Arizona republican., 1898-09-13
THE TOWN TO BE REBUILT.
! Phoenix Mans Graphic Description of the Conflagration and of Some of the SiCkening Things Left Among
 the Ruins of the Houses.

buildings in the Mexican quarter. Again the wind changed and blew strong and constantly upon the town until hall past nine o'clock, when it's l fiery breath had blown Jerome off the face of the earth There were no water facilities and the roar of the flames was punctuated by blasts of powder with which houses were blown up to starve the advancing enemy. But the destruction of the houses was lunavailing They were only converted into kindling wood, which the flames could lick up with greater rapidity and run on.
 Ev FRY THING WAS HOT. | Many had time to carry their house. hold effects out of the doomed build 1 ings, but the labor was thrown away. They caught fire in some instances be- fore the buildings from which they had l been rescued Then the mountain side began to be loaded with furniture and merchandise, but the flames rushed through the business section or flew over it, climbed the side of the mountain and devoured the goods which had been so laboriously saved. They took also the company houses rerched upon the side of the hill, un- til nothing remained but the com pany'S store, a small church and row of eight cheap cottages around the bend in the gulch.
 FIRE PROOF BUILDINGS. I
 Jerome was not, as most mining towns, constructed wholly of cheap, inf1ammable structures. There were. three buildings believed to be abso- lutely fire-proof. One was a building being put up by the company. It was Of steel frame, and the brick wall had been finished to the second story. When the fire had passed the steel framework was twisted out of shape and the wall was gone.
 Two other so-called fire-proof build ings after the fire lay mixed with the ruins of the cheaper tenements and hardly distinguishable from them.
 SOME GRUESOME SIGHTS.
 When the air and earth had cooled sufficiently a search for the dead was begun. here and there charred corpses were found, but at the time MT. Scott left, only one was identified. It was that of an old man who for merly lived in Phoenix and had been a. bookkeeper and collector for several firms here. MT. Scott ula not learn his name. He went from Phoenix to Jerome only three months ago.
 Passing the ruins of another build ing MT. Scott saw another blackened heap which was still frying, the grease oozing and almost bubbling from it. Approaching nearer he saw the skull and hands. Near by were several bottles filled with claret. He broke them and poured the wine on the fry ing mass to put it out. There were three other victims and it is supposed that another, a child was lost when the St. Charles hotel was blown up.
 The company did the square thing by the sufferers. IL first offered free transportation as far as the junction to all who wanted to leave the scene of desolation The company's store was practically thrown open to those who remained, so thad there was no suffering for want of food. President Rarkley of the Phoenix chamber of commerce, yesterday telegraphed Su- perintenaent J. L. Giroux asking if this city couIu be of any assistance. A reply was received from MT. Giroux thanking .Ae chamber for it's kind of fer, but saying the company was fully equal to the emergency.