Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1891-08-20
THE JACKSONVILLE FIRE.
Fifty-five buildings Burned, Causing q
Loss of Nearly IA Million Dollars.

SAVANNAH, GA, Aug. 1S.-A dispatch
from Jacksonville, Fla, says: That a
fire is raging there, that 65 houses are
burning and that the contlagration is
not under control.
A path of smoking ruins two blocks
wide and six blocks long, extending
from Bay to Beaver streets and one
block on each side, is the result of fire
which started at midnight. 1t caught
in r. II. Knight d Co.'s grocery store.
adjoining the large Hubbard building,
and in very short time the block was a
mass of flames.
The fire at Jacksonville, started in
the crockery house Of X. d. Knight, in
the centre of the business portion Of the
city, burning in both upper stories. and
beyond control. The heat ignitcd the
Hubbard block, the largest building in
the city, four stories high, and contain
ing Hubbard's hardware store, the
Western Union telegraph office, the
Southern Savings and Trust Company,
the Jacksonville Light Infantry Armory
and the telephone central offices. Thence
it jumped across the street to the Semi
mole clubhouse, three stories high, and
communicated to the Smith Building
and the Matter Building.
In the Smith Building large amount
of dynamite had been stored. This ex-
oloded and started fires through the
blocks away to the northwest. The
sound was not heard, but the effect of
the explosion was stunning. Men fell
in the streets and many were injured.
Plate-glass windows for four and five
squares were shattered and the side
walks covered with broken glass. The
tiremen could have stopped the fire at
this point but for the explosion. That
rendered them almost helpless. Resi-
dences, stores and hotels broke into
flames and the fire became u terrible
contiagration, and was not stopped until
after daylight in the middle of the
square bounded by Church, Ashley,
Laura and Main streets.
The larger buildings burned are
Knights crockery store, the Hubbard
block, the Seminole block, the Smith
Building, the Matter House, the FrAad-
mans Bureau building, the fremont
Hotel, Hotel Placide, Ritzeweller resi-
dence, the Chelsea House, st. Joseph S
Academy, the Tilton House, the Murray
d Bakers carriage repository and nearly
all buildings from and including Sim
mons & SCOTS shoe store to and includ-
ing Lloyds Bros. grocery store, corner
of Church and Main streets. The total
number of buildings Of all kinds burned
| is 30, and the total loss about half mil
lion dollars. The insurance is not OBJ
tainable just now. II will be small COM
pared with total loss. No lives were lost.
A corrected estimate of the losses and
insurance is as follows: Total losses
about $850,000; total insurance, S493 sos
The largest losers among the insurance
companies are the Liverpool and Lon.
don and Globe, $45, 900; Ntna, 1928 900
American Mutual, $4,000; German.
American, 1921 300; Phoenix of Hartford
1888 400; Commercial Union, 1871 1856
Hamburg Bremen, $20,870; Hartford
S2S,000 Orient, So, 900.
DISASTROUS FIRE IN WACO, TEXAS.
WACO, TEX, Aug. 18.-The dry good,
and house furnishing establishments o.
Goldstein g. Meget and Curtis g. Oranc
were totally destroyed by fire last night
Loss, S275,000; insurance, little owe
so per cent. Mrs. G. N. Alexander, al
employee of Goldstein g. Meget, had botl
legs broken by Jumping from the win
dow.
CAMBRIDGE, MASS, HAS BIG BLAZE.
BosToN, Mass, Aug. ls.-Damon',
safe and iron works in Cambridge ar,
burning and will probably be destroyed
entailtpg heavy losses.