The Weekly Ottumwa Courier

The Bloomfield Fire.

In the great fire at Bloomfield, which occurred two nights before ours, in which a considerable number of the business houses, situated on one side of the public square were consumed, involving a loss of some $12,000 above insurance, our friend, Col. S. A. Moore, Captain in the 2d Iowa, until shot out at Shiloh, and afterwards Lt. Col. in the 100 day troops, suffered the loss of his store, a fine brick building, and nearly all his goods, also, his clothing and household furniture, situated in the upper part of the store room, in which he was residing at the time, and from which he and his family had a very narrow escape.

The Guard from which we glean, says:

"The first intimation of fire in the vicinity was discovered by Mrs. Moore, who was awakened by a strong smell of smoke that pervaded the room in which she was sleeping—Col. Moore occupied the upper story of his store house with his family—and immediately awakening the Col., he sprang out of bed and rushed to a north window and threw it up, when the sight of the burning barber shop met his gaze and the lurid flames leaped up like hungry wolves eager for their prey, their fiery tongues almost licking his face. Immediately arousing the family they barely had time to escape with a few articles of clothing which they seized upon at random, ere the flames were hissing and crackling, like so many enraged serpents, throughout the upper rooms of the building. Although somewhat excited as was natural under the circumstances—the retreat of his large family in imminent danger of being entirely cut off by smoke and flames—the Col. exercised wonderful presence of mind in securing a coat in the pocket of which was the key to the store, without which it would have been impossible to have entered the store, the door being massive, and with nothing in the neighborhood that could have been used as a battering ram. As soon as his family were in safety, the Col. unlocked his door, the flames lapping around the corner in front, almost barring ingress, and going to the match-box struck a light and coolly lighted some candles, in order to see the better to remove the goods—By this time the terrible alarm was communicated by loud cries and ringing of bells, to the slumbering citizens, and the swift hurrying of many feet upon the side-walks, and the hoarse shouts, taken up and re-echoed by hundreds of voices in every part of town, was like the impetuous charge of a cavalry squadron, surprising the enemy before day, and presenting a scene of indescribable confusion on every hand.

By four o'clock the flames had devoured the Harness and Barber shops, wrapped Col. Moore's brick building with fiery sheets and was reaching out its long lurid arms to embrace Leroy Hagan's Hardware store in its consuming folds."

at $4,000; insured for $1,000; household goods, &c., on which there was no insurance $2,000. Loss on stock not ascertained but heavy. Col. M. was one of our bravest and best soldiers, badly shot through both legs at Shiloh, and disabled from hard labor. In this terrible calamity, sweeping away the accumulation of years in a moment he has the heartfelt sympathies of his old Comrades, and the public generally.

Mr. Leroy Hagan, an old Hardware merchant, lost several of the buildings, and most of his stock of goods, making his losses very heavy and entirely ruining him. Many others suffered severely. The fire originated from a red hot coal stove being in contact with a pitch pine board partition in a barber shop, which is certainly an astonishing matter.