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Show EXPLOSION WRECKS ram mill Damage Is Estimated at $40,000; Firemen Do Good Work. Special to The Tribune. OGDEN, Feb. 20. Partially wrecked by a terrific explosion in the warehouse and pitted by fire which quickly spread throughout tho three-story building, the large flour mill of the Utah U ill ing company at Lincoln avenue and Twenty-fourth Twenty-fourth street was damaged to the extent ex-tent of about $40,000 at 4:20 o'clock 1 this afternoon. The machinery and mill products are practically ruined by fire and water. The loss is partially , covered by insurance. Four employees who were at work in the building "suffered slight burns in making their way out of the basement throng a the flames. They were George Clausse, miller; Fred Newman, packer; George Burt, teamster, and John Udink, sweeper. All were able to remain at . the plant and assist the firemen in fighting the stubborn blaze. Cause Unknown. The exact cause of the explosion has not been determined, but is believed to j have been dust or carbon disulphide i gas, the latter being used in the mill ! tor fumigating purposes. According to j employees of the company the iumigat-j iumigat-j ing apparatus had been arranged in the i storage end of the plant ready for oper-j oper-j ation over Sunday, but had not been ; placed in actual operation at the time ; of the explosion. j A two-story brick addition at the : rear of fhe main building is used for i storage purposes. The explosion took ; place in the second floor apartment. The ! entire east wall of the upper story was 1 blown out, tons of masonary and sacks of grain falling to the sidewalk on the west side of Lincoln avenue. The blast also lifted the roof of the structure several feet, but it fell back and broke in places. According to residents of the neighborhood, the explosion was accompanied accom-panied by a roar which attracted attention at-tention for more than a block distant. The explosion occurred at 4:20 o'clock, and had it taken place earlier in the afternoon several persons at work in the mill might have been killed or injured. Due to the fact that it was .Saturday afternoon, most of the employees em-ployees had left at 1 or 3 o'clock. Blast Ignites Gas. The blast in the rear of the plant seemed to ignite the dust or gas on every floor of tho main structure to the south. The four employees m the basement base-ment fought their way through a sheet of flames around the stairway, and fire was seen in almost every window when the equipment from both fire stations arrived. With a dozen streams of water wa-ter pouring into the building from all sides, the firemen kept the main building build-ing from being completely gutted. As most of the milling machinery is constructed con-structed of wood, n; is feared' that the water has damaged it beyond repair. ' The loss might have also included the cash receipts of the day bad it not beeu for tho quick action of Louis Peerv in throwing a coat over a drawer containing contain-ing more than $200 in currency. At the request of the owners, Fire Chief A. B. Canficld entered tho smoke-tilled office and carried out the cash drawer. As he emerged a gust of wind sent several bills eddving up toward the open windows. win-dows. There was a quick scramble to rescue cash from the sidewalk and glitters glit-ters after tho coat had prevented more of the currency from flying into the air. All of the money was recovered. The plant is entirely owned find operated oper-ated by the Peery estate. According to Harold -t. Peery, who gave his entire en-tire attention to the operation of this property, the value of the building and contents was $50,000. He was unable . this evening to announce the exact , amount of insurance carried. |