The Dickinson press., 1901-05-11
eH0ss o i SO 900
3AcksoNvlLLt q ssyEPT'
sY a MOST DlsAsTRoUs
coNFLAoRATIoh.


jacksonville, Fla, May 6.-The
most disastrous fire in the history Of
{ this city began in small factory
from q defective wire, according, to;
/ the best belief, and burned for nearly
i 10. hours. In that time q /, property
damage estimate from SO O,O00, 900 to
+ y1b O00, 900 was caused. According to.
tho city map 100 blocks were burned,
many Of them In the heart Of the busi-
( ness and residence section. The esti-
mate. OF houses, TO the block is 10,
hence 1900 Of them went up in smoke.
Many of the finest public and private
buildings were destroyed, Including
hotels, churches, theatres and resi-
dences.
The ha3casnalties. cannot be accurately
estimated, but that there were several
seems tOahe well. authenti ticateds Among
them NasS that of tue FIRE chief, who
saastainsdSa bad fall. The mAyor 5or-s
dered all Of the saloons closed and has
impressed helpFto clear the wreckage.s
5 The situation lie one Approaching
desolation in large section Of the
CITY, }s5 3s: "a .s.
SThe burned district reaches from
Burbridge street on the north to st.
Johns river on the south, sas distance
Of not quite two miles. The width Of
the dssolated area sis l3 blocks. With
In this space actieally
Everything ls 1lackened Ruins.
The fre is now under control, hav-
|, ing practically burned itself out. The
suburban elements, with the ex-
E,ceptions Of La I Wills, are, intact La
.VfHas was badly hurt The extent Of
the damage cannot be told now. Thou
sands OF persons are on the streets
homeless, with practically all of their
worldly possessions on their backs.
| The depots of the railways, situated
In the southeastern section, have been
turned into temporary lodging houses
and hospitals. Luckily the weather is
ffie, 10 that there will be no suffering
on that score.
" Meetings of the city council, the
commercial bodies and the charitable
lsipstitutions will be called at once to
devise ways and means for meeting
the situation. It is not knownsyet II
an appeal for help will be issued.
though 1t is thought likely that the
exigencies of the occasion willsdemand
such action It is hoped that an ap-
Epeal can be avoided. s.
Mayor Rowden says the property
loss will exceed SIS, 100000. Ten to
fifteen thousand people are homeless.
The fire started at the corner Of
EDayis. and Union streets In the fac
tory of the American Fiber company,
wooden shell, full Of inhammable
material, which in few moments
Was aEMass 81 Flames.
The wind which was blowing strong
from the southwest soon was carrying
destructive embers all through the
city, the fairest portion OF which lay
right In the course~o the wind. Some
Fdelay was experienced in getting ~
an alarm, and to add to the tragedy
of the fateful accid dents the engine at
the waterworks suffered mishap and
nothing more than ordinary pressure
could be obtained. The flames soon
leaped across Davis street and took q
Ecgurse right through q section where
Eblock after block Of frame buildings,
mostly occupied BY negroes, had been
erected. Here Is where the fire de-
partmeHt lost control, as simultane-
Ously In half d dpzenrplaces, some Of
them nix blocks from the main fire,
roofs were seen to burst out In flames.
II took Just four hours for the flames
lfo e0fiauma every building IN Its wake