Document text
Mail Tribune 100, Nov. 2, 1922 By Alissa Corman Nov 02, 2022 12:00 AM A A News from 100 years ago The following news items were drawn from the archives of the Mail Tribune 100 years ago Nov. 2, 1922 LACK OF PROPER FIRE EQUIPMENT CAUSED BIG LOSS An interesting piece of news in the aftermath of the big fire of late Tuesday night which gutted the Mason-Ehrman wholesale grocery branch of this city, is that two or three car loads of groceries arrived this afternoon on the south bound passenger train from the company’s main plant at Portland to help in restocking the Medford branch. Other car loads are en route or about to be started here, from various destinations as fast as possible on the same errand. The Southern Pacific railroad is cooperating to this end in every way possible. So far as the retail groceries of Medford and the valley are concerned they practically do not realize that the burned out local branch is handicapped for a time. The establishment, due to fast hustling by George T. Collins, local manager and his superiors at Portland and his employees here, was housed in its temporary new home in the Bardwell fruit packing plant, which it had promptly leased, and doing business as usual by yesterday noon. ... The insurance adjusters had not yet arrived here this forenoon to being adjusting the losses on the $150,000 to $200,000 stock of groceries destroyed by fire and water, and the estimated loss of $30,000 on the destroyed big brick building, but they were expected to arrive by tonight. ... George T. Collins said today that their further investigations of yesterday into the cause of the fire leads himself and others of the company to firmly believe that it started from a short circuit in the electrical wiring. He and other present at the fire are of the opinion that the building and main stock could have been saved had the fire department been equipped with apparatus to fight an inside fire above the second floor of the building. They also declare that the fire department did valiant work and all that it could have done with its equipment and that if it had had a water tower for high fire fighting could have extinguished the fire without such a great loss. There was plenty of water and a very strong pressure. PERSONALS Because of the slippery sidewalks the past two days, many citizens have suffered falls caused through stepping on wet leaves and other similar small refuse. ----- Word received in the city this morning was that there is six inches of snow on the hill of the Green Springs road. — Alissa Corman; [email protected]