Amador ledger. (Jackson, Amador County, Calif.) 1875-19??, 1909-07-09
A MYSTERIOUS FIRE
George Dornan's Dry d6ootsSStock
DESTROYED.

A fire that battles explanation
occurred -shortely after noon on Mon
day, in the height of the big cele-
hration. The alarm gave IA scare to
1.-The multitudes on the street, and
espeoialLy when the fire was located
in the heart OF the business section.
George ,Dornan had been doing bust
ness in his dry goods store all the
manning. lie closed his store AT IL,
after waiting on a customer, land
went to lunch. In aquauter ,of an
hour ,theFeafter. Theo CrOoher and
/ W. o. Green who we're in THE tear
of rlhe saloon next door eniONing IA
smoke, noticed volume of smoke
\ about, too large to be accouMed Tor
by their own cigars. Their suspicioDs
were aroused and about the same
time the alarm of fire was raised ION
the street, the smoke coming from
the lNOrnan store. There was an in
slant lush for the hose Carts, and In
few minutes the front door was
doroed in, for the proprietOr had not
vet neturned from lunch- and "a
STRONG stream of water was pOGlned in.
This store was full of smoke, and 1t
was impossible to ENTER, so the water
Was thpown in from the sidewalk
thr@ugh door and windows, which,
were also broken to facilitate opera-
tion4. In a few minutes the line
was conquered. 1t was confined ak
cIusiVsly to the inside of the store
loom proper.
AS soon ias Itrhe,smoke had sufficient
Iy cleared to enable an examination
to be made, it was found that the fire
started among the goods in the rear
end of the premi ses. There was q
stand feH feet from the wall-nOt
glass showcase. Upon this was
quantity of goods, and il was COM
pIeteIy destroyed, with the goods
thereon. The shelves and stock along
the back wall were burned to crisp,
and the fire had extended sevsral feet
along the side wall on each side.
rne ceiling throughout Che store was
scorched. 1t was decorated with
paper for the 4th celebration, and
this of course assisted liza spreading
the flames. When the fireman got TO
the scene. with Johnny GRrbarlnl ia
charge, flames were issuing from the |
transon over the front door. There |
was no opportunity to select any
particular part of the store for fire
fighting. So the main object was to |
sudue the fire anyway, and prevent |
It's spreadIng,to adjoining Premises.
And to do thus the water was stream
ed in regardless of what damage
might be done to the stock. Some
we're inclined to object to this, but
it WAS the safest and surest method
under the circumstances. Only a
frame pIastYeed partition interviewed
between the DornaD store and
GREEN'S saloon. and this fact neces-
STATED radical measures. How the
fire started is a mystery. The pro
prietor had been away LEGS than half
an hour. lie left at 3 minutes &c y,
and at quarter past the alarm was
Given. 1t is certain that fire crackers !
incident to the eeiebr"ti11n we're not
responsible. No one is disposed to
attribute tito fireworks. 1t is suggest
ed that some one may have carelessly
left cigarette or cigar stub in
proximity to intlammable material
and started it accidentally IN that
way, The stock in the store Is
yariously estimated at $4,000 to $1,000.
1t consisted mainly of mems FUR
nisnings. etc. There was an insurance
Of s63OO on the stock and fixtures
Two policies we're taken out abont