The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1894-05-10
The Fire Ifiend.

between and z o'clock, on Wednes-
day morning, the I'd inst. e. Smith
Griffin, who lives four miles south of
Pickens, on Rice's Creek, was aroused
from deep sleep by the screams of his
children, and bounding up he was
Mortified to behold the dancing, dazzl-
ing light of the fire fiend streaming
from every window of the girls bed
room above stairs. His first thought
was that his children were in the
midst of destructive fire, and that
their screams were the last wall of de-
spair. One with less courage would
have been shocked and paralyzed by
the thought It was about four sec
onds till he was in the room to find
the sudden blazo was f, ON the burn.
ing of q window curtain which had
caught from the FIRE in stack of
quilts in the corner Of the room by
the window.
He soon succeeded in smothering
down tho sudden burst of flame by
throwing the burning clothing down
stairs where it was put out. At this
juncture he thought he was master
Of; the situation, but his daughter,
Miss Eula, told him that there was
fire between the ceilings, which she
discovered through crack, made by
n false joint. He found the state
ment only too true, and cried: "Water
water!' but answer came bnck from
below: "rhe we'll is dry" He then
called for butter-milk, of which there
were about five or eight gallons
in tho house, but the children
had been SO stampeded and demoral-
lied with fear by the rude awakening
that they could not respond. Mr..
Griffin had made his way into the
garret through scuttle hole left for
the purpose and there he was watch
ing the fire and hallooing for water,
(the awful suspense Of that four min.
utesD till the smoke and heat from
the flames threatened hlm with sutfo
cation. Down from the garnet! down
from hope rush to the rescue.
What narrow, dangerous margin on
which to work! to save the savings of
a life time, when we consider the two
story, stately edifice built of heart
pine, and as dry rs tinder inside and
out and the whole roof ablaze. "Chil-
dren rush for your clothingP but only
about four of the eleven saved their
clothing. BY this time some of the
had arrived, and they saved
two feather beds and mattress out
of dozen or more, and one bedstead,
ten chairs out of fifty, also the organ
which was in tie front room. Just
about $3.50 worth saved out $500 or
$1,000. The dining-room> and kitchen
furniture was all lost, besides most of
the dairy fixtures which had just been
purchased new, to carry on the busi-
ness which had just been started on
a large scale.
Mr.. Griffin lost his fine overcoat
and gold watch and many valuable
roles left by his father, besides those
which he had collected himself. Thus
he and his large family were turned
out under the clear, blue sky, on the
chill, night air, with nothing to warm
them but the smouldering ombers of
their beloved homo.
Temporary shelter was provided in
n small adjacent barn, where the
family have been housed and cared
for rs best they could be with
The generous contributions made by
The neighbors. On Saturday the
children distributed themselves
around among tho neighbors. A
small cottage on tho site of the burn
I'd building will soon be ready for
Everybody around has
been to lend helping hand. Those
engaged in tho work Saturday after {
noon were: j. N. Wyatt, w. w.
McWhorter, Fl. w. Farr, Miles Dun t
can, William Gilstrap, r. Hamilton, 1
}. u. Nix, Sanders and Hopkins.
There was no insurance on the {
building or furniture and tho loss is G.
about $4,000. ,
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