The Forrest City times., 1896-11-06

Al lila uclhck ihst saturday nlght
thu usual fire alarm h. firing of pistol,
and sh"ntine) aroused .h- citizens fal
and near throughout ihr city.
:. Levy conducts 4 dry goods bust
ness ~ 4 small brirk building in tn.
rear of l.. Rollwage 4 Co.'S main build
irg.
At the time stated Farl Carey. who
was standing III front oi Vaccaru's sa
loon. on the opposite side of the street
SAW small quick fash through tlI-
glass door ia the Levy estahlishn. Mt
and at once gave The alarm Ia less
time than it takes To write the head
lines of this article the whole front of
the interior of the room was 4 raging
flame of fire.
Near the front part of the building
around the walls, doors ard window
facngs, was hung a large lot Of
draptry. such rs light goods Of various
descriptions. TINS afforded ready ma.
teriai for the tongue Of the flames and
| the heat soon cracked the glass in the
| window and door and gained the avn
| ing IN the open air. In the meantime.
| the lire was rapidly eating it's way to
the rear of the store. but WAS not
making Il clean sweep. AZ the articles
of merchandise in that quarter WAS of a
more bulky and heavy quality. At this
| juncture "A few minutes had elapsed.
and the wooden door window facings
and the wooden awning were developed
| in the tierctst rage OF the tire demon.
At tins moment the fire ladies had
m ade their water connections and tnrn-
ed two 8 inch hose upon fine fire SUR
face. The boys worked heruicalIy and
A, lat.
spired confidence lin the bystanders
which at this moment numbered up
into the hundreds, pof the possibilities
which lay in the efforts of the fire de-
partment, assisted by an admrabie
system OF waterwofks.
Immediately above the store is stu
ated the County Clerks Office. wherein
is kept stored all the books and papers
connected with nearly every business
Throughout the county, ami in which
every soul in the county is more or less
directly interested in a pecunlary WAY.
Not until the flames had nearly eaten
their way through tise ceiling of he
store into the clerks office above did
the liremen GET the flames under con-
troll. Ten minutes later the loss 10 st.
! Francis county in records and papers
|
, further. had the fire gained it's way in.
tn the clerks office only couple of
I or, iinary doors would have kept it from
reac hing the long hallway. into which
sever. \ rooms open. running the f,ll
length ~ the Rollwage building. Once
fairly ST artsd in this hall. the liremdu
would hay., been at II sad disadvantage
even the smoke and heat would have
4 i.... a f.N 1.s.xya
fighting chance with the DANES il
would have bet y necessary to have
blown M the bn. ilding by the use of
powerful explosives.
Levy. the propriet 7 or the hoNse.
Was in st. Louis ut the time, and n
brother and salesman >vere IN charge
al the establishment. Tn csc men had
closed the house and presu 1ahy start
20 for home. but scarcely t. y minutes
had elapsed before the origL1 OF the
fire.
The proprietor carried Il s. 0c0 pol
icy on The stock OF goods, and 1T Fhls
| writing il is impossible To arrive at the
loss. az many articles are partially dn.n-
aged. and an invoice is possibly the.
only means by which the loss can be-
ascprtained. Two hundred and fifty
dollars is possibly the loss on the build
ing. which Is covered 10y insurance.
Twice III less than twelve months
has the business portion of the town
been in jeopardy from the agency of
fire. and at both times has the anna
teur frempn aud the Efficient water
works saved it from going up into
smoke and ashes.
ro have lost the contents of the
clerks office would have been calam-
inv indeeil., The county has meyer (nar
never Will -ecoy, red from the destruc-