Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1901-10-31

Not a Cent of Insurance.
Delmar, Oct. 90. This town is In
ushes ard 200 people are homeless.
Or the Maryland side of the town a
few residences and two stores remain
and on the Delaware side one block of
buildings remain.
Saturday night the streets were filed
with men, women and children seeking
shelter and food. Scores of men who
a week ago were counted we'll. to do are
now financial and mental wrecks, some
of them unable even to give bread to
their children.
The WORK of the fire was swift and
terrible. At . O'Clock Saturday after
noon, while O great number Of the
oitizens were in Salisbury attending a
political meating, W. L. Sirman's
stable caught fire and in few minutes
was enveloped in flames.
A crowd quickly gathered around the
burning stable, but it was too late to
check the fire. Although Demar had
once before been nearly wiped out by
fire, the town recently voted down
proposition to issue bonds for a water
department, and there was practically
no fire protection. This burning stable
soon toppled over, and from the crash
aruse great cloud of sparks, which
the wind carried over the business Sec
tIon. Within the space of five minutes
dozen houses were blazing. The
people about the burning stable and in
the streets realized that the town was
doomed, and panic followed. Men.
women and children abandoned all
thought of extingnishing the flames,
and rushed into their homes 10 save
their most cherished belongings. Pianos,
pictures, bedding, furniture of every
description, were hurriedly thrown out
of the houses and piled up in the
streets. and there much of il was licked
up by the flames.
Salisbury and Wilmington were tele.
graphed to for aid. Salishury's special
made the trip of 6 ITO miles ia i've
minutes, and when it arrived, was
greeted at the station by large crowd.
Men, women and children helped the
firemen to drag their steamer and hose
carts from the cars and then came a
halt because there was no water.
Necessity aided the frantic citizens
to devise clever scheme to get water.
Two locomotives ran to the Delaware
railroad pumping station, filled their
tanks with water and returned to q
point where they could be connected
with the fire engine. A traction engine
was also utilized in this way, and this
work resulted insthe saving of the Della
ware railroad station, the bank, the
Methodist Protestant church and the
residence of Elijah Freeney. The call
for help from Wilmington was counter
manded.
For the hundreds of homeless who
were 10 the streets Saturday night
there was practically no food In the
two stores that escaped the groceries
are so badly smoked that they are un-
fit for use.
SIXTY homes were destroyed. Many
of them were new houses, built after
the fire of August, 1892, which de-
stroyed 45 buildings The loss is over
Sl25, 600 and may reach $3.50, 900. The
principal losers are: W. L. Sirman,
factory, residence and six dwelling
houses, loss $40, 600; insurance $4,000;
Miss Emily Freeny, millinery, $500;
j. NJ. Hearn, barber, $500; W. S.
Marvel, blacksmith, $500; M. e.
Kitchens, millinery $1,000; Delmar
Union Store, 81, Irving Culver,
hardware. $1,000; W. B. Elliott, resi-
dsnoe. store and stock, $1,000; James
F.. Wilson & Co., clothing, $500; f.
G.. Elliott, residence, hardware store
and warehouse, sll,5O0; W. I. Silman,
residence and store, $1,000; J. W.
Hastings residence and contents, "a, 500;
W. S. Maryel's residence, So, 200; post
office building, $500; Hastings & Co.,
store. contents and fixtures, 81, goo;
Levin Hastings, residence and two
houses, So, 200; Solomon Stephens,
residence, So, 500; Stephen Il.
Waller, residence, 81, 300; Mrs. Waller
house, 81, 200; DR.. Ellegood's office,
store. residence and contents. 1900;
Handy Culver, residence, $1,000; j. l..
Ellis. residence and contents, $1,000;
M. NJ. Ellis, residence, 81, 600; J. j.
Culver, residence. $1,000; Mrs. johnson
Ellis, house, 81, 200; DIR. James Brad
shaw, pharmacy and residence, $4,000,
insurance, $1,000; John j, Culver,
residence, $4,000; John W. Nelson,
residence, S3,0O0 Delaware school.
house, $500; Hnyman's olackamithy,
$500; H.uJ. Jones, residence, $500;
Mrs L. A. Kerr, residence, 800.
J. l.. Ellis, s. N. Culvy aud G. L.
Hastings lost merchandise by water
which they had saved from the Gre.