Western Carolina Democrat and French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1913-1915, 1915-10-21

HOTEL EAd0aED
Fire of unknown origin destroyed |,
tie St. John hotel Sunday morning
from 2:SO to A O'clock and threatened
the surrounding hpfldlnga
The hre ID beileEea to have been OF
ircendiary oflsn aRd state Deputy
Fire Insurance eiener Crank /
Jordan and local ere have been
Investigating the E
The hotel was closed to guests dur
;rg the past week H contained only
two occupants and they had to 4eAp
to safety.
The St. John contained I21 rooms,
was four stories high with pebhledash
finish. all of which was reduced To
ashes within remarkably short time,
Mr., Jordan and Chief Powers re-
trrned Tuesday from South Carolina
where they went to interview negro
caid to have been in the employ OF the
hotel. but they gathered no evidence
sufficient to warrant an arrest. In
vestigations continue. AZ
Court House ON Fire.
The small portions of wooden sur
face of the court house we're not able
t. stand the test of the heat and after
bIistering for some time caught fire
and the firemen had to play a. stream
CT water on it for some time. The
damage to the court house was slight.
Across Main street from the hotel
about the same distance from the fire
as was the court house, buildings be-
gan to smoke and water was necas-
sary to keep them from blazing. The,
plate glass fronts were crashed and
the greatest damage on that side of the
street was to the front of Shenherd's,
undertaking establishment.
Concrete Wall Barrier.
About the same time that the court
house was standing the test and the
buildings across Main street were
smoking, Mrs c. E. Wilson's residence
required a stream of water on It and
despite all could be done fire started
in one OF the rooms. One Of the eh1n1-
neys of the hotel fell and crashed in
a portion of Mrs. Wilson's porch. The
heat about this time was making the
buildings between the hotel and the
Blue Ridge Inn smoke considerably
and there was great fear that the
Blue Ridge would also b19zes but the
concrete wall of the Citizens National
bank building helped wonderfully in
checking the 1ameS
Capt NJ C. Toms, owner of that
portion of the bank building that adj
joined the hotel, says that his part OF
the building suffered damages that
will probably total $500. He said
that the nine-inch reinforced con-
crete wall stood the test perfectly ex-
ccpt it was so hot that the thin coat
ing Of plastering on the inside blister
Ell and fell off. The wooden portion
of the building in the rear was burn
ed and the glass fell out. The Quail
ty Shop merchandise was damaged to
some extent but Mrs. Parker said she
felt fortunate indeed that the damages
were so slight under the cireum-
stances. "
The fear was general that the fire
would reach the Blue Ridge inn and
it was felt that if it did then the
buildings near it across 1.-The street
would burn.
Built i'm 1887.
On Sunday morning the large num-
Der of people who had gathered dur
ing the fire returned in company with
others until the crowd far exceeded i'll
size any of the church and Sunday
school congregations. The CROWD,
hardly broke during the whole day
for the people never tired of the sub
ject of the fire and it's various details.
They enjoyed, especially the older
ones, telling the story of the establish
ment of the first hotel 0n the site by
a Mr.. Mills in 1887 when the town was
incorporated or organized. The two
chimneys nearest to Main street were
originally in that old building that
was erected nearly century ago.
Later the building was bought by Coi-
onel Ripley and e-owned it for thirty
or more years. After that it repeat
ed1y changed hands. About fifteen
years age g. E. Wilson built the late
structure, which represents an outlay
Of what is estimated to be in the
neighborhood of $4,000, but, the pro-
perty in recent years has not brought
that muchI the consideration the last
time being it is understood, 34,90O.
The site on which the hotel stood, it
is believed, would bring $4,000.
Water Fell is Inches.
When the blaze was at its worst and
all sections were in danger OF break
ing out of fear was expressed as to the
water capacity.
The reservoir keeper didn't know OF
the fire until considerable water had
been used but after his attention Was-
the water went down eigh-