Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1899-09-08

: that occasion in airecent Issue as ac-
curately as possible A contributor to
/ local paper under date of September
! 6 took exceptions to the story of the
/ fire as reproduced in The Republican
stating that the date was wrong, that
no one died or was even overcome by
the heat as the result of that fire, and
closes with the following kindly re-
marks, evidently intended for the edi-
fication of the reporter:
There have been too many state
ments made public in regard to- events
unknown to reporters of the present,
and those who were present can vouch
for the truth of the above
So far as the reporter is concerned
he was present at the fire, but every
thing cannot be retained in the mem
DRY. Hence the date of the fire was
only given approximately. Further
inquiry has proved that it occurred at
night, instead of the afternoon, which,
by the way, is the only erroneous
statement made. AS to the finding of
the body in the embers, the reporter
had a distinct recollection, as also
have two other employees of this paper
who were there at the time. The re-
porter saw the remains of the deceased
in a wooden shoe box which had been
carried across the street to the vicin-
ity of the old postoff1ce on the present
site of the store of Doris Bros. The
remains were found in the daytime,
the recalling of which event led to- the
erroneous statement that the fire oc-
Cured in the daytime.
For the further enlightenment of
the anxious inquirers after the de-
ceased, as well as the extremely cour-
teous and over-critical contributor to
the city paper above referred to and |
who places the date of the fire as |
November 80, 1888, access was had to |
the files of the Phoenix Daily Herald, |
which gives the account of the fire in |
the issue of December 1, 1886, just |
three years after the date of the "au-
thentic" historian. In the issue of |
December the 9Th, 1886, the Herald
says:
For one or two days after the fire
On Wednesday night last the individual
known as Bob Fitzsimm Mons" and as a
swamper for some of the saloons, was
missing and on Saturday the suspicion
prevailed that he may have persisted
in the confagration at the corner of
Center and Washington streets on
Wednesday night. Mr. Thomas Sher-
Ddn anu Oln6TS uldU6 d S6dICu, DuI
found nothing to confirm the sus-
)icion. The continued absence of the
nan on Sunday morning, however,
md the fact that he had been seen at
he fire in an inebriated condition
ind was two or three times led away
rom the burning liquor store when !
lie seemed anxious to get hold of a
,cttle of liquor; led to a thorough (
earch and resulted in finding the re- {
mains of a man in a corner of the Gel
ar of the burned building. They were, !
however, on top of most of the debris |
nd were only covered by a lot of
dobes that had fallen in from neigh +
Oring wall. The body was a charred, !
recognizable mass, some portions of I
he clothing only remaining to tell of /
he identity of the unfortunate man. t
''Dr. Mahoney as coroner summoned G
jury and a verdict was rendered in 7
ccordance with the above facts. The
ody was recognized through the
lothing by two witnesses that were o
xamined, and many other persons. y
deceased came here from Orc BlancO, I
ina county, some three years ago, c
sober, nice young man, but recently
e has been a hard drinker. He was L
bout 80 years of age and a native of
ew York state. The coroner buried
lie remains last evening"