The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1899-03-31
A BIG BLAZE
QUICKLY CONSUMES TWO MAIN
STREET BUILDINGS
This mOrninR-Oniy the maGnIficsn {
work of the Fire Boys Saved Two
Whole BIOcks from n Like Fate
Losses and Other Aftermath.


cloud of smoke, which issued from
buildings on Main street, soon at
tracted an immense crowd to the
wooden building occupied by the !
Partisan millinery store of Mrs. j
T. Crank. The fire broke out
about s o'clock, andin the briefest |
possible space of time the whole
interior of the building was en-
veloped in flames.
The fire was started, it is sup
posed, by spark which fell fro m
the stovepipe, where it was sup
posed to enter the fiue. There
could not be made anything of a
more combustible nature than the
materials constituting a millinery
stock, and of course the flames
soon ate their way through the
magnificent stock with such speed
as to bar the efforts of those who
would have saved some of the
goods from destruction. AS it
was, however, stock and fixtures
of the estimated value of $3.50
were saved. In the excitement
purse containing $175 in money
was left behind and was lost.
The heavy northeast wind drove
the blaze against the two-stury
wooden building adjoining on the
west, owned by w. C.. Downing,
the lower story of which was occu-
pied by him with a stock of china
and glassware, and the upper story
by A. NJ. Hartung, the pho
tographer, as a studio. After all
efforts at saving the millinery stock
were abandoned, everybody who
could work to advantage fell to
carrying out the Downing stock
and assisting Mr. Hartung i'll say
ing something of his effects. The
latter succeeded in saving some Of
his best instruments, but these
represented but small part of his
property, so that his loss is vcr!
heavy. His wardrobe was lost
many fine pictures and hundred:
of negatives which he valued yer.
highly. Nh. Downing and helper
removed some of his stock, bu
much of ttlat was broken in tn
I hurry incident to such occasions
E The portion which escaped ruiz
> was removed to his dwelling.
v By the time the wooden build
4 ings were we'll on their way to de
V struction, flames were spreading i
g three directions-east, south an
!. west. On the east was the one
: story brick building, occupied b
A. G. Young as a furniture store
n This building, it seemed, was sur
to go, and the work of saving tn
= stock was begun. In a few mir
utes Main and Court streets wer
filled with furniture. All, c
nearly all the goods an the mai
building, were taken out withou
great damage to them. Mr. Young
principal loss it seems, comes froI
1t the destruction of stock in hi
" wareroom, in the rear of the stOr
& building. This was a sheet iro
u structure and extended west, bt
u yond the width of the store, an
. the fire from the millinery sho
was quickly communicated TO tn
dry, infammable material within
None of the stock in the warerool
was saved. A car of furnitu1
}. would have been added to the stoc
- today, it having arrived day {
two ago.
About the time the furnitul
wareroom was burning, the pile
of lumber on the north side of
P. VanDenberg's yard, which OF
cupies the south half of the bloc
on which the burning building
y were situated, began to smoke
q and on the west of the Downin
i building the Lee Cruce brick stor
building was on fire in a hal
dnzen nlaceS This all came ahn1