The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1902-02-26
Straight, Madison, Beech, Vine and

Carroll streets. almost reaching to the
armory in Graham avenue.
The car sheds in which the fire
started are a group Of old wooden
barns. Part of them formed the old
wigwam. a place for the great politi'
cal gatherings of many years ago
There were eleven trolley cars in the
sheds, and they filed up the space SO
that they impeded the work of the
! fremen.
The families living in the adjoining
houses had to flee for their lives.
They appeared on che streets IN thelr
night clothes. They were taken out
of the bitter night bv neighbors VINO
were out Of the range of the fire.
The sky was filled with large sparks
which were carried for half dozen
blocks by the high wind. One of these
lodged in the belfry of the First Bap-
fist Church. The open lattice work
allowed the wind to fan the spark into
a blaze. and soon the tall spire was a
shaft of flame. This was a new GEN.
ire for the distribution Of sparks, two
blocks away from the car sheds.
The old City Hall, in Washington
street. was the next building to catch
fire. It burned slowly, and probably
the blaze would have died out but for
the great fire that swept up to 1t two
hours later from the car sheds.
A great crowd gathered around the
First Baptist Church to see the Won
derful pillar of fire. Within half an
hour after it took fire the steeple fell.
Part of it struck the High School as
it fell and set that building on fire.
The school was soon enveloped In
flames, and some of the fire apparatus
was drawn from the fire further down
the street to try to save the church
and the school.
A call was sent to Newark and Pas
sale for aid as soon as it was realized
that with the gale that was then pre-
vailing it would not be long before
the entire centre section Of the city
would be ablaze. Chief Baker, or
Passaic, when he learned that more
apDaratuses were needed in this city
Immediately dispatched Mclean En-
CINE No. 8, which was posted in Wash
ington street, so as to throw a stream
at the blaze in the building occupied
by A. J. Rogers, the plumber, next to
the Guardian Office, which was gain
ing great headway, having crossed
over from the First Baptist Church.
It did not take long for the flames to
force their way through the rear wall
of Continental Hall. in Van Houten
street, in the rear of the car sheds, and
soon that old building was mass OF
flames from street TO roof. The hall
has for several years been used as
cent lodging house, and that night
was crowded with dodgers. They had,
however, long ago made their escape,
carrying out their few belongings.
While the firemen were still working
hard in au effort to confne the fire
to the top of the building the hall of
the floor suddenly gave way and pre-
cipitated a mass Of brick and blazing
timber into the fancy goods store OF
Bishop 6 Irwin and the tailor store
of I. Horwitz next door. Here was
new food for the flames, and in a short
time there was nothing. left Of these
two stores and their contents.
While the flames were playing havoc
with Main street, north side of Van
Houten street, the other side had been
approached from the rear, all of Van
Houten street on that side being roar
ing furnace, and the Ten Cent Store
was the first to show the effect. 1t
was not long alone, however, for a
few minutes later Norwood's paint
store. Hendrickson's millinery store
and Rhodes crockery store were mass
Of flames, and burned with amazing
rapidity. The firemen were forced to
abandon them entirely, for they could
get nowhere near them, the flames
leaping clear across the street, and
tapping the fronts of the buildings on
the other side.
In less than half an hour after the
first flames had made their appearance
in this block of buildings they were
mass of ruins, even the walls having
caved in. What made this section Of
the fire more fierce than perhaps any
where else was q series of explosions
that were probably caused by some of
the inhammable oils and paints carried
in stock by Norwood & Co.
Not satisfied with the west side Of
Main street, the fire fiend had crossed
the street and secured good start
in the Odd Fellows Hall building, oc-
cupied by Kinsella's drug store and
the Mecca Club. This was sooE mass
of flames, and so in short time were
the stores on both sides Of 1t. Every
building in the block was burned to the
ground.
1t was a long time before the big
building Of the Meyer Brothers gave
way to the flames, but when it did, it
went quickly. The flames swept
through the big establishment from end
to end, and in a few minutes were
bursting out in Washington street.
While they went through the Boston
Store with 4 rush, they were not any
slower in the other sections Of the
block, and in a few minutes flames
could be seen shooting out of every
store OF that block on the Washington
street side. They were all swept away
in short time, nothing but the ruins
being left.
The flames had gained almost the
speed of . prairie fire by this time, and
they spread with terrible swiftness.
They jumped across Ellison street and
ate up the Romaine Building, big,
brick office structure. The heat from
this building, and from the Flrst Ma