Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1901-05-09

ter asa DrswD~A-The Militia
esaraisg the Burned City.
Jacksonville, Fla. May 5.-The hot
| May son rose smoke-enshrounded over
the devastated city. The fire. which
broke out Friday at noon, and aided
! ih its work by southwest gale, spent
its force by nine o'clock Friday night.
The damage is enormous. One nun
dred and forty-eight blocks wero
swept by the flames, and as far as
known, seven persons lost their lives.
\ report is in circulation that n party
of 20 persons, driven to the docks
along the St. Johns river, were forced
into the water, all attempts at rescue
by boats being futile. The river is be-
ing searched.
Militia o. Duty.
All the local companies of the state
militia have been on duty since mid
night, and on order of Gov. Jennings.
the military companies from four
cities are speeding to Jacksonville by
special trains. Many extra police have
man not doing duty in some capacity
in the fire-swept district is impressed
into the service. The negroes are
huddled IN groups in different parts OF
the city, and the fear of an attempt
| at lawlcssness by them, although not
openly expressed by the whites. was
the reason for the large military
force ordered here.
The Path of the FIames.
The fire companies from Savannah.
Fernandira, Ocala and other cities
worked the entire night on the fire.
but soaking rain will be necessary
to effectuslly quench the flames. The
path of the flames was IL blocks wide
and nearly two miles long. Practical
ly all old Jacksonville has been de-
stroyed. nothing being left but a few
suburbs and Riverside. the most fash
ionable Part of the city.
Ia was a Great Ceanaxrasiea.
IL is believed the fire was the largest
in proportion to the size of the place
that has ever visited any city. Many
families lost libraries, pianos and
household goods after they had been
moved to supposed places of safety.
The street ear service has been At a
complete standstill since Friday after
noon. The electric light circuits were
interrupted. and the gas plant de-
stroyed. and at night the city is in
darkness. A conservative estimate
places the number of homeless people
in the city ut 10000. Most of these
spent the night in the parks, on the
docks. on barges, and some slept on
what few belongings they managed to
save from the general wreck.
Appeal fos Aid May he Issued.
The board of trade and other COM
mercial bodies held meetings to take
action looking TO the alienation of
the suffering. 1t is expected that an
appeal of the people of the United
States. calling for aid, will be issued.
Leading business men and insurance.
agents estimate the total loss of prop
erty at from ten to fifteen million
dollars.
some of the Baildi.xs Destroyed.
The St. James hotel. which was de-
stroved, has been closed since April
70. The loss on this building is S175,-
900. Among the buildings destroyed
are: The Emery auditorium, Board of
Trade. st. James hotel. Windsor ho-
tel, the :, minole club, the Daily Me-
tropolis, the city hall and market. the
Gardiner building (the largest office
building in the city,. the Hubbard
building.
Death ssa Madness
Mr.. W. W. Cleveland. in whose
premises the fire oringinated. and who
was one of the heaviest losers.
dropped dead from excitement. A
stalwart negro, bringing a trunk on
his head from a burning building,
went crazy from the horror of the
situation. He ran around in a circle |
with the trunk on his head until he
sank exhausted and died. Women
ran through the streets, tearing their
hair and clothes. and in several in
stances had almost denuded them
selves when they were caught by
friends and led to places of safety. |
Horses hitched to trucks could not be
cut loose quickly enough, and many |
of them ran wild through the demor-
allied throng.
Fireaen rsea Dynamite.
At ] n. m. Saturday the fire was
still burning fiercelv in many sections
of the ruins, and the exhausted Are |
men. giving up the fight for the time |
being, sought rest, leaving the fire 30 |
burn itself out. The neat from the |
fire vas intense. The fire department |
used dynamite to blow up the houses
a block from the fire.
A Fathers AIl-Nixht search.
DIR. r. H. Dean, q prominent physi- |
clan, reported the loss of his two |
children. Helen and Francis, to the |
police. DIR. Dean thinks the elder of |
the two, Helen, will be found, but be- |
ieves Francis burned to death in his |
Office, where they sought safety. DIR. |
Dean collapsed on the street after an |
all-night search. and in falling was |
seriously injured.
w. b. Barnett, president of the |
First national bank. tainted during
the progress of the FIRE. He fell into |
some smouldering ruins, and was
burned before he was rescued.
Fire CAies became I.sane.
Fire Chief Haney. who became in |
sane during the height of the fire. is
somewhat improved. He was brought |
down town during the day, in care of |
two or three frsmen.
Te Care fer the Refugees.
Secretary of War Root wired the |
mayor Of st. Augustine. rendering
the use of the barracks at Fort Bar
rancas (St- Augustine) for the ref
ugees- The offer was in turn trans
mitted 70 Jacksonville. ST. Augustine
offers also to take care of 1000 ref
ugees with its own runds