Birmingham age-herald., 1894-12-02
TIE CHARITY HOSPITAL, Ipi Once a Grand Monument of Wo-
 mans Efforts,
NOW A HEAP OF RUINS.
The Entire Structure De- Stroyed-The Work of An
 inCendiary.

Today the Charity hospital is nothing more or less than a mass of ruins, and nothing but this remains of the labors of the good women of Birmingham.
 Last night at exactly 10 o'clock an alarm of fire was sent in from box 37, corner of Second avenue and Eighth street, and when the department reached the scene the entire west end of the building was burning fiercely.
 Chief Mullin and his department went to work to try to use the water from the canal, as there is not fire plug within four blocks of the hospital. His men worked hard, and managed to get small stream of water, but not enough to do any good. The small stream obtained only re- tarded the consumption of the building by the flames, and that was all.
 The fire kept on burning fercely, be- ginning as it did on the east end, and in short while the entire building was gone.
 When the fire was discovered a panic reigned among the women who had charge of the building and the patients. The people of the neighborhood were aroused, and with their assistance the patients, thirteen Tn number, were all gotten out of the burning building. As soon as the patients were removed work was begun in the white wards at getting out the furni- ture. With the assistance of a number of persons, who worked like Trojans, all of the furniture in the white wards and in the rooms adjoining these wards was saved. The fire starting as it did on the east end, which is the colored ward destroyed every thing.
 h the work Miss Duffy, one of the nurses, had her hand badly cut, and one Shelton, negro porter, had his arm cut by falling glass. Just how the fire orig mated is at present not positively known, but there is every evidence to believe it was of incendiary origin.
 Concerning the origin of the fire and the circumstances surrounding it, possibly the best story is told in the following inter- view with Dr. J. T. Brown, who was in the hospital at the time.
 fF In answer to a query by an AGE-HERALD reporter, Dr. Brown said:
 'tFor several nights past the people here at the hospital have been bothered by sup posed burglars attempting to break in. At the request of the head matron came over here as matter of protection to them and brought Winchester rifle with me. l was in the extreme west end of the building, and all at once one of the nurses said that some one was trying to get into the build ing. l opened the door and went out with my gun in front,of me, and the first thing saw was a blaze bursting forth from the colored ward. There had evidently been some one around who had fired that end of the building, for there wasn't single spark of fire in that part of the building. All Ol Un6 ClrCu mStdDceS lenu tO 6uOW tuhJ the fire was of incendiary origin, and 1 firmly believe that it was fired.' The reporter talked with a number of the employees of the hospital, and every one of them was satisfied that the building was set on fire.
 The burned structure was one of the best buildings of it's kind in the state and is es- timated to have cost about $40, 900. The grounds on which it stood were donated by Dr. Joseph R. Smith, the venerable sage of Smithfeld, nd the building was erected principally through the efforts Of the noble women of this city.
 For long time it has been of incalcula- ble benefit in this city, and it's destruction will be regretted by all.
 ANOTHER BLAZE.
 A few minutes after midnight an alarm was turned in from box 125. corner of Ave- nue H and Twenty fourth street, and the fire laddies, though tired from their hard struggle with the Charity hospital blaze, promptly responded.
 The fire was discovered in the three room cottage fMr. Bankston, on Twenty fifth street, between Avenues 1 and J. After destroying this structure 1t caught the ad- joining cottage, owned by MT. B. LeGrand and occupied by MT. w. H. Allen.
 It was also destroyed. The two houses were estimated to be worth about $500, the