The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-02-10
The Origin Of the Fire and its Pro.
gress..The Firemen and their No.
BILE Work Against Odds--The Loss.
es and the Insurance--Names of
the Sufferers, and What they In.
tend to do.
GreeuUil{e Ne1Us.

l7
and Main street also belonging to Mrs Mary
Cleveland, the owner Of the Cleveland block
divided on the street into two stores. AT tile
story brick building occupied by j. c. G. Tur
ner Joined the block, rising considerably
In the rear the Cleveland block had but one
story lighted by sky-lights, forming the rearol
I the stores.
The store nearest T. B. Ferguson's was oceu.
pied by L. Rothschild, clothing and furnishing
goods dealer; X. G. .McPherson's book and sta
tionery store was next door and NJ: j: Mul'
lane, dry goods, and A. Rosenthal, clothing
came next.
The fire was first discovered in Mr.. McPher
sar. sa and and kept by Mr. MePherson rs pet. 4
stove stood about the centre of the store and
a pipe ran from 1t straight up through the sec
ond floor and into the office Of w. l.. Bell
book agent where the pipe Of another Stove
joined It through drum. A space Of two feet
clear surrounded the pipe leading from below,
and the floor was further guarded by zinc
plating. ,
un the counters and shelving and crying a.
! tracted Mr. Mcpherson 8 attention to the cell
ing several times, until at last he saw spot Of
fire about the size of penny near the pipe:
| EIe Immediately sent to the engine house OF
the Lee company, q bloGk away, to give notice
Messrs. Thomas Sloan, Jas: 0. Lewis and 9th
ers had heard the cry OF fire and rushed up
stars to Mr.. Bells office. There they found the
ately threw all the water they could find on 1t.
1t Is thought thai eight or ten buckets or water
applied quickly at this time would have ex.
tinguished the flames, but that quantity could
not be obtained soon enough. TIE smoke had
| by this time become sitting. 1t was $50.
| The Lee steamer was promptly put into po'
stion at the nearest cistern and a line OF nose
was quickly run up stairs The block has long
been regarded by firemcn as death trap be-
cause OF the thin brick walls. absence OF diV1d-
ing walls and complicated structures OF frame
partitions and stairways on the second story,
but the men rushed In readily and pointed
their nozzle at the burning place. They walt
ed and waited, but no water came IN response
to their cries. The engine was out OF order.
Opinion was divided AS to whether the valves
had been cut out by the sand in taking water
from Richland creek al the last fire or wheth-
er there was all accumulation of Ice. Howev-
er 1t was, the machinery positively refused 10
work and many precious minutes were lost.
The Palmetto hand engine. managed by col
ored firemen, responded TO the call of the bell,
which was not sounded until some time had
been lost with the Lee engine TO the dismay
Of the tiremen and The crowd 1t was found that
the Palmettos pumps were lrOZen tight as
iron and refused to draw water. by this time
the fire had eaten It's way along the flooring
and partitions toward the rear and began TO
glimmer through the windows overlooking
the low roof and climb on the sasbes and cor.
nices. The Pioneer truck was on the ground
and had its ladders run up at the rear. while
aXemen and members with hooks did wllat
tDey COuiu III pTepuTlIlB lOI luc uooe.
Very few things were removed from the
stores partly because 1t was Thought the nre
could be managed, and partly because the
building might tumble In at any time. large
cap piece browning the front wall was espe-
cially feared, and Chief of the Fire Depart.
ment Reilly and the police kept Main street
as clear as possible. while the firemen were In
structed to enter the building and throw their
streams only from the rear
The Neptune hand engine company arrived
and Immediately put on stream from the
roof Of the one story In the rear. They were
quickly followed by the Lee steamer, which
got two streams at last But the ne firelnen % WORK TX
came masses OF Ice as did the tin roofs and the
ground wherever the water fell. The cold was
Intense and several men had their hands
frozen to the nozz les while those on the brakes
were compelled TO stop work ut short intervals
to get life and feeling into their numbed fin
gers.
cation Of the fire. It burned apparently slow
y, but in the middle of the house, spreading
both sides, eating through partitions. floors
and stairways, showing now at one window
and then at another while the dense smoke
obstructed views and men could not enter any
where because they did not know but that any
floor they stood on was atire underneath anu
ready to drop through. \ battling, Intellectual
fight was kept up for four hours. Sometlmes
tile fire seemed to subside; then it would sud-
denly burst out in a new place, revealing
mass of flame and blazing GOALS. All the time
the darkness, the cold and Ice, the occasional
stopping of the engines or bursting OF nose
ger combined 10 disheartcn, discourage ana
demoralze the firemen, who, nevertheless,
stuck to their work as bravely and Stubborn
ly rs men ever did.
flames, freed from all restraint leaped high In
the air lighting the sky. while smoke rolled
cut in thickening volumes. BY this time the
sidewalks along Main street opposite the
= ,i,,o lnoly non p6 q
OF people attracted by the continuous ringing
OF the fire bell, and many of them were press
ed into service on the brakes of the hand en-
zines After the ro" Weni III the zen re1Gm tn len
ground and from that time threw their
streams from there or from ladders against
the side walls OF the stout old building at the
corner.
The fire now burned very rapidly and fierce
ly and the entire block was soon Il mass of
flames shining from the top and cleaning
through the empty spaces where windows anu
doors had been.
Anxiety and attention were then concen-
trnted on the tall and strong fire wall of the
building next south of the burning block,
owned and built by +: B. OIine and occupied
by J. c. G. Turner. This wall guarded the
stores OF ]. C. c. Turner. furniture and coftlns;
+. p. Mimnaugh dry goods; Gilreath & Pat
ton, household goods, crockery and tinWare ;
Henry Kncble, liquors and tobacco and julius
G.. Smith, auctiOneer and agricultural tmple-
ments, In whose building the Ners office and
two lawyers offices are located. All of the
stores mentioned contained large and vnun-
bic stocks. If the Turner wall had gone moth
ing could have saved them, and probably $751;
900 of property would have burned.
The flames leaped and roared against this
wall, Tapped over iLand threw driving showers
on the tin roofs. Half q dozen times the
alarm was given that the fire had got over the
barrier and that The Turner building had
caught and men began 10 remove articles Of
f,,r, tt,rn frp n m
them against the Mansion House across the
street while the occupants OF some of the sec
ond story Offices further down also moved out.
stream was now played from the ront
against the wall and into the fire near 1t to
mitigate the heat and keep down the flames
as much as possible The wall held. The tire
was seen that the danger was over.
Meantime hard night was being made at
the other end Of the block to save The corner
building, the COrnices and roof of which took
fought insIdeand out. The fire got In the dan.
gerOus place between ceiling and roof and the
Pioneers went IN, tore holes In the ceiling and
ran short ladders from the floor TO IT, The nnz-
zlemen put their heads and nOzZleS through
these holes and played on the fire until Sutio-
cation compelled them to drop back and give
place to others waiting to relieve them. Out.
side the men clung to ice coated ladders with
their elbows and used the nozZles with their
hands. All the goods were removed from the
Ferguson and 1lcaves stores and at last at
four o'clock, after q fight Of six hours, the
building was safe.
From that time the work was done by the
Palmetto tiremcn who remained on the
ground giving water at intervals from els
tern in McBee avenue, filed from the big els
tern In Coffee street by the steamer; Il stream
being thrown wherever dangerous flames ap-
pearcd either in the Cleveland block or In the
corner building.
The fremen were completely exhausted by
their long fight Many of them went home