Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-03-23
4 MIDNIGHT BLAZE:
BURNING or THE SAVANNAH
CLUB STABLES.

CLUB STABLES.
p;s-.,-,,s CONFEDERATION IT. large
Amount or Property Destroyed
Seveutv-tvro Horses Rescued-A Heavy
10 and Light In-urance-Yigilant
1 Efforts Of the FireInen-
shortly before / O'Clock this morning q
dense. black smoke was seen issuing from
the southwest corner Of the Savannah
! Club Stables, On Wnital-er. York and
/ President stTeets. Burglar Aiarm
/ Waterman George speighr- was
/ patrolling Broughton street. near
I the Marshall House, when he nrst
/ saw the smoke and the reflection OF the
/ flames. which rapidly broke out ana ran
4 to the corner Of Br0ughton and Whitaker
\ streets. where he sounded the alarm from
{ signal box No. "a.
/ 4 large crowd quickly collected and
/ the streets and -. james square ODD me =
Z entity Of the burning building were iitehrd
{ with people. The flames rapidly canned
I headwav. and bv the time The ire L'-i.tfa-
Z roaut arrived and were ready for service
7 the fire was beyond control y number
I n citizens in attendance az supper
! given iu ArmOrT Hall last ml--t.
/ and uE1haf lust ieft the building rushed
I ~ the scene. anI. breaking in the doors
I f.-ran removing the horses. carriages AMI
WAGONS which were IN the south sile
I ~ the stable. Everybody worked with
VIII. and 4 large amount q property WAS
saved. \ number Of citizens and meT-
chants had private vehicles tenn
p0rarily kept there. and I'm en-
desv0riu- % save their property
rendered efficient service. The Smaller
luE-ies were easily saved but several
Laree draws and trucks which were too
= H.H# LIZ.
entrances and the remainder u the Te1l-
clas were burned. among which was one
gf the hesrses owned hy nuertaker i hos.
Henderson. Tue heat became uubearahle.
-sllt rl- men worked braEely ia spite RI
f the danger from the flames and falling
rimi-eTS-
When the fire broke out there We're
sevenfV-tw0 horses and mules. principally
owned bv Mr.. Abraham ". Harmon. the
proprietor " the stables. confined in the
stalls. 4 few. however. were owned by
citizens A. soon as the doors were
broken open every effort was directed To-
ward rescIiuE the horses. The rcfes 81
the halters were cut and the animals
turned loose and driven out as rapidly as
possible. The flames We're at nrst con
fined o. The hay IGft I'm the UPPER
part OF the building, but the
heat was intense. and the
work below was attended with great peril.
F The horses at first were blinded and dtZ-
lied by thFfire. and refused u leave the
stable. but were forced ont into the street,
and driven % a safe distance from the
. burning structure.
( The flames meanwhile had gained such
Roadway that it was impossible 10 ap-
I pr5ach the walls. IT Is believed however,
I that All the animals We're removed. sew
i eraI were severely burned but none were
I lost Thcy were turned loose in
/ the streets and kept away from
Z the IRE 10y the crowd. some
E If them We're afterwards collected and
Z e1rralled in the yard Of the Chatham Ar
. tillery arm0ry. where large number Of
I vehicles were also stored. The harness
. and robes were removed as rapidly as
. possible. and carried 10 a safe distance III
/ the square.
The frenen worked brayely. but it was
[ impossible 90 save the stables. and their
. efforts were directed toward the protec-
I ton Of the adjoining buildings on York
I aud President streets. These were light
/ frame structures and IN imminent dam
Z rer from the burning clnders and
I the heat reflected from the flames. Streams
/ were kept playing on the roofs and against
7 the walls. and il was only with the most
T valiant eXerti0n that they were saved.
. The glass in tie windows. which We're
unprotected by blinds. was cracked and
broken bv the intense heat. and a teue-
ment ON President street caught fire in
/ several places. The flames. however.
I were extingu.shed before gaining any
1 start.
on the York street side the trees were
I srOrched and the limbs and branches
/ burned rom the trunks. The row Of
/ buildings on the west side OF Whitaker
| street were IN great danger, but We're
I saved by the efficient work 81 the ffenen.
The window glass was entirely destroyed.
and the fronts Of the houses were 7corched
and chaTTed. The cornice over the
entrance 20 the Savannah Volunteer
/ Guards ArmOry caught fire, aud the Ste
uIens memorial drapery was burned from
the pillars in front Of the building
I The Barlow steam IRE engine, ia
position az the hydr8nt on the corner u
York and Whitaker streets, was scOrched
by the flames. The heat became unbe3r-
I able 10 the firemen. and 70 save their en-
zine the suction hose was forced from the
hydrant. disabling the engine for further
service. The company directed their ef-
forts 70 other work.
In twenty minutes after the fire broke
ont the entire structure was "a mass 81
seething flames. The roof remained until
the interior had entirely burned. and thus
I prevented the cinders from rising. Had
the roof fallen at the first and burned
I with the walls. 10 would have
been impossible to- have saved the build
ings in the vicinity from the heavy Gin
deTs that would have been carried TO the
roofs. The wall on the south side fell
/ with a crash after the timber supports on
the inside had been burned, and was fol-
/ lowed by the high end wall ON the east
I side. carrying with it the telegraph and
/ Ere alarm wires, and causing a second
I alarm 10 be sounded.
The remaining walls either fell or were
| pulled down. ana in less than an hour the
/ building was totally destroyed. Mr.. llar-
I mon had Just stored q carload Of hay in the
#. There We're also 800 bushels Of
oats and about 80 bushels Of corn.
valued at $500 to 5000, in the granny.
II is impossible at this . late hour
90 estimate the loss. Dir. HarmOn's insur-
ance was light, and was III companies
represented by !. i. Wheaton a Co. and
r. II. FoOtman Il Co. The building was
owned by the Padelford estate. represent
ed by Mr.. George /. Cope and, we under
stand. was covered by insurance.
/ The horses and carriages and stock, own
/ "a BIZ Mr.. Harmon. cost over $lG.JJ0, and
the loss is heavy. Many Of the carriages
saved were scOrched and badly damaged.
The origin of the fire is unknown. and Is
believed by some 10 have been the work OF
incendiarics. II was first discovered in
the hay loft in the southwest corner and
might have been the result Of spontaneous
combustion. Several employees were
sleeping in the building and were I'M
aware Of the fire until awakened by the
breaking in Of the doors.
The fire department and citizens rem
dered prompt and efficient service in the
saving Of property and the protection Of
other buildings. The firemen were on
duty at the time Of going to press, and a
stream was kept on the ruins 10 prevent
any outbreak the flames.
Good Year for Circuses..
This vear nromises 10 be a GOOD one for