The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-06-20
OLD HABERSHAM MILLS GONE.
BOLT OF LIGHTNING STARTS \
DISASTROUS FIRE.


and the Machinery DestrOyed-The
Mills One of savannah's Old Land
marks-Many Historical RecoI-
Iections Cluster Around Them.
Mills and Surrounding Buildings
insured for S23,OOO-About $4,000
worth of Rice Burned-TOtal Loss
between $4,000 and $4,000.
Fire got in its work on the upper rice
mill known as the old Habersham rice
mills. yesterday afternoon, and one OF Sa-
vannah's landmarks, around which cen
tiers much history. and not little ro-
nance. is now a heap of ruins.
II is pretty well settled that the fire was
the result of a stroke of lightning, which
hit the mill about 40 o'clock IN The otter
noon, during a short but rather severe
thunder shower There is the testimony Of
two or three witnesses upon this point,
which appears to leave no doubt that the
fire followed, and was caused by the thun-
derbolt
Mr. 3. Goldin, of No. $50 Indian street,
was sitting on the front porch of his house
during the shower, and was looking in the
direction of the mill, which is but a short
distance away on River street. There came
an almost binding fash of lightning fol-
lowed by a severe thunderclap. The light
ming stroke. he says, hit the mill proper on
one of its corner on the western side, and
just at the foot of the gable end. A num-
Der of bricks fell from the corner to the
ground. Mr. Goldin thought no more of
the matter. considering that all of the
damage that would be done was the fall
ing of the bricks, but about twenty min
utes later he saw smoke issuing from the
mill, the volume growing larger and
larger. Before he could do anything to-
wards turning in an alarm the engines
from the West Broad street engine house
were already on their way there. This was
before the alarm was turned in from box
No. 81 by one of the lremen.
A clerk at the Baltimore wharf, just
the other side of the rice mills, states posi-
lively that he also saw the lightning strike
the corner of the mill building, and saw
the bricks fall. He was at the telephone at
the time, and the electricity, presumably
from the same FASH burned the telephone
out An examination of the corner in ques-
ton showed that several bricks mad fallen
off it, which appeared to fully corroborate
the lightning theory.
It was about 40 o'clock when the alarm
was turned In. An alarm had been given
previously at the West Broad street en-
CINE house, and it met with prompt re-
Spouse. The fire had been noted some few
minutes before the alarm bell rang. Fol-
lowing the alarm from box 81. the general
alarm was rung, and all of the apparatus
in the city responded. The Henry street
fire company made an excellent run,
reaching the fire about eight minutes
after the general alarm struck.
When the department arrived and got to
work on the FIRE the principal portion of
1t was in the mill proper, the middle build
ing OF the three that were destroyed. 1t
had evidently communicated at that time
70 the granary to the south of the mill
and connected with it, as much heavy
black smoke was making its way out be-
tween the cracks.
The buildings destroyed by the fire were
all right together, and a brief description
of them will lead TO a better understanding
of what occurred. Back of the buildings
and right next to the river is an elevator
for conveying rice into the granary. Just
in front of that was a small storehOuse,
and then came a granary building about
four stories high. The next building was
the mill proper containing the machinery
west of that were the engine room and
boiler shed. There was another small
brick building to the south of the mill in
tervening between that and the large gran
airy another four-stOry brick building the
nearest of the buildings to river street. To
the west Of this building and attached to
II was a shed in which was stored q lot of
cement belonging to Messrs. Bond, Harri-
son & Co.
The fire, ii appears, started in the mill
proper and seemed to make rapid Roadway
in spite Of the rain. Chief Mcguire of the
fire department was out of the city, hav-
ing gone 70 Tybee, and the department and
management of the fire was in the hands
of Assistant Chief Mouro. Six or eight
lines Of hose were laid out In short order,
and with the aid of the ladders carried up
to the topmost windows of the mill build
ing. Unfortunately however, there was
something wrong with the water pressure,
or else an effort was made to get too
much water out of too small a pipe, and
the water did very little good so far as
the main fire was concerned.
The trouble seemed, however, to have
been with the smallness of the mains in
that section of the city. A similar trouble
was experienced in the other rice mill fire
down there about a year and half ago.
AT any rate water was scarce, and de-
plorabiy so.
The cause of this lack of a sufficient
water supply win probably receive the at
tention of the Fire Commission.
The fire, once started, made rapid head
way from the mill into the granarles on
either side of It, eating its way down from
the top to the bottom, and all the while
increasing In heat. 1t was like a furnace
for a while around in the yard surround
Ing the mill building. For a few minutes
the rain came down in torrents. but II
only seemed to feed the flames as they
leaped higher and higher and continued
their work of cutting the buildings
Fiercely 1t burned for three hours. and
then died down simply because there was
nothing left within the walls for 1t Il
prey upon.
As the fire went downward from the tor
to the bottom of the buildings. it warned
the old brick walls until 1t was apparent
that they soon would fall The walls were
thick, and at one time strong but they
had done their work, and were fast goina
to decay. Many years longer they would
Nave withstood the ravages of time. but
not of flame.
The gable end on the western side of the
mill building was the first TO 20 Fire
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