The Parker post. (Parker, Ariz.) 1910-1918, 1913-01-25

Nearly one block OF the business
section of Parker was wiped out by
fire Tuesday night The only build
ing i'm the block fronting ON Cali
forniia avenue that was saved was
that of the Parker Commercial COM
pany, and it was only by almost sup
fire-fighters that this structure was
not burned.
The buildings destroyed were the
old Fortson restaurant building, and
bakery, owned by the Parker Bank
& Trust company; the building OWN
ed by H. A. Goodwin, and occupied
by Walter Nelson, the barber the
Detrick building occupied by S. Arms
office building of the G. A. Marsh
company; City Drug Store building,
owned by G. A. Marsh, and two build
ings owned by John Roberts, which
were occupied by Mrs. Lee Raught
who conducted restaurant.
The loss is estimated in the neigh
borhood of SIS, 5000. G. A. Marsh car
ried sufficient insurance to cover his
drug store and office buildings No in
5urance was carried on the balance
of the buildings destroyed The loss
of the Parker Commercial company
was about $500, and is fully cover
ed by insurance.
The fire was discovered at about
II o'clock issuing from the rear of
the old Fortson bakery, and the gen
eral supposition lis that some un-
known person, probably hoboe, was
occupying the place at the time. It
is claimed that various parties have
slept in the rear of the building dur
ing the past few weeks and i'm all
lik!ihooG 81 nE.-Cne was i'm the place
during the might of the fire and made
his escape before anyone arrived
ON the scene.
G. A. Marsh, who slept in the rear
of his Office, was awakened by the
alarm, and ran to the rear of the old
the flames had gained such headway
that it was impossible to subdue
them with the small fire apparatus.
A large crowd was quickly col
lected by the blowing of the engine
whistles in the Santa, Fe yards and
the work of moving out the stock i'm
the doomed buildings was under way
within a short space of time. Most
of the movable effects in Nelson's
barber shop We're soon in the street.
When this place was enveloped in
flames the crowd rushed into Arms
place of business in the Detrick build
ing and a large portion of his stock
of monographs, firearms, store fix
lures and show cases were taken out
However Mr.. Arms was unable to
among his losses was $1,000 lib
rary, besides a good part of his stock.
He had just moved into the building
a few weeks ago, coming from Mer.
ced, Cal, with a carload of goods
Arms is among the heaviest losers.
Practically all of the office furni-
ture was saved from the c. A. Marsh
building, and the greatest portion of
the City Drug Store was moved out
into the street before the fire reach
ed these places. Mr. Marsh also say
ed about all of his household goods,
clothing, etc, in the rear of the drug
store. All of the show cases were
! taken out without mishap, but in
moving the soda fountain the marble
slab was broken.
The buildings owned by John Rob
erst were likewise quickly emptied of
their contents. TIL corral i'm the rear
Of Roberts place, was saved by
great effort. No insurance was car
ried OH the Roberts buildings.
During the time the crowds were
assisting in saving what they could
from the places i'm the path of the
flames, there was another crowd 0n
the roof of the Parker Commercial
company buildings working like
Tnojans to prevent the spread of the
cOnfiagratiOn. The east wall of the
structure is built of adobe, but the
facing ON the top of the wall is
built of wood, and it was this strip
of timber and the porch i'm front of
the building that kept the fire
fighters busy The front porch was
torn down, after it had caught afire,
and the wooden work along the top
Of the wall was ablaze several times.
The heat from the burning build
ings within a few feet of the Parker