Newport daily independent., 1914-10-19
SA,5 800 LOSS
 IN NIGHT FIRE
Claridge Hotel And Christian Church Almost Total Loss In Early Monday Morn
 ing Blaze.


 six weeks occurred early Mon- day morning, when fire originat- ing in the Claridge Hotel com pletely destroyed that building and made almost a total loss of the Christian church on the cor ner lot to the east of the hotel building. The property loss is z estimated at $24,50O with in- surance of S12,725.
 The alarm was turned in at 3:20 and given by civil engin- eer, MT. Daugherty, an elderly man, who occupied a room on the. second floor. He had been awakened by Mrs. Estelle Clar- idge, proprietor of the hotel and hurried from his room on the second floor to the fire depart ment, being the only inmate of the hotel on the second floor, who reached the main floor by the stairway.
 Mrs. Claridge, who was ac- customed to leaving her door way open into the hotel corri- dor, was first awakened by the smoke. She hastily awakened Miss Annie Laurie Lindsey, her niece and then ran up stairs to awaken the guests. There were only four on the second floor and luckily these had front rooms. Some of them it seems failed to waken upon the first alarm and MT. Charles G. Henry hearing Mrs. Claridge's cry of alarm reached the scene in time to awaken the men who had not been reused. J. w. Cornell, a concrete contractor who has i just completed. work on the White River Levee, Ben Stewart I a travelling man and a railroad man, whose name is not known had to slide down the posts from the front porch, losing most of their clothes and travel ing effects.
 ], Mir. Henry in attempting to break in one of the bed room windows in order to save Miss Lindsey's clothing, suffered sev- eral severe glass cuts to his fingers and when the window panes were broken, the smoke burst forth in such volume that he could not enter. Mrs. Clar- idge saved only a few garments and part of the bed clothing from her own room. She lost her piano and her own home furnishings, which had been added to the hotel furniture.
 The alarm had hardly been given when the whole building was in flames. The origin of the blaze seems to have been in the kitchen, for when Mrs. Clar- ,idge first opened the door into this room, the ceiling was fall ing in.
 The hotel was brick veneer ed building and as soon as the east wall of brick fell, the terri fic heat soon had the frame work in the loft burning, fol while no blaze could be seen smoke was pouring out from al apertures indicating a raging though smothered fire.
 The fire department not being properly equipped with ladders could do little. The opening in. to the loft from over the vesti- bule allowed them an entrance above, but brick wall about the tower cut them off from the loft proper. Thus the construc tion of this portion of the building lessened the chances for resisting the fire and lack of ladder equipment made the attempt hopeless.
 The church was still burning al 8 o'clock in the morning, only the east, north and west walls being saved and they may bt valueless, though some contrac' tors believe they are worth S3, 900 as they stand, provided the same type of church is built.
 The piano, sacrament table and some of the church benches were saved. The piano was in sured for $225 and the seat.