ALL IT TOOK WAS ONE LITTLE SPARK

Saturday June 18, 1892, was a day like any other.

The laborers at Muncie’s Hemingray Glass Factory and its neighbor to the north, the C. H. Over Window Glass Works, had reported to work as usual. Around 10:00 AM, a switch engine belonging to the Lake Erie and Western Railroad was parked on a siding between the two plants. The fireman threw several shovels of coal into the engine’s firebox, sparks flew, and the engine pulled away from the boxcars.

Opinion is divided on where the spark fell. Some say it landed in a pile of straw in a nearby warehouse. Others say it landed in a boxcar. But there was one thing everyone could agree on:  within an hour, both factories had been reduced to ashes.

Ralph Hemingray History of Delaware County, Indiana by Frank D. Haimbaugh (1924)

One of Hemingray’s warehouses caught fire first. As soon as the flames were discovered, a call went out to the Muncie Fire Department, which arrived in a timely fashion with their Babcock chemical engine and their hose reel. The alarm also spread quickly to the nearby Ball Brothers factory. Ball Brothers, after experiencing several disastrous fires of their own, had an organized fire brigade which was called out and soon had their hose deployed.

Unfortunately, even though the factory district had been taken into the city limits and promised fire protection, the new water pipe had not yet reached the Hemingray and Over factories. Ironically, heavy rains in May had brought a stop to work extending the 10-inch pipeline south on Macedonia Avenue and the workers were diverted to another site on higher ground.

With strong winds blowing and no fire hydrants, the Muncie firefighters had to stand by helplessly and watch the fire spread. Soon both the Hemingray and Over plants were fully involved. The only bright spot was the water available from Ball Brothers’ artesian well. This provided water for one hose, allowing firefighters to save the office and one warehouse at Hemingray’s.

Over-Hemingray factories 1892 Muncie, Indiana Sanborn Map, 1892

After the fires had burned themselves out, damage assessment began. With the switch engine gone, the six L & W railroad cars, some of them loaded with ware, could not be moved and were lost. As for the C. H. Over factory, the blow furnace and two melting furnaces survived, but the buildings and machinery were a complete loss. There was also a large supply of window glass on site because the manufacturing season was drawing to a close. The losses totaled around $130,000, nearly $60,000 of that figure represented window glass that was boxed and ready to be shipped. About $44,000 was covered by insurance.

Hemingray’s furnaces also survived, but most of the structures, machinery, and tools were destroyed, totaling at least $90,000. Fortunately, they had less ware on hand, amounting to about $20,000 in additional losses. Hemingray carried only $31,000 insurance on their Muncie plant.

But Ralph Hemingray was both resilient and determined. By Monday June 20th, Hemingray workers had cleared away debris and constructed a shed around the furnace. About six glassblowers were ordered to report to the ruined factory and were soon hard at work blowing bottles.

Muncie Hemingray factory ca. 1892. Muncie Past, Present, Future (1893) by Bob Cunningham and Bob Stephenson (1985)

As for the approximately 300 men who were now out of work, both plants would have closed down for the summer hiatus in a couple of weeks anyway, so the shock was somewhat minimized. Also, they were reassured by the owners of both companies that they intended to rebuild, bigger and better than ever.

Hemingray planned to have their new factory built and back in business by September 1, 1892. The new Over factory was busy turning out window glass a month later.

With losses of almost a quarter of a million dollars, the Over-Hemingray fire was the largest glass works fire in the United States during the fall 1891 through spring 1892 glassmaking season. A total of 28 glass works burned in this country during that time period, with losses totaling almost $1,100,000. It’s no wonder insurance companies were reluctant to insure them.