The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1890-04-02
Fire! Fire! Fire!

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our citizens, many OF whom had re
tired for the night, as is evidenced by
the manner in which their garment:
were arranged when they appeared al
the scene Of the conAaeration
Walter Roof, . coloyed man in the
employ of Mr. H. Weinberg, was filst
to discover the fire. He says that he
and Mr.. Richard Davis had just closed
up, and on his way home, at Lowry's
corner, he happened to look down to,
wards Church street, when he noticed
smoke about the post Office. He called
Mr.. Davis and asked him what it
meant. Discovering that the smoke
was coming out of the post Office they
gave the alarm, and policeman Stukes
immediately went to the market and
rang the town bell.
When they reached the post Office
they saw no fire on the outside, but
smoke was coming out of all the crev-
ices, and the building was shaking
"like pot boiling" Some one burst
in the delivery window, and the
flames and smoke issued therefrom
with such force Us to cause the person
to fall. An effort was made to get
inside to save the contents, but it was
impossible as the whole inside was on
fire.
About a half hour before the alarm
was given a gentleman was at the Of
flee mailing a letter, and he says he
saw light inside which he took to be
a burning lamp, but saw no smoke,
and did not think that the building
was on fire.
We mentioned this circumstance to
post master Stewart, and he says that
he is positive that he left no light
burning. He left the Office at about
8 o'clock, and before leaving he locked
his table drawer, blew out the lamp,
and carried the star route mail home
with him as was his custom.
Postmaster Stewart claims to be a
heavy loser by the fire. He says that
he had just collected up his money
to make his regular quarterly report
to the government, and does not re-
member precisely how much be was
due the government, but the amount
Of cash left in his table drawer was in
round numbers about one hundred
and ninety dollars, of which amount
ninety dollars was his and the rest
belonged to the postal department.
He also lost his law books, stationery,
and other property, in fact all that the
building contained was consumed by
the flames. The building belonged to
Mr.. S. ]. Bowman.
The other houses burned were
known as s'fried meat block" two Of
which were owned by Mr.. n. Stannea,
and the other two by Mr. J. ". Nc
Leod. The first was occupied by
Dan'l Washington as green grocery:
the second was a vacant store; next
was the colored palace shaving saloon,
the fixtures of which consisting Of a
soiled towel, cracked looking glass,
dull razor, and rickety chair, were
saved; and the last was restaurant
where persons could procure meals on
the European plan, and at the same
time give their nasal organs chance
to test their smelling powers without
extra charge. None of the burned
buildings were insured; hence the
damage, which is estimated at about
$500, will be a total loss.
Fortunately the night was very
calm, and by the hardest kind of work
by both white and colored citizens
the fire was gotten under control. If
the wind had been blowing at the time
it would have been almost impossible
to have saved the residences of Messrs.
Bowman and Iseman; also the stores
of Messrs. Levi, Lowry, Weinberg,
the TINES Office, and in fact large
portion OF the business part OF the
town.
The origin OF the fire is unknown
and remains mystery, and while it
is very unfortunate for:people to meet
with pecuniary losses, yet the citizens
of this town are much relieved that
these unsightly, dangerous fire traps
and pest holes are out Of the way and
no more damage done. More regrets
are being expressed for the loss OF the
beautiful oaks thar the loss Of the
houses.
The hook and ladder did valuable
service on this occasion, but Man
r.ng needs a we'll organized COM
pany to manage the truck at fires, so
that commanding officer may be in
charge and give the necessary orders,
thus relieving the crowd that congre-
gates at fire from forming themselves
into committee of order-giving-and-
no-work bosses.