The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-12-11
LOSS is ALMOST A MILLION.
AUGUSTUS FIRE DESTROYED AN
ENTIRE BLOCK.

|
White and the Arlington Hotel.
Masonic Building Burned-PrOmpt
Response by Savannah and Macon
Fire Departments-There Were No
Serious CasuaIties-Many People
Have Viewed the Ruins.
Augusta, Dec. 10.-Augusta's great Sun
day morning eonfiagration win approx
mate S1,OOO,O00 in damage.
1t was the worst fire that Augusta has
had in years.
| 1t began in the heart of ]. B. Whites
big dry goods house-the nearest approach
Augusta had to a big modern department
store.
The origin of the fire is unknown, but
| 1t is surmised that an electric wire may
have come in contact with the woodwork
after the insulation Of it became imperfect,
or possibly spark from a sputterng arc
| light may have tumbled into the dry
| goods.
AS soon as possible after the alarm the
firemen were on the ground, and the gem
eral alarm was turned in by the chief at
once. 1t did not take Chief Roulette
minute to see that he had a conhagration
to contend with, and as soon as he start
| ed his own apparatus to work he wired to
Savannah and Macon for aid. Both of
these cities responded promptly, and start
ed their apparatus on special trains for
Augusta.
Took I'm the Whole Block.
The Arlington Annex and the stores be-
Meath 1t, all part of the old Central Ho-
| -
White on the uptown side, and all was
involved In the first onslaught of the
flames after getting outside of Whites big
store.
Next came the handsome Masonic build
ing. Into this the flames ate their way
from the rear. When this became thor
oughly ablaze there was no longer any
possibility that the Arlington Hotel could
escape. 1t has always had the reputation
of being exceedingly vulnerable, and when
the flames reached 1t from the rear of the
Masonic building it was soon ablaze. The
tremendous bonfire was visible for many
miles in all directions
The fire ignited the roof and windows
| of the Schneider building across Eighth
street on the next block, but 1t was ar
rested here, and barring few thousand
l
confined to the original block bounded by
! Broad and Ellis streets north and south,
and Seventh and Eighth Streets east and
west.
Estimate of the Insurance.
1t being Sunday, insurance men and
| property owners would not go 10 their
books and iron safes for accurate data as
| to policies and companies, and only fur
| nished the estimated insurance in bulk.
ha arpa aet ass aH.
up by three of the leading insurance men
in the city and are believed 20 be con-
servative. but are only given as estimates:
Door, building and stock, $4,000; Schiad-
eressi, stock of fruits, $1,000; Rice & O'Con-
nor $1,000; j. b. White, building and
stock, $4,000; j. Henry Meyer tobacco
and cigars. $1,000; ]. Miller Walker So
| 900; Stubs restaurant, $1,000; Exchange
saloon, $1,000; P. f. Sheron, Shoes $1,000;
| Miller & Elmore, tobacco, $1,000; Arlng-
| ton Annex $2,000 Arlington Hotel, $780,
| 600: Masonic Hall building, S25, GOO; e. J.
O'Connor, liquors, 3d. 00O Phoenix Printing
Company, $1,000; Louis Schaul, jeweler
| $40 900; NJ. l.. Freeman, jewelry etc, ST.,
| 900; Augusta Construction Company, 81 1000;
N. l.. Willet Drug Company, store room,
5000; Morris livery stable, $1,000; Rich
ards livery stable, 81, 500; Schneiders, $5,-
600; Mularkey & Sullivan, dry goods, S1O,-
000
Chiefs of the fire departments of Ma
con and Savannah, with men and apparat-
u.s. arrived after the confagration had
been arrested, but their services were not
| required.
Incidents of the Fire.
1t is probable that more people have been
on Broad street to-day than at any time
since the last carnival.
At o'clock this morning the entire
heavens above the city were lurid, and for
blocks away from the fire one could read
by the fierce glare Almost the whole
town visited the ruins either during or
since the fire, and many people have come
from Georgia and Carolina towns on in
coming trains during the day
| 1t is strange that no serious casualties
occurred. Two fremen were slightly hurt
one by falling slate from a roof, and an
other was knocked down when the walls
of the Arlington Hotel fell. He was out
of reach of the falling wall, but some OF
the bricks were thrown off to some dis
tance, when the wall crashed upon the
ground, and the fireman was hit
A man was run over by stampeded
horses on Greene street, but escaped with
nothing more serious than bruises and a
bad fright.
The horses were driven out of the livery
stables on Ellis street, back of the fire,
and dashed up and down the streets in the
widest dismay. Three ran into the seeth-
| ing flames and We're burned to death.
The Western Union telegraph Office is
in the Chronicle building across Broad
street from the fire, and many of the
wires were dragged down by the burning
poles. The telephone wires are also in a
tangle, and the service Is considerably In
| terfered with.
Pulling Down Walls.
This afternoon a cable was hitched to
an electric car and to the high walls Of
the Arlington Hotel that were left stand
ing, and In this way they we're pulled
| down.
The effort to pull down the high front
of the Masonic building failed, as the ca
lie broke every time.
TIE burnt district fronts about one hum
dred yards on Broa1 street and nuns
through to Ellis. clean sweep. Many
broken gas pipes that il has been impos-
sible TO cut OF, are blazing brilliantly
among the ruins.
j. B. White announces that he viii i'm