The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-09-05
ELEVATORS IN THE
 EMPIRE BUILDING . PROMISED MONDAY
Adjusters at Work, But No Announcement of Loss Will Be Made
 Soon

building will be in operation by Mon day morning, according to an am nouncement made last night by the Jemison Realty company. the agents for the building.
 It was stated that the equipment for one of the elevators had already arrived from Atlanta, and the other necessary motors and cables were on the way from New York, and would arrive in time for installation by Monday morning.
 In the meantime, the Jen,ison Realty company has issued an open letter to the tenants of the skyscraper an- nouncing that il will provide sand wiches and all necessary eonveniences while the elevator service is sus- pended. The letter follows:
 To Serve Sandwiches
 TO the Tenants of the Empire Build
 ing;
 On account of a fire in the pcnl house Thursday night destroying the switchboard, where the fire apparently originated. the elevator service is tenn porarily out of commission. No time or expense is being spared to resume the elevator service at the earliest possible moment
 Every effort is being made to min. imize the inconveniences of tenants a. much as possile; telephone communi. cation from lobby to all offices Ina. been installed; sandwiches will b, served to all tenants with the com. pliments of the building management thus saving the tenants the necessity of climbing stairs for the purpose oi getting lunch. The management vii welcome any suggestions that will fur ther improve the service.
 The indulgence and patience of the tenants of the Empire building and the public Is requested and will be appre- ciated
 "JEMIsON REAL ESTATE AND IN
 SURANCE COMPANY
 ROBERT JEMISON, JR., Pres.
 statement explaining the origin and extent of the fire was also issued by the Jemison company. It reads as follows:
 FireprOof Construction Vindicated
 "The fire originated in the elevator pent house, which Is a small structure on the roof above the sixteenth story In the pent house are located the switchboards, other elevator machinery and necessary elevator supplies. On account of the fact that the building Is as fireproof as physically possible Ito make a structure, the fire was con fined entirely to the pent house. not even damaging the sixteenth floor i'm mediately below. There was, however, some water damage which was con fined to the elevator shaft, and few of the corridors. No damage what ever was done to any of the offices or their contents.
 Before the fire was extinguished representatives of the Otis Elevator company were on the ground, and com municatfon was opened by long dis tance telephone with the offices of the company in Atlanta and New York. No expense is being spared to resume elevator service at the earliest pos sible moment. In the meanwhile, every effort is being made by the manage ment to- minimize the inconvenience to tenants and the public. Telephone communication from the lobby to all offices has been provided, sandwiches will be served with the compliments of the management to all tenants in the building who desire to avoid the climbing of the stairs during the lunch hour.
 .The management Is gratified that this building has proved by this se- were test it's substantial fireproof con struction and is deeply appreciative of the patience and fine spirit being manifested by the tenants and the pulp lie and also of the many offers of as- sistance which have been rendered by the management of the other office buildings and friends in other lines. The service of the fire department, combined with the fire fighting fa- cilities in the building. made possible comparatively small loss. confined to that portion of the building above the sixteenth floor"
 Adjusters at work on the fire yes terday stated that a report of the ac- tual loss could not be made within 10 days That the loss from the fire and water will amount to several thou sands of dollars Is undoubted. The water damage will prove heavier than that from fire. 1t is believed.
 Tenants in the skyscrapcr yesterday found the stair climbing very tedious For the first, second and third story all were enthusiastic about the exer- else. But after the fifth story thefe were frowns, precipitation and diff ficulty in breathing. By the tenth story, some rested and those who went higher managed to go up somehow. vowing that they never would come down until the elevator service had resume operations.