Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1914-07-01
Many Buildings Are $Dynamited When
Water Faiis-Governor In Charge
Of Troops Called TO Pre-
serve Order.

Fifteen thousand persons are home,
less, The property loss WILDE not less
than3ten million dollars and may great.
~ exceed that figure.
Untold horrors have come In the
wake Of this terrible calamity. Scores
have gone mad, driven insane by the
excessive heat and the excitement.
The mercury stood at "a degrees when
with a small explosion FIRE broke out
in the leather factory in the manufac-
turing section. of the city. Then came
the first alarm a second, q general and
then the calls for help;to, outside cities
and towns. s% u
Famed by a fresh gale from the
northwest the fire spread. Carried q
mile by flying embers, the fire broke
out in other sections Of the city, until
at last three large sized -conflagrations
were raging In the city.
Panic reigns in$the city. The militia,
aided by nearly one thousand police.
men from this and other cities, stand
guard about the ruins, keeping on
hooters.
The Salem hospital with a list OF 200
patients was destroyed. Automobiles
were used to remove the patients. Clar,
ence kirkland was in charge#of the
machines and has already removed q
dozen sick men and women.
Governor Walsh arrived here on
Thursday accompanied by number OF
his military: staff. He; has taken charge
OF 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
OF New England since the great Chel-
sea fire. The suffering is greater than
at the Chelsea horror, The heat is ter
rife. Throughout the city the mercury
stood at over the one hundred mark.
Nremen fell. in their tracks exhausted
by the heat.
The dynamiters worked topping
over buildings as IL 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.
struction. s Z
4 How many dead? is the query on
every ones lips. No estimate ts
made BY the police or the aremen.
In the excitement hundreds are un:
accounted for. The terrific heat
makes it impossible to penetrate into
the fire zone, The firemen are with
out water to wet down the ruins:
mo search can be made for bodies
under these conditions. There was
1 persistent rumor than 20 girls had
been trapped in one Of the leather
factories and had lost their lives.
Rich and poor are mingling on COM
mon ground among the. hordes OF
refugees. The home OF the rich ex-
elusive society persons as well as
those OF the poor Of the tenement dis.
tricts are laid low In ruins.
Salem faces q terrible situation.
Its great factories that gave work to
thousands are gone. It's residents
are homeless. This beautiful city
that is known throughout the world
by Its historic ASSOCIATIONS datlng
back to the very starting OF the ma
ton IL practically in ruins.
Salem has a population OF 4 5000
people and is primarily . n industrial
city, the factories alone having an
invested value of more than ten mil
lion dollars. The city Is 16 miles
from Boston and Is the second oldest
city in Massachusetts. having been
settled in 1926. Its quaint old houses
and irregular streets always have
had great interest for the student Of
American history and letters:
The city's famous buildings include
Nathaniel Hawthorne's birthplace and
early home, the customs house where
he worked and wrote theS preface to
".'The Scarlet Letter" and the home
OF Roger Williams, founder Of Provi,
dence, r. I.
The city is in the heart Of the IA
NOUS North Shore Summer colony,
and is visited annually by many per-
sons from the middle West.