Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1914-07-03
FIRE RAzEs SALEM
fsfsToRic MASSACHUSETTS TOWN
PRACTICALLY DESTROYED
BY FLAMES.
THOUSANDS MADE HOMELESS
Water Fails and Buildings Are Dyna-
rnited to Stop FIames-Number Of
Dead Is unknown--Martial Law
Declared.

Salem, Mass, June 26.-This historic
city OF 43,000 population was swept by
fire on Thursday. Almost the entire city
was destroyed. 1t is the greatest Amer
lean confagratieu since the Chelsea
disaster in 1908. At midnight the great
zire fighting force of nearly one thou
sand men drawn from all the cities
and towns within a radius of 25 miles
WAS helpless. The water supply gave
cut.
Dynamite took the place Of water in
The mad fight to check the flames. But
this was ineffective The center of the
city was swept away by raging flames.
Fifteen thousand persons are home
less The property loss will be not less
than ten million dollars anu may great
" exceed that figure.
Untold horrors have come in the
wake of this terrible calamity. Scores
have gone mad, driven insane by the
successive heat and the excitement.
The mercury stood at "a degrees when
with q small explosion fire broke out
IN the leather factory in the manufac-
turing section of the city. Then came
the first alarm. a, second, a general and
then the calls for help to outside cities
aud towns.
Famed by fresh gale from the
northwest the fire spread. Carried a
mile by flying embers, the fire broke
cut in other sections Of. the city until
~ last three large sized CONGREGATIONS
Nere raging in the city.
Pek.ic reigns in the city. The militia,
aided BY nearly one thousand police
Enen from this and other cities, stand
guard about the ruins, keeping of
hooters.
The Salem hospital with a list of zoo
patients was destroyed. Automobiles
were used to remove the patients. Clar-
Ence kirkland was in charge of the
machines and has already removed a
dozen sick men and women.
Governor Walsh arrived here on
Thursday accompanied by number Of
bis military staff. He has taken charge
nf the militia situation.
Orders have been given for food
supplies and bedding for the refugees.
Thousands are wandering about the
streets homeless and hungry.
The fire is the worst in the history
III New England since the great Chel-
sssa fire. The suffering is greater than
sat The Chelsea horror. The heat is ter
rife, Throughout the city the mercury
stood at over the one hundred mark
FirHmen fell in their tracks exhausted
ny the heat.
The dynamiters worked toppling
ever buildings as If they were made of
straw. but their efforts were of little
avail The flames leaped angrily
across the abysses made by the dyna-
miters and continued their work Of de-
ktfuction-
H0w many dead? is the query on
every ones lips. No estimate is
zaaxle By the police or the firemen.
In the excitement hundreds are un-
accounted for The terrific heat
tnakes it impossible to penetrate into
me fire zone, The firemen are with
out water to wet down the ruins.
No search can be made for bodies
under these conditions. There was
d persistent rumor than 20 girls had
aeen trapped in one Of the leather
dnrt6ries and had lost their lives.
Rich and poor are mingling on com
xasn ground among the hordes Of
Refugees. The home of the rich ex-
elusive society persons as we'll as
ahoae Oh the poor of the tenement dis
fxicts are laid low in ruins.
Salem faces terrible situation.
z&s great factories that gave work to
saseusaads are gone. Its residents
4re homeless This beautiful city
that Is known throughout the world
ssy its historic associations dating
hack to the very starting of the ma.
eiEn is practically in ruins.
Salem has a population of $4,000
Brople and is primarily an industrial
1fty, the factories alone having an
Invested value Of more than ten mil
NON dollars The city is is miles
from Boston and is the second Oldest
czxy IN Massachusetts, having been
settled in 1926. Its quaint old houses
xmE irregular streets always have
had great interest for the student OF
American history and letters
The city's famous buildings include
Nathaniel Hnwthorne's birthplace and
early home, the customs house where
nc worked and wrote the preface te
The Scarlet Letter" and the home
nf Roger Williams. founder OF Provi
8ERcR, r. L
The cityNis in the heart of the ia
Haens North Shore Summer colony
x1rsd is visited annually by many per
nnMz from the middle West
Waffer Iohnson Meds