HARDWOOD RECORD 



35 



Disastrous Fire at Heineman, Wis. 



On Wednesday, July 20, fire whicb spread 

 from the burning forests in the vicinity wiped 

 out the village of Heineman, Wis., destroy- 

 ing residences and public buildings, the entire 

 plant and all the stock of the Heineman Lum- 

 ber Company, at that place. The only struc- 

 tures left standing were one small cottage and 

 a school house. 



The surrounding country is dense woods and 

 cutover lands thickly grown with brush, which 

 fed the flames at an alarming rate. The damage 

 to forest property was very heavy, though for- 

 lunatcly the Heineman company lost none of 

 its standing timber. 



The fire reached the edge of the village about 

 one o'clock in the alternoon, and the fireproof 

 power house of the Heineman company was 

 immediately prepared to fight the flames with 

 several thousand feet of hose. By hard work 

 the fire was kept from spreading into the vil- 

 lage for about three hours, when, by a sud- 

 den change in the wind, the flames were car- 

 ried into the town and the lumber yard. In a 

 tew moments after the fire entered the village 

 the entire plant was a mass of fiames and 

 burned rapidly. Then the danger to life be- 

 came threatening and something had to be done 

 to get the women and children to a place of 

 safety. Without waiting for permission from 

 the railroad, H. H. Heineman used a St. Paul 

 freight train to carry people and such personal 

 effects as had been saved to Gleason, Wis. He 

 also stopped a couple of freight trains and 

 saved all the railroad equipment. 



The Heineman Lumber Company lost none of 

 its valuable papers or records in its vaults ; 

 Its standing timber Is practically undamaged, 

 and with purchases made during the past year 

 it has a twenty-year cut remaining. While 

 plans are not yet matured, the company ex- 

 pects to build a plant larger and finer in every 

 way than the burned one, and to continue in 

 business as heretofore. It still has large 

 stocks of lumber at Wausau and Carter, Wis., 

 and has arranged to take care of the orders on 

 its hooks at the time of the fire. The concern's 

 mercantile establishments at Gleason and Doer- 

 Ing, Wis., are still in fiourlshing condition. 



A list of the insuring companies carrying risks 

 on the plant, village and stock destroyed is 

 given herewith ; this Is in addition to the in- 

 surance of $37,500 which was paid on the fire 

 loss which occurred on the company's sawmill 

 on April 4 last : 



Royal $24,000 



Prussian National 17,450 



Germania 15,750 



Boston 14,850 



Fireman Fund 15,650 



National Onion 14,000 



Spring Garden 13,100 



North River 12.650 



Philadelphia Underw 12,000 



Old Colony 11,750 



Williamsburg City 10,500 



Rochester German 10,000 



Milwaukee Mechanics 8,000 



Concordia 7,500 



Commercial Union 6,250 



Fidelity Underwriter 5,000 



Norwich Union 4,300 



Glen Falls 3,500 



Citizens 3,500 



Firemans 1ns. Co 3,500 



Jefferson 2,500 



Pennsylvania Fire I. Co 2,500 



Farmers & Merchants 2,500 



National Ins. Co 2.000 



Capital 1.500 



Fidelity Phoenix 1.450 



Calumet 1,000 



Teutonia 500 



German Fire 1ns. Co 400 



Death of J. A. Underwood 

 J. A. Underwood of Wausau, Wis., died In 

 St. Mary's hospital, that city, on Wednesday 

 morning, July 27. He had been in poor health 

 for a number of years, his ailment being en- 

 largement of the prostate gland. His condition 

 became such that his physician advised an opera- 

 tion as the only relief. Fully realizing the 

 danger attending such an operation at his 

 mature years, Mr. Underwood entered the hos- 

 pital with cheerful words to his wife and 

 children, admonishing them to keep up courage 

 and hope. The operation was performed and 

 lor a few days following Mr. Underwoods con- 

 dition was verj critical. He rallied and gained 

 sufficient strength to sit up and take nourish- 

 ment on the day before his death. At mid- 

 night a change came and he gradually sank 

 until the end came, surrounded by his wife, 

 a number of his children and friends. 



Jarvis Augustus Underwood was born January 

 15, 1S37, at Yonkers, X. Y. When a boy he 



$227,100 



THE LATE J. A. UNDERWOOD OP WAUSAU, 

 WIS. 



moved with his parents to Ft. Edward, N. Y., 

 and in early manhood became engaged In the 

 lumber business. He was married at West 

 Lebanon, Me.. June 14, 1860, to Miss Eunice 

 Shoplelgh. He continued to reside in Ft. Ed- 

 ward until 1871, when he moved to Glens Falls, 

 N. Y., residing there twelve years, when he 

 moved to Appleton, Wis. While living in the 

 latter city he established a wood-working In- 

 stitution in Tigerton, Wis. He became identified 

 with a sawmill enterprise near Wausau and 

 moved to that city in 1895. In the latter city 

 he saw a field open for the establishment of a 

 veneer factory and he built up a business which 

 today is one of the city's best manufacturing 

 institutions. This has been operated year in 

 and year out, through flush and hard times, and 

 has given employment to a large number of 

 men. He was also interested in a veneer mill 

 in Alabama, and divided his time between the 

 latter and his Wisconsin enterprise. 



Mr. Underwood was a man of keen business 

 foresight, an untiring worker and gifted with 

 rare capabilities. Never a day passed but what 

 he was giving personal attention to his plants. 



A happy event in his life was the celebra- 

 tion of his golden wedding June 14 of the pres- 

 ent year. AH of his children were present at 

 that event. 



Deceased is survived by bis wife and six 

 children. The latter are Herbert S. of Boston, 

 .\rthur W. of Chicago, Mrs. Henry Shedd of 



Kvauston. 111. ; Mrs. Lawrence Williams of New 

 York City and the Misses Mary and Louise of 

 Wausau. 



His funeral took place Friday afternoon, July 

 ■ly. Rev. James Duer, pastor of the First Pres- 

 byterian church, officiating. The honorary pall- 

 bearers were prominent business associates, 

 while the active pallbearers were men In his 

 employ. 



Hints for Tire Protection 



Bulletin No. SS, published by U. S. Epperson 

 & Co., man:iger for the Lumbermen's Underwrit- 

 ing Alliance, contains, besides a list and causes 

 of recent fires among lumber mills, many points 

 of value and interest to mill superintendents 

 for the prevention and the suppression of con- 

 dagratlons. It is suggested that water mains 

 placed on wooden supports are very apt to be 

 put totally out of commission during the course 

 of a fire when they are most needed. The bulle- 

 tin suggests that it Is much better to bury 

 them. 



What proved to be a disastrous fact at one 

 serious fire reported was that the cut-off valves 

 were not properly located. This meant that 

 when the fire had reached certain sections parts 

 of the hose system had to be abandoned with 

 valves open, as the cut-offs could not be reached. 

 Thus there was just that much waste of pres- 

 sure on the entire system, and a proportionate 

 lessening of efficiency. 



Speaking further of the relations of steam 

 pipes and boilers to the question of fire protec- 

 tion, the bulletin says that there can be no 

 doubt as to the hazard of allowing steam to go 

 down at any time. With the absence of suf- 

 ficient steam pressure, the whole fire-fighting 

 system is rendered useless, while with a good 

 pressure behind the stream the efficiency of 

 ihe apparatus is increased to the maximum. As 

 to the possibility of steam pipes causing con- 

 flagrations, the writer states that opinions to 

 the contrary are often the cause of a false 

 sense of security, and result in serious losses. 

 He states that the soft, light wood of course 

 will char more quickly than other varieties, 

 and that steam under pressure generating most 

 heat, high pressure pipes are always more dan- 

 gerous than those carrying little or no pressure. 

 .\s an instance he .says that his own home has 

 been heated by steam for years ; the gauge rarely 

 showed underpressure, never over ten pounds. 

 It happened that a wooden support was in 

 contact with the steam pipe for fifteen year? 

 before any trouble occurred, but at the end 

 of that period the stick was sufficiently charred 

 to ignite and a fire resulted. 



Other ph.ases of the fire question passed upon 

 in the bulletin are fuel vault fires, in which 

 every mill owner is especially urged to make 

 a close study of the conditions obtaining at the 

 vault, and to put in operation any safeguards 

 which seem feasible, and the "off-hour fires." 

 It is shown that a large per cent of fires occur 

 betwoeu the regular hours of work and strongly 

 urged that the watch clock service be installed 

 in all plants, as this Is about the only check 

 upon the nisht watchman. The bulletin sug- 

 gests the employment of an assistant to fire the 

 boilers, as the watchman's entire time should 

 I" taken up in fire patrol. 



In Memorlam of John B. Bansom 



Friends of the late John Bostick Ransom, and 

 they were legion both in the lumber trade and 

 in ether fields, will be pleased with the attrac- 

 tive little volume into which have been gathered 

 press tributes made at the time of his death, 

 addresses given at his funeral, and resolutions 

 in his memory adopted by the various organiza- 

 tions with which, during his active and useful 

 life. Mr. Ransom was connected. 



The booklet is substantially bound In flexible 

 leather and will serve as a fitting reminder to 

 keep green the memory of this able lumberman 

 and good citizen. 



