The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-11-23
Stubborn Blaze in Wholesale
 District. FLAMES THREATEN TO
 DESTROY STRUCTURE
 -as Y Water Pressure at FHst Proves to Be halsquaie.
 s-- LisAt.ias Belssvsa to Have struek Bsilai.s During storm ..a so Have Been the Caase--NelEhberins BuilaiaEs Menaeed--Hara werk Prevents spress.

NI
 Fire, presumably caused by iigat- ming. completely sutted the three story building at Lee and Taliapoosa Streets. Monday night. and caused a loss on the building and its contents estimated at more than $2o0.oo0.
 The building Is owned by Abraham Brothers and was occupied by the dry goods company of Bernard Frank & Co. The loss on the building was estimated shortly after the fire was brought under control at $30,oo0. and Mir. Frank says that almost his entire stock of goods. ne declares. were valued at about s220.000, has been destroyed.
 According to the statements made by the owners of the building and by Mir. Frank. the loss Is partially cov- cred by insurance. The insurance on the building is ss5.000, and Mir. Prank carried $I35,000 on his stockSSs
 The ire was one Of the most spec tacular seen in Montgomery for some time. According to the beIief of Chief Browder of the fire department. and others it was caused by lightning striking the rear of the building dur ing the earlier moments of the eiec- trtcal storm that broke over the city shortly after 10 o'clock.
 Some women residents Of house. situated in the rear of the Frank Company.s building were startled by the sound of breaking and falling glass and opened q window to investigate. They saw flames bursting in several parts of the rear of the three-story building near them and hurried to a telephone and sent in an alarm.
 Tn a short time the downtown appa- ratus of the fire department rushed t5 aE fG In hose. However. before the department reached the building. the flames had gained great headway and were eating fheir way through the outer walls and. working downward from the third-' sfory, where they started,
 owing to sfhs intense heat within she closed building, the work of get-' extremely difacuIt and hazardous. But zfl a short time eight lines of hose were iaId and directed toward the build Ing.
 Pressure Poor.
 i ladders were brought into play and reared along the outer walls of the burning structure to carry the water to the topmost story and drown out the fire there. At this Juncture the department was handicapped as the water pressure from the mains was not sufficient to give streams that would do what they were intended to- do However. the engines were soon coupled to the mains and when these began to pump the pressure was brought to a point where efficient work could be done.
 By the time the engines were pump ing water to the third story. large crowd gathered in the vicinity of the building. Chief Taylor of the police department called extra men to duty in the neighborhood of the fire and the streets and vicinity were pollced 50 that the work of the iremen was not hampered
 For more than three hours the ire- mon battied with the flames before they were brought under control. Time and again it was believed that the blaze would gain on the efforts being made to control, 1t and this fear was strengthened by the danger presented by high wind that blew directly across the pathway the flames were cutting through the building from its rear to its front portion.
 Despite the efforts of the depart mena. the blaze was not checked be- fore it had extended to the second floor Of the building and from there to the ground floor. However the damage on the lowest floor will not prove so great as that done on the two upper floors.
 walls . Menace.
 An added menace presented by the fire was ahe danger that would result if the outside walls should fall It seemed at a number of stages of the fire that this was about to occur, but the spread of the flames was checked before the walls were weakened so that they could not support what re- mained of. the flooring or the tons of water poured into the building. At one o'clock the flames were under con trol and the danger was over.
 At one time 1t seemed that the Are would leap the street to the whole sale drug house of iGreil Brothers di- rectly opposite. This danger threat ened several times, but as each me- mace presented itself. redoubled work on the part of the fire department checked the blaze before added dam age was done.
 AS the fire on the upper floor was gradually eating It's way toward the front portion of the building an effort was made to save the books of the company from the office on the first door. With this end in view. Bicycle Policemen G. s. Canty, R. T. SoweH and Joe Sykes made several attempts to gain entrance to the building through the Lee street doors. Whun the big doors were finally forced open. a volume of smoke and steam burst out and fairly swept away the small crowd collected to watch the operations.
 Not daunted by the intense heat nor the scaldlng water dripping through from the second story. the three police men brayed their way into the building ana made for the office. The books. in- voices, recent orders. the typewriter and the adding machine were saved. The heat was so intense within the structure that the composition keys of inc adding machine had melted.
 One of the policemen also experienced A slight shock when he picked up a picker bound with iron. Patrolman Canty was scalded on the neck by the dripping water and also sustained Q slight cut on his left leg made by the falling glass.
 Frank is Notified.
 Bernard Frank. senior member of the Frank firm owning the stock said that there had been no fire in the struc- ture in two weeks and he could give
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