Budde & Singer Bakery Fire ~ 1882

ANDERSON, BAXTER, BECKWITH, BICKENBACH, BUDDE, DAVIS, FEHSE, HARRISON, HEWITT, MCCLURE, MCFARLAND SATTERTHWAITE, SCHNURR, SINGER, SWEENEY, TROUGHTON, TWINTING

Posted By: Pat Ryan White (email)
Date: 10/22/2006 at 21:14:56

MT. PLEASANT’s FIRE.
~Budde & Singer’s Bakery Burned Out!~
The Brazelton House Saved by The Heroic Efforts of the Bucket Brigade!
Industry, Energy and Heroism of the Women of Our City!
Prompt Response of The Burlington Fire Department to Our Cry for Help!
~Estimated Damage About $5,000.~

On Sunday morning about half past seven o’clock the cry of “Fire” was heard on North Main street. Smoke was pouring out from the four story building occupied by Budde & Singer as a restaurant and bakery, adjoining the Brazelton block. The fire had gained such headway that the cry, “The Brazelton must go soon,” rung through the city. People heard the cry, most of them while yet in bed, and turned out. Those first arriving, on being assured that there was a fire wall between the bakery and the Brazelton House, climbed to the top of the Brazelton, while others organized a line to pass up water from the cistern in the back yard of the house, so that they were able to prevent the fire from communicating to the Brazelton by the heavy cornice. This on the Brazelton was painted with fire proof paint, which checked the fire on the outside, while those on the roof fought it on the inside. The heat was so intense that the fire caught on the sheathing and joice of the Brazelton roof and melted the solder of the tin roof twenty feet from the bakery. By prompt and judicious action the fire in the Brazelton attic was soon put out.

By this time the order was given to form a line to the cistern pump on the south-east corner of the square. Buckets were gathered up round the square. Many business houses unlocked their doors and rolled out new buckets enough to supply the demand, and by this time the city ladders were on the ground and soon the water was passing up a line of willing hands, 450 feet long, as fast as it could be passed up the ladders. The white clouds of steam in place of the black smoke soon gave evidence that the fire was no longer master.

A cheer from the band of heroes on top of the Brazelton gave hope and strength to the water line. In this line the women, young ladies and misses of 15 worked as efficiently as the men. We have heard many disparaging remarks of Mt. Pleasant’s fire companies and fire apparatus, but the extemporized fire brigade of Sunday morning has wiped out all reproach and settled the question that henceforth the fire brigade of Mt. Pleasant for good behavior, efficiency and good looks beats the world. A third water line was also formed from Baxter’s livery barn on through Harrison’s meat market and through the Brazelton back yard, which like Blucher’s division at the battle of Waterloo, came in on the flank and rear and did not stop till the last lingering blaze gave up the fight and went out in smoke and steam.

About 8 ½ o’clock the streets of Mt. Pleasant were literally filled with merchandise and household goods of every style and description known under the sun, from jumping jacks up to pianos, from spittoons to costly mirrors and from sky-rockets up to two ton safes.

Many of the rooms in the block about P. T. Twinting’s were emptied of their contents. As soon as the fire was discovered the doors of the bakery and Fehse’s cigar store were burnt open. The show cases from there were taken out we believe without a break, and the same care was observed in removing other fragile articles. Anderson’s jewelry store was also emptied. Most of the large stock of Singer’s on the ground floor and the fine furniture of the ice cream parlor on the second floor were saved. The large stock of toys stored on the third floor was burned.

Mr. Satterthwaite did not commence removing his stock of drugs until the hope of saving the Brazelton House was abandoned. About 8 o’clock Mr. Satterthwaite said to his friends, “Take out the goods,” and out they went in good order, with little or no breakage. But before the carrying out was done the salvation of the Brazelton was assured, and before 11 o’clock his stock was set back with little damage.

When it was thought the Brazelton “must go”, a telegram was sent to Burlington for their fire engine. In fifty minutes from the time the telegram was sent the engine, engineer and hands were at our depot. They made the run from Burlington in 38 minutes. Although the fire was subdued before the engine arrived, yet the people of Mt. Pleasant will not soon forget the generous and prompt response of the Burlington fire department to our cry for help.

The adjoining building on the north side occupied by H. Troughton as a meat market on the first floor and his family above, was given over to destruction and the contents of the meat market and the furniture above was hustled out in a hurry.

The former residence of Sol Hewitt, standing between Troughton’s and the Twinting block, a story and a half wooden building with veranda, and now occupied by Dr. McFarland, was also given up for lost and the furniture removed, and, as a matter of safety to the Twinting block, it was decided to tear it down. The fence was wrenched out, the veranda torn off, and a big hole made in the siding, when it was evident the fire would be confined to the bakery and the house was spared.

We are glad to learn that Messrs. Singer & Budde are pretty fully insured. The building was insured in the Hartford for $3,000; the stock and furniture in the Home for $3,000 and in the North British Mercantile for $1,000. The actual loss will be inside of those figures, but how much, cannot be ascertained till the losses are adjusted. Probably $2,500 would cover it.

The rear part of the building, in which were the ovens and ice houses, was not injured. For the present Singer & Budde will occupy the rooms on the west side of North Main street lately occupied as a restaurant by T. Sweeney.

Sunday morning, Jan 22, 1882 will be long remembered by the people of Mt. Pleasant as a day in which the rule “thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” was very practically and very fully demonstrated. Hundreds of people worked just as earnestly and just as faithfully as if their own dwellings had been burning, and rejoiced just as heartily when the cry of saved was heard as if their own houses had been saved.

The loss on the Brazelton is only a trifle in comparison to what it might have been.

Very few articles are missing from the thousands that were carried into the streets, Mr. Fehse misses a few boxes of cigars and Satterthwait’s jar containing about a gallon marked “Spiritus Frumenti” came back empty.

The fire originated from a flue in the north wall. This flue was on fire early Saturday evening. The fire no doubt had been burning all night being confined by the tin roof.

A partial estimate of the damage and loss as near as can be ascertained is as follows:

J. W. Satterthwait, druggist, loss by moving out about $200. No insurance.
Brazelton House damage to building about $300; on furniture $500. Insured.
A. Anderson, jeweler, loss on stock by moving out not to exceed $100.
W. H. Fehse, cigar store, loss on stock and what is missing about $300. Insured.
H. Troughton, meat market, loss on furniture moved out $100. Insured.
Prof. Davis, barber shop, loss by breakage about $25. No insurance.
Bickenbach & Schnurr, cigar store loss about $50 to $75.
The old Hewitt property damaged by partly tearing down, about $200.
Budde & Singer are now at work finding out how they stand. The inside of their brick building, three stories high, is completely burnt out. They are now taking an invoice of the stock saved. Fully insured.

Each and all the above firms feel very grateful to the noble men and women who worked so hard to save their property and all are thankful to think it is no worse.
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CARD OF THANKS.
Editors Free Press--
We would express through your paper our sincere thanks to the citizens of Mt. Pleasant for their energetic and efficient efforts to save the Brazelton House Block from the devouring flames on last Sabbath morning and would especially recognize the services of the ladies and misses who labored heroically in concert with the fire company just organized, to subdue the fire. We would not forget the city of Burlington for her sympathy and aid to our city in its hour of extreme peril, nor the officers of the C. B. & Q. road for placing the Burlington Fire Co. at our service with such dispatch. Citizens losing buckets or ladders will be paid for such property on presentation of their claims to the undersigned.
W. BECKWITH.
A. W. McCLURE.
J. W. SATTERTHWAIT.
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Editors Free Press--
Please allow us to say through the columns of your paper that words utterly fail us in the attempt to express our heartfelt thanks and gratitude to the fire company and the citizens of Mt. Pleasant who so nobly came to our rescue on Sunday morning and put forth every exertion within their poser to save our business house and goods from being destroyed by fire, and by their united efforts nearly all the fixtures and stock were removed from the burning building, and the bakery department saved.
J. G. BUDDE & CO.

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“The Free Press“, Thursday, January 26, 1882, Page 1