The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-02-14
BIG BLAZE IN SELMA
INTERNATIONAL OIL CoMPA-
 'NY's PLANT DESTROYED.
The Total Loss is Between S55,O ,OOO and S6o, ,O00-Amount of Insur-
 ance not Known-Ann Smith and Her Bugs.
Advertiser Bureau.

Advertiser Bureau,
 Selma, Feb. E.
 Fire broke out about o'clock tonight in the International oil Company's plant. The grist mill elevator. engine and boiler rooms are complete loss. The elevator contained S0.ooo bushels of corn, and it, too, went up in smoke. The damage to the plant will be in the neghborhood of s3o.00o, and that, added to the loss in corn. will make the total in the neigh horhood of s55. 900 to s60 900. A good in surance was carried but the amount can not be ascertained tonight.
 When The Advertiser was distributed to it's hundreds of subscribers on the streets this morning. giving an account of the stang things that were happen ing to the negro woman. Ann Smith, at Summerfeld. the article was generally discussed throughout the city.
 The only error that was made in the write-up was in stating that Ann was an old negress. She Is a young negro woman and figured in police court here just before Christmas. She went into Erlenbach & Davidson's and Leva's stores and filed a ket that she carried on her arm full of dry goods and tried | to get away with them. She was detected | and the goods were taken away from | her, and her attorney cleared her before | the Mayor on the ground that she was not of sound mind
 A great many amusing things occurred l on the streets yesterday in connection with the startling rumors that were flying around about the woman Hon. J. Craig Smith, State Treasurer, was visitor | to the city. MT. Louis Bamberger and MT. Smith are great friends. Mir. Bam- berger met Mr. Smith in the postofi1ce building and proceeded to tell him about the woman emitting frogs, snakes,
 betsy bugs. ground puppies and other things from her mouth. MT. Bamberger is not an expert bugologist. and, in tell ing Mir Smith about the affair. he got the words ground puppy" and ground hog" mixed. Said Mir. Bamberger: 'I have seen the strange things that have come out of this woman's mouth. and among them was ground hog"
 "What?" asked Craig Smith in aston ishmpnt
 Tt is fact" replied Mr. Bamberger, flor I hay seen the ground hog with my own eyes"
 Mir Smith is very fond of Mir. Bam- | bergar, and he looked at his friend with wids-op eyes and sA inquiring look sn his face.
 Look here, Bam." replied MT. Smith. what have you been drinking? You have got the monkies after you, and you had b. tier go home and sober up''
 "But l am not drinking" responded MT. Bamberger. earnestly, "and was never more sob r in my life. I tell you I have seen the ground hog that came from this negro woman's mouth. and I assure you. | most noble Festus, that I am not mad" MT. Smith firmly believed that MT. Bamberger had gone daft until the dif- ference bstween ground puppy and a ground hog was explained. A ground hog is as large as a squirrel and Mir. Smith knew that It was physical inn poss ibility for a g~ound hog to come out of woman's throat and when MT. Bam- berger persisted in saying that he had seen the ground hog, Mir. Smith vas tustifable in thi1king that something had occurred to dethrone the reason of his friend.
 M ssrs. Floyd and Harvey Kincey re- turned from Summe fled last evening They went out to see the strange things come from tho negro woman's mouth but she refused to take any of the witch medicine" while they were there
 In conversation with your representa- tive, MT Kincev. proprietor of The Even- ing Journal, said:
 The negro woman would not take any of the medicine while my brother and were thcre, consequently We did not get 10 See any of the strange. creeping things come out of Ann Smiths mouth. Tho woman Is not old, as has been supposed, but is a stout. robust woman, and ap- pears to be dcmented. She Is reported to have been confined to the house since she has been taking the witch medicine. She would answer questions when they were a6drF ssed directly to her. but one coud readily see that she was not an in- telligent woman. It was reported to US that the skin of snake came out of hnr mouth yesterday morning. and now the poor creature feels that she is going to get we'll
 Seven or eight White people have seen these things come out of the negro's mouth. and MT. T. l.. Barker. who is one of the re gistrars of Dallas County. can ,suhstantiate what he says pr. Fuller and his wife saw some of the betsy bugs crawl out of her mouth. No one Hho knows Mir. Tom Barker will doubt for moment but what he is telling the truth"
 Several of our citizens have called on hCir physicians and asked them if such a thing was possible a person retain ing on their stomach such things as are said to have come out of this woman's