The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1899-12-22
Especial to tho State.1

Especial to tho State.
Florence, Dec, 10,-Bare walls
and masses Of debris mark tbo b,s;
ness pot" IS Florence. The dis.
7 A COoerning which few
S NJ fastened to Tho State
. J" A-'aJ morning, was checked at G
o'clock this morning, but Mt un.
til about $lo000O worth of prop,
erty had lneltod away before tho
Jury OF the flames. There arc vari
Gus estimates M to the loss, but
many business men place it at $780,
ooo aud more. 1t was tho greatest
hre that ever visited Florence, and
one from which it will be difficult to
recover very soon, Tor many of
the losses fall heavily on the vic
Tins.
The fire started in the City hotel,
handsome three story building, and
this was burned to the ground before
the flames began to spread. Tho
water supply was inadequate, aud
Just when it was thought tho fire
could be controlled, tho engines
ceased pumping and pnndemonium
relgned. Bucket brigades were form
Ell and heroic work was done, but all
OF no avail. The city hall, brick,
and Aliens block, frame, caught and
burned rapidly. Tho engines changed
positions and recommended work.
The flames had gained such head
way, however, that nothing could be
done to check them, and the Bank of
Florence, across Evans street, was
the noxt licked up, with the Western
Union Telegraph Office. The fire
continued to spread and all of the
buildings from @. d. Bristow's fruit
store on Evans to Stockley's on Oar
gan street were destroyed in rapid
succession. The flames crossed Oar
gan street and four other large stores
were destroyed.
Tho principal buildings burned
were the city hall, $4,000 build
ing, the Bank Of Florence, valued at
$1,000, the City hotel, value, $12,-
600. and the Florence opera house,
placed by the owners at $4,000.
The stores of Y. NJ. Hammer, George
M. McCown, James II. Penny, DIR.
w. H. Darby, Thoo. Kuker, Wilkins
& Brunson, N. j. Xepopas, r.. Nj.
Nettles & Co., II. l.. Darr, Nj. S.
Rubenstein, Parker Bros, T. J. Full
lor, j. w. Cannon, e. S. Buchhert,
and w. ?. Rodgers we're entirely de-
stroyed, besides number of others
which were badly damaged. The
Bell and Home Telephone companies
and the Florence Improvement and
Manufacturing Company suffered
serious losses. A number Of shops
and fruit stands were destroyed, and
tho handsome stores Of John l..
Baninger and II. S. Rose were badly
damaged. The handsome law Offices
of Wilcox e. Wilcox in the bank
building we're destroyed.
The Florence fire department did
excellent work but we're hindered by
the lack of water. The citizens lined
out IN force and did what they could
to save the effects from the burning
buildings.
Darlington responded promptly to
the call for aid and arrived within
ono hour after the special train had
been sent by Capt. G. G. Lynch.
The Darlington firemen did good
work, and for their assistance the
people of Florence are grateful.
The purpose of The men who have
suffered by the fire Is to rebuild at
once, and with Florence's spent is
undoubtable. She will not long suf-
fer this awful gap in her main streets
to go untitled.
Another result of the fire will cor
tainly be a modern system of water
,uorIro For ITIoraDoo