HUFF AND PUFF AND..........

Have you ever given any thought to your image of what you think of a brick house? Old Trunks always liked brick. It had a look. Sturdy. I always wanted to live in one but it never happened and now, as a elder, it won't, and nursing homes don't count.

Think about this, if you will. It is June before 1900. We are in Red Lake Falls, MN.

On a Monday afternoon a new two story brick building owned by Moise Bray and occupied by him as a saloon below and living quarters above, collapsed with all of its contents.

The building was erected during the winter, and was considered perfectly safe. The accident was due to the fact that in excavating for another building long side; the wall had been undermined. This had been noticed and large timbers had been used to shore up the wall.

The continued rains, however, had softened up the ground in the bottom of the excavation and the underlay of blue clay was forced out under the pressure with the result as stated.

The accident occurred at a time when the family happened to be out of the building and the people in the saloon became aware of trouble in time to make their escape. The stock of goods, fixtures, and household goods are a complete loss.

The extent of the crushing to which they were subject, may be imagined by the fact that the piano in the living room was crushed into splinters.

Huff and puff and blow the house down, who was the wolf? Blue Clay?

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