The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1877-11-10
GREAT FIRE AT WESTON.
Eight Thousand Dollars Worth
of Property DestrOyed-HOw
they Fought the Fiend-
Brave Men and Noble
Women.
WESTON, w. Va, November l.


to my rooms in the Hayden House
and wrote until two o'clock this morn
ing. As | was retiring to rest, wea-
~ and worn, the cry Of AFire. fire."
was given. / rushed to the window
and saw a frantic woman running
toward Main street, exclaiming: Oh
Heavens. the town is to be destroyed
all will be lost" ] Jumped into my
hahiIiments in less time than it takes
an Irishman to strike match
When | got to the scene the terri
BILE demon was sending his forked
tongue of red flames through the roof
Of Ralston's jewclry store. Gregory's
grocery adjoining was already doom
ed, and Jacob Schmitt's building OPP
posite the Baily hotel, and lately oc
cupied as drug store by DR.. Simp-
son, was on the corner of Main and
Second streets, adjoining Gregory's
on Main street and Ralstons resi-
dence on Second. This gave the fire
semi rectangular direction. Ad-
joining Gregory's on Main street was
Ralston's jewelry store, then DR..
Dents office, Juper's tobacco house,
a barber shop and VIM. L. Dunning-
toms large clothing and dry goods
establishment, by far the finest in
town. As I write all is black heap
Of ruins, except the main part of
Dunnington's building, which was
saved partly by tin roof and the al
most supcrhuman efforts of heroic
men. You know there is no such
thing as fire company of Weston,
not even hook and ladder company.
During Il fire every man is the fire
man, buckets take the place of hose
and the West Fork is the water plug.
That dry and Weston is doomed if
another fire like that witnessed this
morning takes place. The ''bucket'
system does well, but il takes q Ma
polcon Bonaparte like 'Did" Bailey
to form the Zines The bony part
will not come in with Odd" however.
The fire, they tell me, was caused
by badly arranged chimney iii
Gregory's grocery, but as yet no one
knows positively how it originated.
Schmitts property is an entire loss,
he having failed to renew his insur-
ance policy. Gregory was not insur-
ed, but he saved most of his goods.
His store, like Schmidt's s, is lost, there
being no insurance. Chalfant owned
it. Ralston's insurance wild build
him Up again. upper lost 10000 eli
gars-$300 Insurance. Huntington
told me that he was insured for
$4,000.
HOW THEY FOUGHT TIE FIrND
During a fire everybody becomes
everybody else's friend. So it was
this morning. Only brave MN
will stand upon the roof of burning,
lettering building, working and fight
ing the red-devil till the last crash is
about to preface ruin and desolation.
/ saw the Catholic priest, Rev. Father
! Tracy, do this. He might have said
6oaum ccrtamen certdci with truth
So much for Wheeling education
Many others, among the number Leo
pold Kahn, the city clothier, worked
heroically. Even the ladies acted
nobly, carried goods out of the burn.
stores, and taking charge of property
which otherwise would have been
ruined.
In three hours the fire was under
control, having licked Dunnington's
establishment and parched the Bal
ley Hotel. Fortunately there was nc
wind, or the business portion of Main
street, consisting of one block, would
have succumbed.
AT the lowest estimate $4,000 worth
of property has been destroyed.
On last Friday evening as Mr.
Dudley-who had been down to Phil
| ippi-was returning to this place
was attacked by two highwaymen
and knocked out Of his buggy. /,
seems that it was late when he lief,
Philippi, and about one mile beyond
| Burnersville darkness overlook him
when and where he was assaulted
He says they seemed to have no in
clination to rob him, and is impress
ed with the idea that the parties made
II mistake and took him to be some
other man. He was struck tire.
mendous blow on the side of the
head, he supposes, with heavy cud-
gel, which felled him or knocked him
out of the buggy, but fortunately did
not knock him senseless nor serious
/ l.