Hemingray Glass Company - 1892 Fire

FIRE!   FIRE!   FIRE!

Fully $250,000 Worth of Glass

House Property Destroyed.

ALL IN A SINGLE DAY.

The Hemingray and Over Factories

Destroyed at Muncie.

THE INSURANCE ABOUT $85,000.

Insufficient Water Supply at Muncie

Responsible for the Big Loss   —   Getsinger

& Sons of Bridgeton, Lose $3,000

by Fire   —   The biggest Fire Day in

the History of the Glass Trade Was

June 18.

MUNCIE, IND., June 20.   —   Fire visited our city Saturday morning about 9 o'clock and as result two of Muncie's big industries are in ashes. A spark from a switching engine communicated with the ware shed of the Hemingray flint glass works, which quickly spread to the Over window glass works adjoining and in a short space of time the two immense establishments were in ruins. The losses of the two properties will foot up to $240,000. At the Hemingray glass works everything but office, batch room, and pot room is totally destroyed; their factory buildings, packing house, ware sheds, and large machine and mold shop to-day present a mass of ruins. The machine shop and mold room were filled with the latest improved machinery for making molds, etc; the lehrs are also a total loss. The estimated detailed loss is as follows: Buildings, machinery, lehrs, molds, tools, etc., $90,000; on stock, which consisted principally of lamp, lanterns, and electric light globes, fruit jars, and telegraph insulators, $30,000, making a total of $110,000, on which there is an insurance of about $40,000.

The Over glass works are a total loss, not a building of any description left standing of their large plant. The losses of this company will foot up $130,000, of which $70,000 is on buildings, machinery, and furnaces, and $60,000 on stock, on there is an insurance of about $45,000.

Several freight cars were burned. There were two cars of sand for Hemingray, one car load of shucks, two of lumber, all received that morning; one car load of insulators ready for shipment, and several empties ready to load. Many of them could have been saved by the train crew if they had gone after them.

The scene in and about these works this morning beggars description; everything is a complete ruin, not a dollar's worth saved from the immense stock of either concern. The future of these two concerns at this writing is purely speculation, although it is generally believed they will rebuild at once. These two concerns were situated some distance from the water main which had not been extended that far out although the work of laying the pipe had been commenced. There is no doubt had there been a little water available both plants could have been saved, and the city Dads and water company are coming in for a large share of blame.

A local paper speaking of the lack of water says: "Many months ago the city ordered water mains out Macedonia avenue, together with miles of other mains. The two doomed glass factories had ordered extra fire hydrants put in for the protection of their plants and had asked the management of the water company to lay the Macedonia line as quick as possible. Some of the city officials had tried to get this line laid but they were unsuccessful, the water company preferring to lay the mains out in the suburbs where they will probably never be needed."

"Why this obstinacy on the part of the management on one can say but it was means of losing Muncie two large factories, for there is no doubt that with water protection at hand, the Over factory would have been damaged but little and but one of the Hemingray ware houses would have been consumed, but as it is everything is lost. We suppose that now the water works people will just make things fly to get in that line."

"With the hose they had on hand, and with hydrants handy, as both Hemingray and Over had them ordered, the fire would never have spread, as every member of the fire department knows, but as it was they were powerless."   —   MUNCIE.