Payette County ID Archives News.....Second Big Blaze October 28, 1904
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Cheryl Hanson ihansonb@fmtc.com February 15, 2006, 9:39 pm

New Plymouth Outlook October 28, 1904
New Plymouth Outlook
New Plymouth, Idaho
Friday, October 28, 1904
 
Second Big Blaze!
 
New Plymouth Again Looses by Fire, This time Loss Reaches $7,000
 
TWO THOUSAND INSURANCE 
 
New Plymouth people have lately been obliged to view the destruction by fire 
of two of the village's most valuable properties, representing a loss of 
nearly $11,000, one-third of which has been recovered in insurance.
 
The second catastrophe, which occurred early last Tuesday afternoon, was the 
burning of the fruit evaporator and packing house commonly termed 
the "dryer."  The only trace of the once treasured plant of the New Plymouth 
fruit growers now remaining is the smoke stack and a heap of ashes.
 
Gus Ingalls and Joe Creel first noticed the fire.  They were emptying the 
fruit trays, and Mr. Ingalls remarked rather in fun that he smelled smoke, and 
glancing down to the bottom of the oven both saw even more than smoke.  The 
sill above the hot brick covering the furnace had ignited, at which sight Mr. 
Ingalls, Mr. Creel and Will Duborko spread the alarm and ran for the hose.  
Mr. Field and the half dozen women who were in the packing room soon arrived 
on the scene and all did splendid service but the difficulty in getting at the 
fire was so great that the flames were soon beyond control, and as the people 
began to arrive they could render assistance only in moving boxes of fruit 
from the building.  The deep, dark smoke from the burning fruit was a 
bewildering sight and could be seen for miles around.  Joe Creel and Will 
Duborko were credited with exceptional gallantry in putting out the fire.
 
In talking with Mr. Field, the manager for the New Plymouth Fruit Growers' 
Association, he claims that the total loss on died and fresh fruit amounts to 
about $2,000, and boxes and sundries will increase this amount to $2,500.  
The "dryer" itself cost $4,000, and the packing house recently added, $300, 
making a total of $4,300.  The loss to building and contents both is $6,800.  
The principal losers of fruit inside the dryer were Messrs. Field, Carrier, 
Ingalls, Lill and Mrs. Schmid, who lost all their dried prunes, amounting to 
several thousands of pounds.  Mr. Niswander and Marnoch & Loveland also lost a 
large quantity of apples, the exact amount of which has not yet been 
determined.  Two or three tons of peaches and pears which had been dried for 
individuals not belonging to the company were all carried out and saved.  This 
represented a value of $500.  The losers on the evaporator were the twenty-
four stockholders in the New Plymouth Fruit Growers' Association, the loss 
being proportionate to the number of shares of stock owned by the members.  
The insurance of $2,000 would of course reduce the loss of the stockholders 
fifty per cent.  We give the names of the stockholders as follows:
C. S. Loveland - 40 shares
Brown & Shaw - 40 shares
Mrs. Rose Schmid - 24 shares
P. R. Ketchum - 20 shares   
D. R. Carrier - 20 shares
D. W. Ross - 20 shares 
W. E. Hill - 20 shares
J. W. Lill - 15 shares
Clyde Mastellar - 15 shares
     Hart - 15 shares
J. R. Field - 13 shares
John and H. C. Dillon - 12 shares
A. H. Sundles - 10 shares
Calvin Niswander - 8 shares
A. Meyer - 5 shares
Ringer, A. C. - 3 shares
 
The inconvenience of not having the evaporator to market the remainder of the 
crop in the orchards increases the loss of the fire to the fruit growers.  In 
the face of more than ordinary reverses experienced by our fruit men the past 
year Tuesday's calamity seems indeed discouraging.  It would seem that it 
would be a dampener on the enthusiasm and hopes of our fruit men.  But in 
talking to the stockholders we find that they are not despairing over their 
misfortune.  They view the matter with comparative good humor.  They claim to 
be good for all liabilities against the company, and many express the hope 
that the evaporating plant will be rebuilt larger and better than before, with 
the addition of a cannery and vinegar factory to utilize the enormous amount 
of by-products which go to waste here each year.  The fruit raisers of the 
Payette bench should be optimistic.  There is a brighter day coming.  The 
railroad rates will have to come down and the methods of marketing the fruit 
at the other end will be arranged for in another year or two, and in the 
course of a few years the troubles of the fruit man will have faded in the 
mists of past history.

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