THE LAST FIRE 1873

MILLER, SIMPLOT, RYAN

Posted By: Cheryl Locher Moonen (email)
Date: 8/1/2016 at 15:10:55

Dubuque Herald, Jan. 5, 1873

THE LAST FIRE – About half-past three o’clock Saturday morning, Police Captain Ryan discovered the interior of Max Miller’s drug store, corner of main and First Street, to be a fire. The alarm given, a crowd soon gathered, and the doors were broken into with an axe, and the progress of the fire quickly arrested by the fire department, but not before considerable damage had been done. The rear portion of the building had been nearly consumed, and the stock store there was rendered worthless. The origin of the fire is known: when first seen by the captain of the police it was near the stove, and it is supposed to have caught from it. The building, owned by Henry F. Simplot, is one of the oldest landmarks of the city, was built about thirty years ago, and was formerly known as the old “Eagle Coffee Shop.” On the building there was $1000 insurance in the AEtna of New York which will not more than just cover damages, it is thought. There was $5,500 insurance on the stock of drugs in a company we cannot name, amply covering the loss.