Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-11-01

Company and the CeHu"i
mostly negroes.
THE CENTRAL PRESS.
A the flames approached the rice nuns nuns
and the Central Cotton Press tneii e& tha;y
was despaired of, and as lhel
outlines stand out from the DESTRUCTION on
ali sides this morning they can be set down
,s extraordinarily saved. The Compress
had its own ample supply of hose, when
was manipulated by about tWehty-hte
| of the employees, reinforced by lhe gre"
of the British steamship slrocco; Id!Ing
I at the wharf This force was labofIous
/ and watchful, and though the Woo9 "oIh
/ of the structure was ignited several times
/ the fire was quickly and efectually eXtln-
| guished. To the energy OF captain : j
| Whitesides, President OF the Centrai IFesS'
/ and Mr.. Lawrence Hanley, is attrlpuleu'
| in a great degree, the safety OF the press
! The people of both the rice mills also
rallied. and when it is remembered that
1 the outside work OF the buildings Is Vi
wood. even to wooden shutters, some ldea
! of the berculean task performed in ward
| ing off the fire may be had.
! TEARING DOWN BUILDINGS.
At this time it was earnestly suggested
/ nv a number of citizens that the Dulld-
/ ings on the south side of Indian street,
| between Farm and Ann streets, as We'll
! as those in Indian street lane between
/ the cross streets mentioned, should be
/ blown up with gunpOwder. An axe bril-
| gade was. however formed, and though
/ but comparatively few men were impress
/ ed into service by the police, and the brl-
/ gade worked with will, the work was
| not sufficiently rapid to negative the IN
/ fiuence af the heat, and in about an hOur
/ all the houses on Indian street ana ON In
| dian street lane and Joachim street as far
! east as Ann street were in flames, Whlle
! the fire had also crossed to the north side
| of Indian street and down McGulre street
| on both sides towards Canal street. Inc
| residence of Major y. o. 11lton was among
| the number first consumed IN TINS local
ity, and though Mr.. Wards store on tne
/ southwest corner of Mcclure ana Canal
streets fortunately escaped destruction,
the Planters Rice Mill, the old Lachllson
| foundry building, near the Walter cotton
| warehouse. were in imminent danger Tor
some time. The Upper Rice MIL was
soon after jeOpardiZed when the stewart
wood shed was burned on tne
north side of Canal street and about
200 feet from the river. AT Oclock
the wooden structure on Indian street
belonging to the Planters Rice MIL
was enveloped by the fire and about GAO
o'clock the
ELECTRIC LIGHT WORKS
were invaded and destroyed, extin-
| gushing the lights on the towers
| and leaving the city IN uarhneSs'
| The works were erected about a
/ wear ago at cost of about Y5O,OOO. Tue
| destruction of these buildings was COM
| DIete i'm a few minutes. When the latter
| mentioned structure was on ire all the
| electric lights in the city went out. BY
/ : O'Clock the spacious machine shop OF
| Mr.. John W. lyman was burned. The
/ smoke was exceedingly dense on Canal
| street. and with the heat drove the spect-
] fl,n CT
| Broad street. whence the occupants OF
| the houses moved their furniture into the
| Bay and adjacent streets, into FRANKLIN
! or the water works square, ana otner
places east of West Broad street. But
/ West Broad street was fortunately 10 De
| the eastern boundary of the great deyasta-
| ton. The structure last destroyed was
| on this line. 1t was on the west side of
that street and on the north side of Canal
street. and was occupied by alderman
ID. r. Thomas as an office. At $3.50 O'Clock
| the march of the fire stopped.
BOUNDARIES OF THE FIRE.
The burnt district is bounded on the
south by Joachim street, on the north by
Canal street, on the east by west Broad
street and ON the west by the canal.
There are only four buildings standing
within this area-the old LachllsOn lOuh-
dry. at present occupied by Mr.. George
| Walter as cotton warehouse; the grocery
| and liquor store of Mr.. Jas. r. Ward on
| the corner of Mcclure and Canal streets;
a small brick building opposite Haber-
sham's rice mill, and row OF brick
buildings on West Broad street, extend
inc from Joachim to Indian street. About
ten or fifteen houses were burned down on
the south side of Joachim street.
The fine residence OF Major n. o. TlIton,
on the northeast corner of Farm and In
dian streets, was completely destroyed.
He succeeded, with the help OF some
friends, in saving some of his furniture
and household effects.
The large foundry of Mr.. John w. ~
nan, on the corner of Indian and West
Broad streets, which was only completed
little over Il year ago, was completely
DESTROYED. with all its contents. This was
the last building burned, and its destruc-
ton is a serious loss to the city, as many
worthy mechanics are thrown out OF en-
plOyment.
ORIGIN OF THE FIRE.
The origin of the fire is unknown.
When first discovered it was in the loose
cotton on top of bale. 1t spread quickly
until the whole building was enYelOped In
flames There are various theories, but
none are accepted as satisfactory.
THE SHIPPING ENDANGERED.
The schooner Lizzie H. Patrick, lying
at the Planters Rice Mill wharf. and in
imminent danger, was hauled out into
the stream. 1t was at one time feared
that the ship William and the bark Bo-
roma, living at the foot of Montgomery
street, would take fire from the flying
cinders, hut by extra vigilance they
were kept free fl ON it, and had no neces-
sity for hauling out.
THE CONTENTS OF THE BURNED HOUSES.
The rescued contents of the houses in
this part of the burnt district are scatter
ed in every direction. From Liberty
street to Canal, the paVementS were
piled with household furniture and the
possessions of the destitute people; The
common at the Ogeechee canal, OPP
pOsite the Waters warehouse, pre-
scented the appearance last night
of an immense camp. Those who had no
place to which to carry their effects, and
those who had not the money to pay Tor
their transportation away, were there
making night of it. As the reporter
strOlled through this crowd at late hour
the scene was pitiable.
A CHILD RESCUED.
As the flames were about to cross Or
ange street, at the intersection of Lum-
Der. "A colored woman tainted away, with
the exclamation of MY childv' 1t was
Margaret Cooper. a cook, employed in
another part of town. She had left her
child in charge of nurse when she went
out to her WOIk. ne hurst udOl lSlL LLc
child sleeping in the house. When the
woman tainted, her exclamation caused
bv-standers to take in the situation, and
her child was rescued.
HOW THE FIREMEN WORKED,
The old stand-bys of the Fire Depart
ment worked like Trojans, but they were
not enough in number to handle so extern
slye a confagration. The rapid destruc-
ton of Tynan's foundry stayed the fire
when it reached West Broad street, which
was too wide for the flames to cross in the
| face of the streams of water, unless the air
| got heated. The private hose of Mr.. Z. A.
| Smith. the steVedOre, living on the corner
| of West Broad and Joachim streets, not
/ only saved that gentleman's house but
| also those adjoining him on West Broad
/ street. and kept the flames in check on
/ the north side of Joachim street and In
| dian street lane. These efforts with the
| solid walls of the old Tabby building,
| helped materially to stop the fire at this
! point.
THE MILITARY ORDERED OUT.
In addition to the police detail under
! command of Gen. r. III. Anderson, Chief
! of Police. the Savannah Volunteer Guards
Battalion, under command of Capt. II. G.
! Cunningham, were on duty, with the
| Chatham Artillery, commanded by Capt.
! J.F. Wheaton, and the Georgia Hussars,
| commanded by Lieut.. j. III. Johnston. In
| the illness of Col. G. W. Anderson, Lieut..
| Col Peter Reilly rendered to the Mayor