History | Delhi Can fire | Back
 
Source: page 1 article from 22 Jan 1903 Simcoe Reformer
 

Delhi suffers a heavy blow
Its Fine Canning Factory Entirely 
Destroyed by Fire
The loss Very Inadequately 
Covered by Insurance
 

About five o'clock last Thursday a.m. a fire broke out in what is known as the bathroom, the room in which the cooking of the canned goods is done, in the Delhi canning factory. The flames spread with great rapidity and despite the willing efforts of the villagers, soon claimed all of the valuable property, save two large frame sheds used for corn husking and pea shelling, which, though often on fire, were finally saved by copious applications of snow.
 
The only fire fighting apparatus in Delhi is a small hand engine of a rather antiquated vintage, and though brought promptly to the scene of the conflagration, it refused to work.
 
Mr. W. A. Ferguson, the head of the company, was away from home on a business trip and for some time it was found impossible to communicate with him. His home-coming would be far from a pleasurable one.
He found on the return the smouldering ruins, staring walls and twisted heaps of iron, the remains of what he had left as one of the best equipped canneries in the Dominion.
   
The structure was a long white brick building, two storeys throughout in the shape of a letter L, with capacious sheds on either side for corn and peas. It was equipped with the most modern machinery to be found in the world, it having always been the policy of the company to make use as far as possible, of automatic machinery. Like all successful canning industries, it furnished not only employment to many people, but also a ready market for the farmers for miles around for their small fruits, corn, peas, and other produce.
  
The loss on the building, plant and stock, it is said, will amount to at least $60,000, there being about $25,000 worth of goods on hand awaiting shipment. The insurance on the property is $4,000 on building, $17,000 on stock, and $10,000 on machinery.



 
 Copyright 2012 John Cardiff