The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-11-13
FIRE DESTROYED
S. A. |. WAREHOUSES;
BLAZE COST ABOUT $4,000.
FIRE BROKE OUT JUST AS BUILD
ING WAS BEING CLOSED.

Materially by Tu&s-TNvO Ftremen
Hurt and Citizen Fell Into the
River-BIaze Was a Stubborn One.
A fire that resulted in the burning
of the delivery warehouses of the Sea-
board Air Line on River street. west
of West Broad, the injuring Of two
firemen, the narrow escape OF a citi-
zen from drowning and the loss of
property valued at about $50, 900, oc-
CURED last night shortly after o'clock.
For five hours almost all of the fire
apparatus and three tugs were in serv-
ice at the warehouses. A general alarm
was sounded by Chief Mcguire a few
minutes after box 81. at River and
West Broad streets, had been pulled,
and with the exception of the appara-
tus at station No 6 and hose company
No. l, for the southern section, and
the chemical at the central fire sta
ton, for the northern section, all of
the apparatus answered the call.
Discovery of the Fire.
At o'clock the warehouse was
closed, as is the custom, and the iron
doors facing the river were shut and
NNOAASeA' l.
Morton, the delivery clerk, who was
preparing to leave the building for
the night. Happening to glance to-
wards the storeroom, he saw a flame
of fire shooting up from the midst of
a carload of hay, the tongues of flame
being even then two or three feet
above the top of the hay.
Without taking time to make. any
further investigation Mr.. Morton ran
To hoy Of and SnnndAh al
Rushing back into the office he sent
in telephone call for Mr.. c. c. Mar
tin, who has charge of the warehouses
of the Seaboard, and communicated to
him hastily that the warehouse was
on fire.
By the time all this was done the
warehouse behind him had become a
roaring furnace, and he had barely
time to seize the books and papers of
the office, and carry them to a place
of safety before the entire structure
became too hot for occupancy.
Tug Boats Render Aid.
Responding to the call and to the
general alarm. the fire apparatus were
soon on the scene. From the river
side the flames were bursting from the
roof and doors, and the sight attracted
the attention of the harbor craft.
Just arcross the river in slip No. 3
was the tug Regis, Capt. Finister. The
tug FASTENED to the scene, accompan-
led by Capt. Clark, superintendent of
the litherage company. The Dauntless
and the Tybee soon Joined the Regis,
and the three tugs soon had streams
of water playing on the burning ware
| houses.
Owing to the darkness and mac
feasibility of the building the firemen
were at first greatly handicapped.
! When the tugs arrived the iron doors
on the river side of the warehouse were
white with heat, but they were quickly
| cooled sufficiently to permit of their
| opening by the firemen. Through the
! three doorways, streams of water
played with telling effect upon the
seething caldron of flames which en-
veloped the entire interior and sent
red and angry tongues high in the air.
Heavens Glowed with Fire.
So fiercely and brightly did the fire
burn that the northwestern sky was
rendered lurid and the flames them
selves were visible from many parts
of the city. Hundreds of people gath
4 cred in the neighborhood of the hre,
J but a comparatively small number
| were able to get near enough to see
/ what was going on.
At the front there was darkness,
rendered binding by the smoke, which
issued from the building, so that it
hardly needed the services of the po-
lice to keep the people back. The rear
| of the building was only reached by a
circuitous route, through Thomas coal
yard, and over piles of wood and along
a narrow edge of the wharf which
| hardly permitted two to pass.
Within an hour and half after the
fire department began it's fight on the
flames 1t was evident that the fire
would not spread, and soon the flames
began to subside in a measure. In an
other hour the interior could be seen
by the light of the flames, a charred
and blazing mass of debris. 1t was
nearly II o'clock before the fire was
fully conquered.
Estimate of the Loss.
Inside the warehouse was hay, grain,
| cement, flour, and general merchan-
disc. with few bales of cotton. The
goods were consigned to local dealers,
and had nearly all been brought over
yesterday in lighters from the ter
minals of the SeabClrd on Hutchinson's
Island. 1t is estimated roughly that
there was between $4,000 and SIC, 900
worth Of goods in the warehouse, all
of which was covered by insurance.
The goods will be a total loss.
The warehouse was badly damaged
1t was built at a cost of about $685.
600, and extended about 100 feet along
the river front, being about 300 feet
deep from River street. The loss OH
the building, which was fully insur-
ed, will be more than half of its val
ne. The walls are still standing and
can no doubt be used in rebuilding
the structure.
The warehouse was burned a few
years ago in the rice mill fire. It is
known as the Duckworth Warehouse
and is bounded on the west by the rice
mill and on the east by Thomas wood
and coal yard.
Casualties mt Fire.
During the progress of the fire As
sistant Foreman Tom Hamilton OF
fire station No. /, fell down the steps
at the rear of the Savannah Electric
Company's plant and had his right
ankle sprained and was bruised about
the body. He was taken to his home.
Fireman Paul II. Moehrke of the
Central Station had his right hand
badly wrenched In trying to hold a
hose pipe which had been released by
other firemen who were blinded by the
smoke. He was painfully but not Sc
riously hurt.
Charles Hern. an onlooker, while
walking along the edge OF the slip
stepped off into the river. Capt.
George T. Clark. who was on the
Regis, threw him a rope and after
some difficulty the man was fished
out OF the water. His escape was a
narrow one on account OF the presence
OF the tugs and Of the darkness.
The origin OF the fire is a mystery
There had been no fire of any kind