The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-01-30
 S2O,0OO FIRE
 LAST NIGHT
 - High Wind Fans Blaze FuriouslY. .FIREMEN IN GREAT DANGER Wires With Heavy Voltage Fall to
 Ground. Fire Abpsr.tas Experiences Gress DiaicaIty in Reaehias the Scene Bessuse of cesstructien work On North Court. street.

Fire starting from an unknown cause in the rear of M. D. Robard' g grocery store. far out on North Court Street. shortly after 10 o'clock Friday night, spread to adjoining property. destroying houses. electric wires on the street, and the steam shovel of the Byron Souders Construction Company. which In all amounted to approximate ly s20,o00 in values.
 Six houses were destroyed, even the chimneys falling, in spite of the eff forts of the fre< department, which reachef the scene in record time. The high wind prevailing during the day. continued until late in the night and tanned the flames furiously from fence to frame dwelling and store. It was one of the most spectacular fires of the winter. The furnaces caused by the burning .houses.a the telegraph poles. coated in glowing ciiarr. appeared through the night in the furid smoke like great bars of red hot iron. To add to the confusion, the rapid pass ing of railway trains and yard engines shifting rolling stock away from the danger, made the scene picturesque in the extreme. sf 4
 To add to the danger, the wire poles burned through, carrying down loose ends of broken electric wires carry ing thousands of volts.
 IAe eHA8H WtHu uTOVe tHS snOkG ana live sparks in sheets far Into the dis tance. lighting up the dry grass fields where they struck. starting a myriad of little blazes in the underbrush that threw the billowing masses of light gray smoke In, bold relief across the iniky black sky.
 The fire apparatus had extreme dif- iculty in reaching the scene of ac- fi0n. The Byron Souders Construct ion Company is laying a great storm sewer along North Court Street. and the fire originated at. and spread about, their present place of work. where the street Is ditched to, the depth of ten or twelve feet To reach the burning property the wagons had through McDonough Street. The North Montgomery station. however. only a few hundred yards from the fire. was out and at work on the jump, but were not big enough to fight the flames on the burning building alone. By the time the Madison Avenue force reach- ed the scene, the flames had gain ed such headway that all that could be done was to confine the blaze to the already burning property
 Among the structures burnt were M. D. Robardss grocery where the confiagration began. W. c. Sanford's grocery; a two-story frame hotfse; the negro University Brotherhood hall, Q two-story building and four smaller places occupied by butcher shop. shoe shop, restaurant and~barber shop. Tn these houses some six or eight ne- gro families lived. and sdsile 6f their property was dragged out in time to save it. A little of the property was insured; how much could n9t bs learn ed last night.
 The big steam shovel of the Byron Souders Company, an immense affair. on a wheeled platform running on tracks along the street. was denuded of all it's wood work, and the metal greatly damaged by the heat.
 What the damage is to the electric wires will not be learned for several days. Poles supporting from thirty to fifty wires fell and the big wires, some ten in all that feed the city lights. alsp came down. Train No. S7 of the Western Railway of Ala bama, was delayed some time by the fire, having been Tagged up the line and held there until the hose which crossed the tracks was removed.