Weekly Arizona journal-miner., 1903-07-22
BIB. COMPANY
ANNUAL SOCIAL
Celebration of Anniver-
sary of Big Fire.
A Pleasant Evening Spent at the
the Residence of Mr.. and
Mrs. Aitken.

Yesterday being the third anniver-
saIy of the great Prescott fire, the
members of the Bashford- Burmister
company and the employees of the firm
gathered at the beautiful residence of
Mr.. and Mrs. II. ID. Aitken, on Mount
Vernon street, in the evening for the
annual celebration of that memorable
event.
When Prescott was visited by that
terrible confagration the b. b. COM
pany was probably the greatest loser
in the city, their entire stock of over
500, 900 worth of merchandise besides
their large store building being en-
tirely consumed. Not daunted by the
fearful blow the members of the COM
pany met the emergency in remark
able manner and before the fire was
out had several car loads of merchan
disc hurrying toward Prescott by ex-
press freight and with what stock they
had in a warehouse wer. open and
doing business in twenty four hours
after the fire was over. Not only the
members of the company displayed al
most superhuman energy, tact and
loyalty during these trying times and
also during the several months that
followed before their magnificent new
store building was ready for occu-
pancy, but these qualities were also
exhibited by the employees of the firm
and stood by the wheel during all the
storm, and in appreciation of this the
officers of the company decided, on
the first anniversary of the fire to
have reunion of the members of the
company and all the employees and
their families. This first gathering
was at the home of r. n. Fredericks,
who was the president of the company
at that time. The event was so pleas
ant that it was decides to hold such
a gathering once each year on that
date as a reminder of the trials that
had been gone through, and the sue
cessful manner in which they had
been surmounted. The second social
was held last year at the residence of
d. NJ. F. Weeks, who at that time was
president of the company. This year
the lot fell to -Presiden Ait
ken, and the social at his home last
night was one of the most pleasant of
these gatherings. The lawn had been
decorated in fine shape and electric
wires had been run in all directions
for the purpose of giving a beautiful
effect and it had been the intention to
hold the social on the lawn, but the
rain of the evening spoiled that part
of the program. The good time en-
joyed in the house, however, soon
made everyone forget the good time
they had anticipated on the lawn.
These gatherings are perfectly infor-
NAL and the evening was spent in
having good time in any way that
suggested itself to the party. There
games, social converse, jokes, pranks,
etc. If anybody present ever thought
that He'd. Aitken couldn't I'll any
one evening full of fun they had that
foolish notion dispelled after last
nights experience, for there was not a
moment during the evening when
there was not something doing"
Refreshments were served which we're
also greatly enjoyed.
There we're between forty and fifty
persons present at the social consist
ing entirely of members of the B. B.
company, employees of the firm and
their families. This firm now has a
clerical force of between thirty and
forty people, and is one of the largest
mercantile institutions in the terri
tory.