The large $60,000 plant of the Lincoln Creamery and Ice Cream Company of this city was destroyed by fire last Friday night, entailing a big loss to the large number of stockholders of this concern. Only $8,000 of insurance was carried, and this will cover a very small portion of the big loss.
The fire broke out at 11:30 p.m. and when discovered the frame building was on fire almost all over the structure. The firemen responded promptly following the alarm but were unable to check the blaze sufficient to save the building. High voltage electric wires run into the building connecting the motors used in operating the plant, and it was necessary to cut off the current at the Anderson Mills before turning water on the burning building from two nozzles, and many large charred timbers remain.
The plant had much costly machinery used in making ice cream and butter, and all of this is badly damaged by heat, and much of it is perhaps worthless. It is thought by Mr. Blanton that some of the machinery could be repaired and used. The cold storage at the plant was badly damaged, but it is thought that this will not necessarily be a total loss. A new ice making plant was being installed at the Creamery, and would have been ready for operation this week, and this is another added loss at least partially.
The adjacent Swimming pool building used for dressing, shower baths, etc., was not damaged, and remains intact.
The creamery had orders for the largest amount of ice cream for Saturday delivery in its history, and there was around a thousand gallons of the famous ice cream in the cold storage plant ready for delivery. The cold storage was made of cement and cork layers and while the heat cracked the cement and water ran into the cold storage, the large amount of ice in the storage and packed around the cans of ice cream kept the cream frozen through the fire and until Saturday morning, when several hundred gallons of ice cream was delivered by truck to the patrons in Shelby, Charlotte, Lincolnton and other points.
The explosion of ammonia tanks during the fire made a noisy demonstration and this, with the added 2,300 voltage wires, made the fire fighting a hazardous task for the firemen.
The origin of the fire is not learned. Mr. Blanton says he is of the opinion that electric wires started the blaze. He says there were two men at the plant at the time, Mr. Pegram, who was in the office, and Mr. Leatherman, who was in the building eating lunch, and they report that the structure was burning fiercely when they discovered it, neither of the men having time to get their coat or other belongings from the building. Outside under the shed were two trucks that were moved only in time to save from destruction, the body of one of them being badly damaged by fire.
The directors of the concern, E.I. Mosteler, Albert Sigmon, J.B. Blanton, T.A. Warlick, R.C. Coon, R.P. Blanton and a few stockholders met Saturday, but came to no definite conclusion as to when rebuilding of the plant will begin. This will not be decided until the loss, assets, etc., are checked up. The loss falls very heavily on the owners, and while the plant is said to have been on a paying basis, according to the directors Saturday rebuilding depends a good deal on the encouragement given by stockholders and people generally of this community.
From the front page of The Lincoln County News, Lincolnton, N.C., June 19, 1922
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