American Window Glass Company, Muncie, Indiana

BAD FIRE IN MUNCIE.

Plant No. 12 of American Window Glass Co.

Consumed by Flames.

One of the most disastrous fires of recent years in Muncie, Ind., on Monday night destroyed factory No. 12 of the American Window Glass Co. The main building of the plant and three adjacent buildings covering several acres of land, were burned to the ground. The loss has been estimated at between $40,000 and $50,000, but officers of the company when seen stated that they had no figures as yet on which to base a correct estimate on their loss, but that the early reports were exaggerated.

The plant has not been under operation for several years and has been used as a warehouse by the Federation Window Glass Co., and it was their stock, amounting to 32,000 boxes that was stored in the building. Of this number 15,000 boxes were destroyed. The walls and woodwork were as dry as tinder and the fire spread quickly. When workmen at the Hemingray plant, which is but across a switch track to the south of the window glass plant, became aware of the fire and brought the hose of the factory to bear on the burning structure, the flames were shooting from different places along the entire south of the plant, a distance of several hundred feet, and from the fact that the flames were so soon so widely spread, some believe that the fire was of incendiary origin, but this is merely a conjecture.

C. P. Turner, the night watchman, lived with his family in the rear room of the plant. Turner was not at home when the fire started, and his wife, who was ill at the time, when escaping from the burning building dropped her pocketbook containing $200, and this was lost, together with all his household goods.

The plant was built by C. H. Over about 10 years ago. The buildings when burned were in bad need of repairs. The exact amount of insurance is not known, although the loss is probably well covered.