The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-01-06
1HE WILDWOOD FIRE.
u,If tbe Business Portion Of the
Town In Ruins.

o. weed-Bishop Gray's New
weld of Labor
n-Tando Fla, Jan. 5.-Coming up the
~ central and Peninsular railroad
FLU 1iI'1,-sonville to-dayI had an opportun-
''C 81 seeing the smoking ruins of
ny 81 the business portion of the
I 20 of wildwood, in Sumter county, the
"%4 ot which the Orlando train of the
~ Pn-;5a Central aud Peniusular railroad
~, with the Tampa and Jackson
III III main line of the same system.
w T,.,ograpbic accounts of the race
Ishles of Christmas week at Wildwood
Stu ~ in some respects, highly colored,
'.Sl A6e facts remain that some twenty
thirty negroes did band together and
satv the town marshal, and later the
.beritf and his posse. '''
sf,or two or three white men and ne
r,oas had been wounded several of the
s.s5ors were captured and lodged in jail,
80 the excitement subsiding, the mill
- ordered to the scene by Gov
,Iitcber returned home. II was sup
ao.od the worst was over, although
tSrsats had been made by some of the
'rorst negroes that they would burn the
town.
Editor Frank Walpole, of the Wild
vood Vidette, the young mayor of the
Mace had done good service during the
dismrbance and used every precaution to
nrevent another outbreak or an attempt
n destroy the town by the torch. But
under cover of the darkness between 3
and o'clock yesterday morning it is
thought that the threat to burn the town
was carried into execution.
Directly opposite the depot was line
Of fine wooden stores, in the rear of
which was an alley The fire was first
discovered in the corner of r. w. Gil
Tsm's store. in the alley, and rapidly
snread to J. w. Hatfield's barber shop.
he beef market of ]. D. Owens, the drug
store of E. B. Fleece & Son, and the stores
OIL. R. Bate, Hart & Harvey, and T. c..
Carter Crossing a narrow street the
flames soon devOured the big Wildwood
hotel.although Mrs. d II Hart saved much
of her furniture, etc. Bate Gillian and
Hatfield suffered a total loss, but the
others saved a portion of their goods
The total loss, there being no insurance,
will reach about $4,000, including build
ings destroyed.
K. w. Gillian, in whose store the fire
started, is a brother-in-law of Ira B.
Smith, the only white man who was dan
gerously wounded in the Christmas dis
turbances by the negroes, and this
strengthens the well-grounded suspicion
that the fire was of incendiary origin.
Five of the ringleaders are still at large
and then, the wives Of the negroes have
also shown a vindictive spirit. The whole
trouble had a very trifing start. Jesse
Lambright was standing in a store door
when RUDE Caruthers passed in, and quite
Internationally brushed against him.
Lambright began to curse, and this led TO
the starting Of the race conflict, as he es-
capped to his own cabin and rallied around
him crowd of armed negroes. With half
the town in ruins, it is hardly probable
that good feeling will ever be restored
between the races in Wildwood. 1t will
be long time before the town will re-
cover from a loss it can ill afford to sus-
tam. The present negro population will,
no doubt, move away and a new and a
better class come to fill their places.
OLD PAPERS SUSPENDED.
The suspension of the venerable Flori-
dian, at Tallahassee, reminds me that
another old and well-known paper has
suffered like fate. The Sanford Jour
nal for many years was the leading pa
per IN South Florida, and l remember it
some fifteen years ago when Way and
Osberne, brothers-in-law, conducted it.
Inc former is now cashier of the Sanford
Loan and Trust Bank and the latter has
Dee1 dead several years. DR.. Harris, a
WeA,known Georgian, then conducted it,
AIDED by his accomplished daughter, after
which he rented it out to various parties
nnnally came back to him in such a con
ulIon mat II soon went into the hands of
yue Snerln some weeks ago and will soon
be sold out. The new and enterprising
Gaze City Chronicle proved a successful
nyal and holds the field.
FLORIDA IS somewhat of graveyard for
newspapers and periodicals. There are
oolsVant suspensions or consultations
auu changes in the normal condition of
sue press OF the state. Orlando, last year,
Iau Ihree weeklies and two dailies now
que mas but one daily and two weekhes.
SANFORD had one daily and two weeklies
GoW Sne has only one weekly. In Palatka
OCdla ana Tampa the changes have been
nauy ana various. And yet the news
P tb OF lorlda compare favorably with
S S,ose Oh other southern states. One great
u o, here is the dullness of the
sumner months and the scattered con
ulTUn OF the population. Our newspaper
50 well. 80, - NV A04 0o1ii :
BISHOP eRAY's NEW FIELD.
oblshop William Crane GRAY, of the
F NV missionary diocese of Southern
ar SSriua, mas entered heartily upon his
tL5uu?us duties, and has proven himself
tive gie rlg3t man in the right place. A ma.
ras iul view Jersey, but for life time a
sti 1luent Oh tennessee. with strong con-
tbSttyylou' large experience, and zeal
go 1ro i1ls nothing of failure, he has
IN o g1er MS extended field of labor, and
pasd oiedrly defined plan marked out its
-T p and how to meet them.
bneGentiy at the Church of the Good
Dnepnerd at Maitland. where he
b SIs assisted by the venerable and
P IsU'g1 bishop II. B. Whipple and
ANY b Dr. j. 5. Kennedy, of Minnesota
cb,'.I ReV. W. H. Bates, rector of The
',6bnLni ne prefaced his sermon on
of hi s' vi unity" with graphic account
sno Iio experiences in his new field He
bis oo Vi Jhe seven classes that composed
misst, llgregatlOns, the feebleness Of The
tb ,e9'Ioaary churches, and how scattered
trs,d men oership was Many miles he
i in Ss,C on foot, to other points he wen
wav ~" uoat, especially on the east coast
Yefy uoWh IN the Biseayne bay country
pions ro.ly Where he went he found refined
and napaSple} al anxious to secure better
specio Ii'l 1i church privileges. He had &
tin e. pea Tor the Indians in that sec
needeS "lom much missionary work i.
@'pgu !eu and will be done
DtouOD GRAY paid