LOSSES IN BIG FIRE.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 January 1918, Page 3

LOSSES IN BIG FIRE.

7')00 CATTLE AND 3000 SWINE 'DESTROYED. STAMPEDE OF FLAME-CRAZED ANIMALS. Kansas City, Oct, 10. The Kansas City Stockyards Company estimates that 7500 cattle and 3)1)0 pigs were lost in the lire which consumed part of the yards to-day. Twenty-live acres were burned over. All railways except the Missouri Pacific have issued an embargo against cattle shipments to Kansas City until conditions regain normal. The cause of the blaze has not been determined, but stockmen believe the lire j was caused by sparks from a passing engine. The Are started in the "speculators' section," in the north end of the yards, and spread rapidly until at 4 n'clock it looked as if the entire vards, with more than 40,000 cattle, would he consumed. Eire companies made rapid headway, hovvevcf, and saved the major portion of the yards. Several scale houses were burned out, 1 but the fire did not roach any of the larger structures. More than 40,000 cattle.,aml about 10,000 hogs were in the yards when the fire started. Maddened bv the llames and smoke the animals stampeded, tearing down the wooden fences and trampling each other. Some of them were pushed into the river. Stockmen hurriedly opened all the gates and steers were allowed to rim loose all over the west bottoms. They are being rounded up throughout the entire district to-dav. firemen put many of the flamc-crazed animals out of their miserv with "uns and axes. ' B Nearly all the live stock in the majority of the yards is covered by insurance, officials said to-dav. A charge of 10 cents a head is made on each car of steers entering the yards, for insurance which IS I<ept up by the stockvards company. Speculators will be the heavv losers it is believed. The fire started in the speculators' section, whdre cattle bought from speculators by speculators were penned. Intimation was given that (he fire might have been of inccndiarv orhnn An investigation has 'been started,'"' A large number of war contracts were' being filled. George E. Colett, general manager of the stockyards company, placed an estimate of a loss of from £3-2.000 to £3O 000 upon the pens destroyed