The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-12-25
FIRE IN A LAW OFFICE.
4 Blaze Destroys Some Valuable Papers
Of Erwin, duBiglOn & ChiSOlm.

!
Nothing Known as to the Origin o Z the
Fire, and 1t Gould Not Be Told
Whether It Started in the Cellar or
in the ohice-The Loss to the Build
ing and Furniture About $1,000.
Records and Papers Lost Which Can
not Be Replaced-Two Small Fires in
! Other Parts Of the City.
! A conhagration in the building occupied
/ by Messrs. Erwin, duBignon & Chisholm,
/ at Bryan and Abercorn streets, about
1890 O'Clock yesterday, completely de-
| stroyed the main office occupied by that
| firm.
| The origin of the fire is yelled in mys-
/ terry. Several of the gentlemen who oc-
! cupy the Office visited it yesterday morn
! ing, and one of them left there shortly
before y o'clock. At that time there was
no sign Of fire in any shape about the
| building, and no one had any thought of
it. About half an hour later some one
at the stable just across the street noticed
smoke issuing from one Of the chimueys
Nothing was thought of this until it was
seen coming from all the chimneys, and
it was noticed at the same time that the
Office was filed with smoke.
THE WORK OF THE BLAZE.
The alarm was then quickly telephoned
in from Mr.. T. +. Gleason's stables, and
the department responded at once. The
building was well closed up and, on this
account, the fire had not spread to the ad-
joining rooms. The main office on the
first floor and TO the left of the entrance
however, was pretty well a-blaze, and the
heat was so great that, while the fire did
not spread to the Offices occupied by
Mr. Chisholm and Mr.. Clay, on the same
floor, on account of the closed doors, al
most everything in those Offices was
charred and the paint was peeled off the
woodwork. The department had the fire
under control in very short time, and it
was prevented from spreading to the floor
above.
VALUABLE PAPERS AND BOOKS DESTROYED.
The interior of the main Office is a total
wreck. The walls and ceilings were
broken down and all the furniture destroy
ed. So far as the building and furniture are
concerned, the loss will not go beyond
$1,000 or 81, 200 and can easily be repaired,
but the real loss will go much beyond
that. Many valuable books and papers,
which happened to be in the Office at the
time, were almost completely destroyed.
The law library of the firm Just overhead
was, fortunately, unframed, as the fire
did not spread through to the upper floor
but there were many valuable letters and
papers and record books belonging to the
firm in the burned room, which cannot be
replaced The ledger was almost com
pletely destroyed, and the brief books,
which were the collections Of years and
among the most valuable in the Office
were q complete loss. Some papers and
letters which came by mail during the
morning were also destroyed. Among
other things in the office which were lost
was valuable clock which is over 100
years old.
ITS ORIGIN UNAoCoUNTED FOR.
The origin of the fire is entirely UNI
known. There was a hole through the
| Office floor, about feet square, down into
the cellar, and the indications pointed to
the fact that the fire started in the cellar
and burned through, though this is merely
a suppOsition. There was no fire at all in
the building during the day, and none of
those who were in the office during the
morning had been smoking. From these
facts 1t seems to have been the work of
some hidden hand.
The building belongs to Mrs. E. G.
| Chisholm, and is insured in the Southern
Mutual of Athens for So 900. There was
no insurance on the furniture or fixtures,
and all of those in the burned room We're
a complete loss.
TWO OTHER SMALL FIRES.
An alarm of fire was sent in from box
35 at $40 O'Clock yesterday morning.
Engine No. responded and the fire was
discovered in the rear of a house occupied
by T. ]. McEllinna at ~ Stewart street.
A shed in the rear of the premises was
ignited from a stovepipe, and was entirely
consumed. The loss will not exceed $40
The property belonged to Mrs. Sarah
Judge.
Fire broke out in the roof Of a small
house corner of First avenue and Whita-
ker streets yesterday afternoon about
4:45 o'clock. The firemen of No. ex-
tinguished the blaze with buckets of
water.