ignited.
Today that section of the courthouse presented an odor akin to that of
a smokehouse, but such will prove efficaceous in killing any microbes
daring enough to attack the musty tomes impregnated with it.
Several Kodak fiends are lamenting that they missed securing a
flashlight shot at Casper in his now famous court house saving feat.
Macoupin County Enquirer Wednes Feb 1,
1899, p1
Fire At The Court House
Destroys the Original Papers in All Unfinished or Pending Cases in
County Court
Fire broke out in the office of the county clerk at the court house
Tuesday night and destroyed an alphabet case containing the original
papers
of all pending and unsettled cases before the probate and county court.
Between 500 and 1,000 blank forms which were in the case, are now
charred and unrecognizable. County Clerk Hartley and deputy clerks
Seehausen and Fletcher have been working hard for the past few weeks to
record these papers, so that they are nearly all on record. A most
fortunate occurrence.
Luckily the docket was saved and the county officials believe there are
no papers of which an accurate record can not be obtained. The loss
will entail much extra labor on their part to get things in the same
shape as before the fire. It is believed the conflagration originated
from a box of burning sawdust used as a cuspidor, into which some one
had crelessly thrown a lighted match or cigar.
Cosiderable damage was done to the windows and walls of the building,
and Clerk Seehausen's desk was destroyed.
Janitor Lynch says when he came down this morning, on reaching the
Presbyterian church corner, he saw the blaze through the windows and
knew just where the fire was. He got a pail of water and put the fire
out. The room was filled with smoke and everything within reach had
been destroyed.
The windows were broken out, the walls cracked and a mirror, five feet
away, smashed by the intense heat. Soot and ashes covered the apartment.
What puzzles those who do not believe the fire originated from the
sawdust cuspidor, is the absence of that pungent odor which attends
burning sawdust which attends burning sawdust.
Another strong rebuttal is the story of Jesse David, who assists
Janitor Lynch.
Young David swept the room about 6 o'clock last night and found
everything all right. He found several burnt matches in the cuspidor,
which he swept out, and gave it a clean, fresh surface. he found the
sawdust we from expectoration during the day.
Parties go home from lectlure did not notice any blaze which such a
fire necessarily must have made.
From alll evidences, whether the fire originated by accident or
incendiary means, it did its work after midnight.
No one can say just what the loss will be to the county or anyone in
particular. It is too early to even approximate such loss.
One thing is assured, that much vexatious trouble will result, and the
work of partial settlement in various estates will have to be done over
again. Whether this can be done in every case, cannot be foretold.
New casing and blanks will be procured at once, and the labor of
restoring things to their former condition will be hurried.
The Carlinville Democrat, Jan 25, 1899, p1
Fire In The Court House.
Probate Court Room in Court House
Burned
And all Papers on File Gone
Thought To Be The Work Of Fire Bugs
At 4:45 o'clock Wednesdayl morning Janitor James Lynch, when he turned
the Presbyterian church corner coming down to build the fire,
discovered the Probate Court room was on fire; the blaze had burnt
through the window. He hastened up and by carrying water finally
extinguished the flames, but the fire had already done its worst, and
all the probate papers, notes, bonds, letters of administrations, etc.,
kept in that room, together with the clerk's desk burned.
The origin is a mystery. The janitor says after the clerks had gone
home, about 6 o'clock, he swept out the office, and that there was no
sign of fire in the cuspidors, which was a large wooden concern, filled
with sawdust. The assistant janitor says he swept off the top of the
cuspidors and noticed the sawdust was wet, and says there was
positively no fire in it. The idea prevails pretty generally that it
was the work of fire bugs.
The loss cannot be estimated, as the larger case which stood back of
Clerk Seehausen's desk filled with estate papers, letters of
administration, notes, claims, and all manner of papers in process of
settlement, are destroyed. The papers that were far enough advanced to
be recorded are all right, as the records are preserved, but those not
desposed of are lost. It cannot be ascertained just what estates will
be damaged by the fire, as there were hundreds in this case, and the
desk, filled with papers, memorandums, etc., is also a total loss, as
is also the large blank case that stood under the file case.
The iron file boxes on the north side of the room were heated hot, but
the papers are not damaged. The room is badly smoked and the plastering
is the southeast corner of the room is ruined.
The fire will cause no little amount of litigation, and some of the
estates may be badly tangled as a result. The windows to any part of
the building are easily opened, and it is the general opinion that the
entrance was thus made, if the cuspidors did not cause the fire.