The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-07-06
East Wing Burned to
 Ground. DAMAGE WILL EXCEED $IoO.OoO, SAYS SUPT. COX Contents of Forty-two Box Cars arc
 Destroyed. Conflagration Late in the Afternoon Draws Tremendous Crowd of sightseers to sceaeTTRoad Will Immediately Re-
 construct Its Building.

H
 fire sustained in Montgomery/in num- Der of months, certainly the most disr astrous one of the year, was incurred yesterday by the owners of tho At lanta and West Point Railroad when one of their twin warehouses between coosa and Tallapoosa streets was burned to the ground tn spite of the efforts of the firemen and volunteers to save the magnificent structure from total destruction.
 The warehouse at the time of the fire was packed with merchandise that had been accommodating in the capacious building since the early part of the week. and had just received the supplies from forty-two cars that had been un- loaded during the day. Owing to the had not been estimated last night the total loss sustained by the railroad could not be estimated. though the sum will doubtless aggregate. all told s15o,o 900. the valuation of the building alone being $2oooO.
 Besides damage to the warehouse and contents, the various railroads having cars in the yards at the time of the conflagration will prove heavy losers. Fifteen or twenty cars were seriously damaged by the blaze and from the falling debris. while about twenty-five more were more or less af- fected by the sparks and miscellaneous spurts of flame s'tt
 Scene Memorable One.
 The scene was a memorable one From the first sounding of the fire alarm. about 6;45 o'clock. to the cessa- tion of the fight on the part of the nremen' about 7:30 o'clock, the yards adjoining the capacious warehouse were crowded with people who had heard of the blaze and who had come to offer help and to watch the results In less than fifteen minutes after the fire engines had taken their stand on Tallapoosa and Coosa streets. the part of the city containing the valuable structure. was flooded with spectators interested and observant
 For forty-five minutes after this very litte of the skies were seen, ex- cept glimpses of a blood red sun in the west. Illuminated and made crim- son through the clouds of smoke and the glare of the flames. It was like the guardian over a city of trouble, and shone beautiful and refulgent on the foreground of destruction.
 Origin Is Unknown.
 The origin of the fire Is unkrown. Information received from the officials of the Western is to the effect that the conflagration started in the record room of the warehouse, which is sit- uated in the eastern end os the -buiii- ing. The room, so sar as is known, had not been entered during the day, though nothing of an inflainfna ble na- the department.
 Before the flames in the huilding had been noticed considerable headway had been made. Quickly summoning the entire fire department to the scene those who were near the building at the time immediately began the work of checking the flames, but to no avail For some reason the hydran. to which the hose within the warehouse was ! connected refused to operate, hence very little water could be secured from that source. When the fire department arrived. which was wl-hn very few minutes after the alarm had been sounded, the entire eastern section of the northern warehouse was aflame, and beyond hope o1 recovery.
 The warehouse, wnich is connected with the office on the eastern erd, one being the at the northern extremity and the other at t.le southern was of brick and stone wiSn slate roof It of fered great resistance to the Spread d of ha erty of the Western Railroad, though the Central of Georgia Railroad used it for a storage room alSo. The TWO warehouses were said to be the most convenient ones in the South. and rep resenting as great an expenditure.
 Northern Wings Escape.
 The goddess of fortune favored the northern wing of the building in the direction of the wind, which was from the south. The sweep of the flames, when once they had broken through the roof and door"Sys, carriud the fire about twenty feet in 8 southerly direc- tion putting flames to the box cars which were in this direction but saving the twin warehouse from destruction. Box cars between the two wings were also seriously damaged. many Of them being full of freight and few of them empty.
 All of the cars that were In the vicinity of the flames were hustled from their tracks as fast as shifting engine No. 101 could carry them to places of safety. Gangs of men, whites and negroes, patroled the roofs and poured water. while sprays from the hose were frequently called for to get the cars out of imminent danger from total destruction.
 Both warehouses are built of brick and steel construction, with a cornice protecting from the roof a space of about ten feet. From this source came the most danger to the fire fighters. When the flames had made the most of their headwey completely enveloping the structure the cornices gave way, orumbled and fell. often catching a