Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1869-02-05

TERRIBLE CoNFLAGRATIoN--SAD RESULTS
About O'Clock last evening a fire was dis
covered in the roof of the livery stables
occupied by Messrs. Switzerland & Stea-
gall, corner of Third and Princess streets,
and near the City Hall. In few moments
the hay and straw with which the second
story was stored were all on fire. Scarcely
sufficient time was afforded to release the
| horses before huge masses of burning
straw had fallen down and efectually set
fire to the first floor. The smoke soon be-
came suffocating, but dense as it was bold
men rushed forward and succeeded in
! saving the greater number of vehicles and
most of the harness. The doors were
then closed and efforts made to smother
| the fire. The building being of brick, the
fire at first burned slowly, but finally sue
ceeded in bursting all bounds, and the
roof falling in the flames remained in I'M
| disputed mastery. One engine near ct
hand was brought early on the Gene, but
that that and others arriving afterwards
| were unable to save the building.
But the saddest part of the accident yet
| remains to be told. What is the loss of
property compared to the enlargement
Of human life It became necessary to
tear down wooden carriage-house, built
against the back of the stable, in order to
prevent the fire from communicating itself
to the wooden offices adjoining, in what is
known as Lawyers Row, opposite the Court
House. TO accomplish this the attention
of the Hook and Ladder Company was
directed to this quarter. A number of
gentlemen with axes jumped into this shed
| and began with vigorous strokes TO cut
away the posts While they were thus en-
gagged and when least expected the
shed fell and number of these brave men
were crushed in the fall. With one
loud cry of sympathy and anxiety
dozens of friendly hands with eager and
despalring efforts were engaged in remov-
ing the crumbled mass. Their exertions
were successful in rescuing all, we trust, of
J the unfortunate sufferers, among whom we
| class some of our warmest personal friends.
| They were all members of the Hook and
Ladder Company, and brave among the
bravest. We sum this list of casualties
as follows Capt. John 7. Rankin-left
! leg and thigh broken, fractures severe),
also left arm broken and shoulder bruised
some slight internal injuries apprehend
ed. Geo. s. Copes-badly bruised, inju-
~; int hool hat
| Hussell-leg badly fractured and ribs
broken, whole of one side bruised. A. B.
McCallum-left foot badly mashed. Sol.
| Haas-arm badly bruised. E. F. Story
slightly bruised. Col. Jno. J. Hedrick-
slightly bruised. Besides these - Pome-
roy had his leg badly broken by the re-
peated kicks of horse while releasing the
animals from the stable. The condition of
Capt. Rankin and Messrs. Copes and Hus-
sell is worse than that of any of the suf-
ferers, but we trust none of them are dan
gerous. They all have our warmest and
most sincere sympathies in their sufferings,
and as q personal friend and admirer of the
former, do our sympathies speed to him
there are no unfortunate persons in that
mass of ruins. There were many under
the shed at the time, but all escaped I'M
hurt bnt those named, it is thought. We
have heard of none who are missing
The loss of Messrs. Switzerland & Steagall
is probably $2,OO0-no insurance. The
building was owned by Mr.. Richard FL.
Grant and WAS insured for S., 900. 1t was
probably worth about $4,000 or $1,000
The surrounding property was somewhat
injured but not seriously. The fire, it is
thought, caught from the chimney of the
Office to the stables. It has it's outlet in
the wall near the roof and sparks might
have gotten under this portion of the build
ing which was exposed in this place. It is
also said to be cracked Just where it passes
through the hay loft.
DAILY Journal 3D.
CONDITION OF THE SUFFERERS. are
sorry that with regard to Capt. Rankin we