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About The Plattsmouth journal. (Plattsmouth, Nebraska) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 28, 1914)
N.-l Stn plattemoutb cram VOL. XXXIII. PL ATTSM O UT II, NEBRASKA, MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1914. No. PUTTSMODTH AGAIN DISASTROUS FIRE ON CHRISTMAS DAY L. B. Egenberger's Store and Home Overhead Entirely Ruined and the Adjoining Buildings Receive Very Serious Injury. MRS J. F. STULL. AGED The Fire Boys Respond Nobly and Work Bravely and Were Greatly Assisted by Numerous Volunteer Citizens Late Before Flames Were Extinguished. Frrm Saturdays Pallv. Ore of the most destructive fires that has occurred in this city in re cent years curr.e yesterday afternoon at about 1 :"0 o'clock, and as a result two of the business buildings of the city are completely in ruins and the life of Mis. Frederick Stull. one of the pioneer residents of the county, was claimed by the ruthless fire demon. The fire, as far as can be learned from the many conflicting1 stories circulated, originated in the apartments of Mrs. O. P. Monroe, situated on the second floor of the building thnt was occupied by her store, and was caused from an over heated stove that soon had the room whre it was located in a blaze, and the f;re rapidly spread through the different rooms, the light partitions affording1 but little protection against the racing flames that lapped every thing in their pathway. The extreme cold of the day made the work of fighting the fire one of the greatest difficulty and the firemen deserve much credit, as well as the citizens who assisted in attempting to subdue the blaze, as almost all of the men on the scene who were fighting to save the building were coated with sheets of ice, and the streams from the five lines of hose froze almost as soon as the water fell on the building and soon a coating of ice was formed over the front of the building, making the work of fighting doubly danger ous. The rapidity with which the; blaze spread made the work of sav ing anything almost impossible and there were few who were aware that ?drs. Stull was in the building until the whole second story was a roaring i furnace, with the blaze bursting J through the roof and spreading into j the adjoining building on the west, j which was occupied by the grocery store of L. B. Egenberger, with his living apartments on the second floor, and so rapidly was the fire in tear ing its path through the buildings that the family had difficulty in escaping from the blazing structure, and were unable to save a thing from j their beautiful home, which was soon i in the grasp of the fire demon. The fire had been going1 on for some time when the firemen and workers were startled by the an nouncement that Mrs. Stull was still in the building, which by this time was literally one continuous sheet of flames, with great clouds of blinding smoke rolling out and blinding all those who attempted to gain entrance. The son of the lady, Lawrence Stull, arrived from his home after the fire was in full headway, and being in formed that the body of his aged mother, who was quite ill and feeble, lay somewhere in the midst of the blaze and smoke, mounted the ladder stationed in the front of the building and dashed in to try and search out the body of his mother. He was com pelled to creep along the floor for some ten minutes before he came across the body of the aged lady lying on the floor in the front room with her clothing entirely burned off and the flesh cooked to a crisp, which fell from the body as it was lifted from the floor and carried by Mr. Stull to the window, from where it was carried down the ladder to the street and taken to the tailor shop of j James Sochor, where it remained un til taken to the Hild undertaking rooms. The deed of Mr. Stull was one that required great courage in entering what seemed certain to be a : VISITED BK A- 80, BURNED TO DEATH death trap, as the whole structure was ablaze from one end to the other at the time the body was re moved. The Egenberger building was liter ally gutted and there was nothing saved from the living apartments, as the roof falling in completed the wreck made by the fire and nothing was left to tell where The once beauti ful home had been. The loss to Mr. Egenberger on his home will amount to close to $3,000. while the grocery stock is a total loss, amounting to some $7,000, and this, with the loss on the building, will put the total loss of Mr. Egenberger at between $13,000 and 15,000. regardless of the many priceless tokens and family keep sakes that were swept away in the on rushing flames. The store of Mrs. Monroe is also a complete loss and there is nothing left there to tell the story of the fire. The loss here will amount to several thousand dollars, outside of the build ing, which will amount to about ?.".000. The firemen and volunteer citizens assisted in carrying the hose over the roofs in the rear of the burning build ing, where streams of water were poured into the blazing buildings, both from the rear and through the win dows on the north facing Main street. As the fire spread into the Egen berger building it seemed that the section of the block occupied by the M. E. Smith shirt factory would also be claimed by the angry flames, but this was soon protected. The build ings burned are a portion of what is known as the Drew block, built in the early eighties, and while cut into dif ferent stores, did not have fire walls between them and made the work of the firemen one of great difficulty, as the partitions afforded little or no protection from the flames, as they came rushing through the building. The suddenness of the fire found most of the citizens and members of the fire department home with their families, but they soon rallied in fine shape to the work of trying to save something from the building, but the force of th? flames and the freezing weather combined made the work one of the greatest difficulty, and while after wards it might be seen where there could have been some other methods used, still, in the excitement and the difficulty attending the fire the de partment and citizens who served faithfully all afternoon from 1:30 to 5 o'clock in fighting the flames, de serve a great deal of credit. Despite the freezing weather the fire attracted a great deal of atten tion and a large number of citizens soon assembled to try and assist in the work of fire fighting, and as sev eral of the firemen were overcome by the cold and compelled to retire from the work, their places were taken by volunteers from the citizens, who certainly acquitted themselves in great shape and deserve a world of praise. There was much excitement created during the fire by the report that Mrs. Monroe could not be found and had met death in the building, but later it was learned that she was at the home of Adam Wolfe and wife, where she had been taken during the fire. The family of Mr. Gibson, the fire man at the steam laundry, who oc cupied apartments in the rear of the Monroe building, were among the heaviest losers in the fire, as every thing they had was swept away in the wreck cf the building. The M. E. Smith building, to the west of that occupied by L. B. Egen berger, was damaged greatly by smoke and this mroning the officials of the company came down to esti mate the loss to their firm, which, however, will not amount to a great deal. The loss to the property of J. C. Peterson on the east of the Monroe building was considerable from the water used in putting out the fire, the hall of their home and the meat mar ket below receiving the largest share of the water. The fire wall saved them from the flames, as had it been lighter the blaze from the burning building would certainly have pene trated into their apartments. The household goods of Mr. Peterson were removed during the fire to a point of safety. The Plattsmouth Water company was right on the job during the fire, as with five lines of hose in use the pressure, which averaged ninety pounds at the start, was gradually in creased and there was plenty of pres sure at all times for the work of fighting the fire. As soon as the alarm was sounded the plant was placed in readiness for work and at the close of the fire, with all the water used, the standpipe on North Seventh street was as full as when the hydrants were first turned on. L. B. Egenberger, whose stock of groceries was destroyed by the fire. will reopen Monday morning in the Gorder building, across the street from the burnt structure, and he will look after his trade as usual, as goods will be shipped at once from Omaha to supply the needs of his customers. Mr. Egenberger is showing the true spirit of pluck in starting in to carry on his business after the heavy loss he has just sustained. BALL ROLLING IN DIRECTION OF AID FOR THE FIRE ROYS From Saturday's Paily. A number of the business men of the city have expressed the opinion that some recognition should be given the members of the fire department for their gallant services yesterday at the fire, and Mont Robb, the pro prietor of the Hotel Riley, is the first to step forward in this excellent movement and states that he will join in the movement to raise a fund by contributing $5 to the same, and Mr. Kinslow, the owner of the Riley build ing will also contribute a like sum, and if all the business houses of the city will do likewise a neat sum can be realized for the fire boys that would be a neat appreciation of the feeling held by the citizens for their good work. Taken to Omaha Today. From Saturday's Daily. Dr. G. II. Gilmore of Murray came up this afternoon from his home, ac companying Mrs. Mark Eurlong, who was taken to Omaha on the 1:58 Bur lington train, where she will undergo an operation at St. Joseph's hospital in that city. Mrs. Furlong has been in very poor health for some time, and while she has been operated on once before it was found that another operation would be necessary, and she was taken to the "hospital ato nee. FAREWELL RECEPTION BY MRS. RICE TO FAMILIES OF MESSRS. SMITH AND DAILY A farewell party was given by Mrs. James Rice Friday evening, December 18, for Jacob Smith and R. C. Bailey's families, as they will soon leave for their new homes in Min nesota. The family of Mr. Bailey were accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Sutton and daughter and Mr. and Mrs. Modlin and two children from Omaha. The evening was spent in music and taffy-pulling. About 10 o'clock a de licious luncheon was ierved, consist ing of oysters, pickles, cake and fruit. At a late hour the guests departed, thinking that the evening had been well spent and thanking Mrs. Rice for the pleasant time she had shown them. The families of Mr. Bailey and Mr. Smith have been neighbors of Mrs. Rice for a number of years. THE GOOD OLD IN PLATTSMOUTH The Day Was Most Appropriately Observed by All the Churches and the People in General. Christmas day in Plattsmouth was one filled both with ioy and sorrow, and the happiness of the many homes was overcome by the terrible fire that devastated two of the business houses of the city and resulted in the loss of the life of Mrs. Frederick Stull in the burning of her daughtor's home. The celebration of the dav in the churches began at 11:15 Thursday night, when the observation of the Holy Communion was celebrated at the St. Luke's church with a choral observation of the communion, which added greatly to the impressiveness cf the service conducted by the Rev. Wilbur S. Leete, pastor of the church, who gave a short sermon in keeping with the spirit of the great event of the birth of the Savior, and gave to the large number of the parishioners present the communion of the church. The music of the choir was beautiful in the extreme and made the solemn service of this church even more im pressive. The services at the St. John's Roman Catholic church at ":30 in the morning were attende by a large num ber of the members of the congrega tion of the church, and the impres sive high mass was celebrated by the Rev. Father M. A. Shine, rector of the parish. The beautiful music of the mass was rendered in a most able manner by the choir and aided in making the service one of exceptional beauty. The altar was a sight cf beauty, with the flowers and candles, and a great many of the congregation took the Christmas, communion at this service. The Christmas program given by the children of the Sunday school cf the Presbyterian church in the audit orium of the church Thursday even ing, was very largely attended and the entertainment provided by them was most pleasing to all. The pupit had been made larger and was very appropriately decorated. The pro gram consisted of the Christmas songs, recitations and dialogues, and two playlets entitled "Santa Claus in the Southland," and "Little Eo Peep's Christmas Party," which were given in a very happy manner. At the close of the program Santa Claus made his appearance with his sacks of sweets, which were handed to the lit tle folks as they passed the platform. Thursday morning and afternoon various members of each class of the Sunday school distributed baskets filled with a Christmas dinner to those who perhaps would not other wise have a Christmas dinner. This custom has been observed by the members of the Sunday school of the Presbyterian church for the past ten years. The Sunday school and choir of St. Paul's Evangelical church furnished an excellent Christmas program to a large and appreciative audience on Christmas eve. Rev. Steger, the pas tor, gave in choice language the beautiful Christmas story; he spoke of the German custom of celebrat ing Christmas and asking considera tion at this holiday season of friends and relatives of many present, who are in disturbed Germany. The greater part of the program consist ed of reading, songs and dialogues by the boys and girls of the Sunday school. As they appeared before the decorated Christmas tree so happy and each doing his part so well, every one in the audience responded to the spirit and was filled with the true Christmas enthusiasm of the child. The church choir contributed three appropriate anthems and everyone present enjoyed taking part in sev eral of the most loved German Christ mas hymns. The evening was com pleted for the little folks by the Sun day school teachers distribtuing well filled bags among them. The exercises in the Methodist church were most pleasing and the big Christmas exercises of the Sunday school at the church Christmas eve were attende by a large number of the parents and friends of the little i folks to witness the pleasing little j prof; ram prepared, and the little ones were delighted when at a suitable jhour Santa made his appearance and distributed among them gifts suitable to the occasion, and which proved a very pleasing feature of the evening. The Christian church enjoyed a very pleasant time at the Christmas eve exercises when the young folks of the Sunday school were given a treat, and here Santa Claus was very liber al, lemembering everyone with some token of the evening and their little hearts were greatly pleased with the pleasant time prepared for them. Throughout the city there were numerous home gatherings that brought into th? home a sense of peace and joy, as families gathered around the parental board to pass the day in the enjoyment of the Christ mas dinner, as well as in visiting with each other. SHERIFF QUINTON OVER TAKES LAOY DESIRED IN OMAHA AT UNION, NEB. From Saturday's Pnily. Sheriff Quinton Thursday received a message from Omaha asking him to go to the Missouri Pacific station ;:nd apprehend a lady who was a pas senger on the 2:41 flyer for Kansas City and who was wanted in the me tropolis in connection with the loss of omo furs from the Adams Express company's office in that citv. The sheriff boarded the train, but was un able ot locate the party desired until the train was r.ear Union, and alight ed there with his charge, bringing her back on the 4:03 train to Omaha, where she was handed over to the authorities. The lady stated her name was Helen Pendleton and that her home was at Taooma, Washington, and accounted for her possession of the furs by stating that she had pur chased them in Omaha of some man who had offered them for sale. This is what the Omaha authorities con tend and they desired the presence of the woman to try and locate the man who had been responsible for the tak ing of the furs, which disappeared about a month ago from the office of the company, where they were await ing shipment, and are quite valuable. Mi-s Pendleton is a lady of fine ap pearance and great personal beauty, and while it is not thought that she is the party taking the furs, although through her it is hoped to get in touch with the real culprits and bring them to justice. PETER C. PETERSDN, FOR MER PLATTSMOUTH CITI ZEN, DIES AT EUGENE, ORE. frrm Saturday's Pally. Yesterday morning J. C. Peterson icceived a message announcing the sad news of the death, at his home in Eugene, Oregon, of his brother, Peter C. Peterson, who for a number of years was a resident of this city. Mr. Peterson passed away at 7:30 Thurs day evening after an illness of some six months, and the body will be in terred at Eugene. Mr. Peterson, when a resident of this city, was employed by the Burlington in the freight car repair department as an assistant to the foreman, Mr. Steimker, who was then in charge of this department. lie removed from this city to Oregon some six years ago and has since made his home at Eugene. Mr. Peter son was married twice and leaves, be sides the widow, three children to mourn his loss as follows: George Peterson, John Peterson and Miss Cena Peterson, who reside in Oregon. Three brothers, L. H. and J. C. Peter son of this city and Charles Peterson of Anacortes, Washington, are also left to mourn the passing of this good man. The old friends will be greatly grieved to learn of the death of Mr. Peterson, who during his lifetime here made many warm friends, and the family will receive the deepest sym pathy of the entire community in their loss. Mrs. John Gorder and children and Mrs. J. V. Hatt and children were among the passengers this afternoon for Omaha, where they go to visit for the day looking after1 some business matters. "THAT PRINTER DF UDELL'S" NEXT TUESDAY NIGHT That the dramatization of popular novels is a wise move on the part of the theatrical producers is exemplified by the tremendous financial returns reaped by the enterprising managers that were fortunate enough to receive the dramatic rights of any well known novel. Every book of any prominence has passed through the "read the book and see the play" stage, and the theater-goers eagerly await the stage session of their favorite novel. The popularity of the Harold Bell Wright stories brought forth an overwhelm ing demand for the dramatization of the same. 'That Printer of Udell's" conceded to be Mr. Wright's master piece and the "best seller" in years, was one the public demanded. The author was besieged with offers from theatrical managers of every degree and the competition became so keen and the public demand so strong for the play that Mr. Wright, with the assistance of Elsbery W. Reynolds, the publisher, finally submitted a dramatization of his great story. Messrs. Gaskill & McVitty, a well known firm, after a spirited competi tion, secured the dramatic rights. The play will make its initial appearance at the Parmele theater on Tuesday night, December 20. CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES AT MASONIC HOME ONE CON TINUED ROUND OF PLEASURE The Christmas of 1914 was observed at the Nebraska Masonic Home in a manner that will cause the event to long be remembered most pleasantly by the aged people residing at the Home, and nothing was omitted from the arrangements to make it most ocmplete in every way. Christmas eve there was a great big Christmas tree placed in the large and spacious dining room of the Home, and this was laden with gifts for every members of the Home, be ing sent down by the members of the Omaha lodges of the Masons, and there was no one overlooked in the distribution of the handsome and choice gifts. This feature of the Christmas program was one that de lighted the old folks, who felt keenly the spirit of remembrance shown by the great Masonic fraternity and the efforts of Superintendent and Mrs. W. S. Askwith in looking after their wel fare and enjoyment. At the noon hour a most sumptuous dinner was served in the dining room and the table spread the length of the room was fairly laiden with the many good things that contribute to the wants of the inner man. The menu for the diner was as follows: Roast Turkey. Dressing. Giblet Gravy. Roast Sweet Potatoes. Mashed Potatoes. Stewed Tomatoes. Coldslaw. Celery. Spiced Pickles Crajiberry Sauce. Nuts. Mince Pie. Candy. Bread. Butter. Coffee. Tea. Milk. The day was closed with a very fine oyster supper, served at 6 o'clock, and the old folks retired cheered and en thused by the enjoyment that the day had brought to them. Hon. Francis E. White, grand secretary of the Ne braska grand lodge, was a guest in the evening at the Home. John G. Wunderlich of Nehawka came up yesterday from his home and visited here today with his many friends and looked after some busi ness matters at the court house for the day. John is looking fine and his friends are mighty well pleased to meet him. George Albert of Sidney, Montana, is here for a short viit at the home of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Al bert, during the holidays and he is greatly enjoying the visit with them and his old friends. He is engaged in ranching in Montana. Snbscribe for The Journal. Pleasant Home Gathering. The beautiful home of Mrs. Eva Reese in the north part of the city was the scene of a very pleasant gathering yesterday, when a n umber of the members of the family gather ed to spend Christmas in a most de lightful manner beneath the hospita ble roof. The out-of-town gue.-ts present to participate in the good time were: Karl P. Reese :;r.d wife, Omaha; Walter Scott, wife arid .n. Glenn, and Mr. Ired Ar.u.t of Omaha. MR. AND MRS. C. C. DES PAIN CELEBRATE GOLDEN WEDDING CHRISTMAS DAY From Saturday's Patty. Yesterday was the golden wedding anniversary of two of the wrt:iv residents of this city, Mr. an ! Mr. '. C. Despain, who fifty years ago were made as one on Christmas day. ImI-1, in Mills county, Iowa, r.ear the site of St. Mary's, one of the poii.ts of in terest in the county then, but which has since been almost forgotten. Since their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Despain have lived in this city an I county almost continuously and here they have a host of the warmest fric-r.ds that rejoice with them in h tv ing passed so many happy hours of married life together, and who will trust that the years to come may be filled with only the most choice gifts to both of these highly esteemed resi dents of Plattsmouth and that the in closing years rr.av be cheered and made happy with the memory of th many warm friends and happy as sociations here in Platt-mou'h. There is nothing too good to wlr-h for Mr. and Mrs. Despain, and the community will join in wishing them the privilege of celebrating their diamond wedding together at the home in this city. REMAINS OF THE LATE MRS. AULT TAKEN TO GLEHWOOD YESTERDAY FOR INTERMENT From Saturday's Pallv. The funeral services of the late Mrs. Loretta Ault were conducted at her late home yesterday morning at 8:30 by Rev. A. C. Hollowell. pastor of the Church of Christ. The serv ices were attended by a large number of relatives and friends desiring to how their last respects to this Ie J tnd respected lady. To these at: 1 others who knew her intimately her ighteous deeds should be "footprint- n the sands of time" to beckon them to so live that they may join the hoir invisable of the immortal dea 1 vho have gone to live in peace in the land of glory and song. The music for the service was furnished by a number from the church choir, ;tid the selections were from tlio.e best ovrd bv the deceased. After the fun eral service the body was conveyed t Glenwood on No. 4, where it wa in terred in the family burying lot. Miss Loretta Lemm was bom ri Kalamazoo, Michigan, January 'Jl. 855, and departed this life December 3. 1914, at the age cf .. years. 11 months and 2 days. In her early youth she moved with her narents to Syra cuse, Neb., where she was married t- Charles B. Ault, and with her hus band later removed to Plattsmouth, here she had resided almost con- ti nuouslv since that time. She ac- pted Christ many years ago and at ce th e time of her dath was a member the Church of Christ of Platts- 1 , A 1 I , o m outn. tne leave to moji.i nei i.." t wo sons and four daughters. The h usband and two daughters preceded her to the better world. Still Have Calendars. You will still find a large number of those handsome sample calendars and wall pockets at the Journal office. While we have sold a large number the line is almost unbroken, all of which is being sold at about one-half what the original cost would be in quaintity lots. Ca:i and see tnem. Joseph Tighe, wife and son, Fran vis, of Havelock, who were in thi city as over Christmas guests at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Fitz gerald, departed yesterday for their home, going over the Burlington.