The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-10
Great GuncOtt0n Plant
 at Hopewell Is Untouched by Flames DevOuring City
(Continued from Page one)

AIOntinueu from P1ge One)
 the Y. M c. A., churches and other
 organizations and individuals toob
 quick action to provide temporary shelter for those who had lost their | homes.
 Many Were forced to remain in Hope
 well in the midst of the ruins. After
 s o'clock tonight it was almost an inn i possibility to obtain a conveyance to reach Petersburg. Drivers of a few au- ] tomobiles collected fancy prices fol seats.
 GALE FANS FLAMES 1 Famed by 20-mile-a hour north
 west wind the flames swept over Hope-
 well at rapid rate and burned them =
 selves out when they reached lumber yard situated at the intersection of | Woodland avenue and the tracks of the Norfolk and Western, railway When all chance of danger had passed the DuPont plant resumed it's l operations and the night shift men took their accustomed places at II o'clock. 1 Special trains were arranged for to carry many of the homeless families to 1 Wilmington, Del With the entire place under martial law work at the plant
 went on as usual, the only indications 1 of the great oonflagration being the smoking ruins of the town. Soldiers 1 were on guard at all points.
 i When a call was sent out for assist ance the Petersburg fire department 1 sent two engine companies aboard flat i cars to the scene. Companies in Rich mond were held in readiness to go to
 the rescue, but as the water supply of | this place is limited, it was found that ! if would he nSnlpSQ tn hriDc rpO zines.
 Those in charge of the powder plant were said to have delayed turning on the water to make certain it was not needed to protect the company's property. Some said that had the water been immediately available that most of the town could have been saved. Others were of the | that it would have been impossible to stop them had water been available.
 NO BUILDING STANDING Not a building in the town proper was left standing. The two banks, the Hope well State and the Farmers and Me chanics, were destroyed. However, the
 officers managed to save all their cash and securities on hand and removed them to Petersburg. The courthouse and jail also went down. The prisoners were re-
 moved in ample time to lock them up within the DuPont reservation. The Tab ernacle, Hopewell's only church, also was destroyed The Eppes warehouse, one of the biggest building in the place, was dynamited.
 Martial law was officially proclaimed at 10 o'clock. Four companies of the Rich
 mond Light Infantry Blues and four com- panies of the Richmond Grays. with Ma jor Bowles of the Blues in absolute com
 mand. patrol the town. The soldiers pitched camp near the ruins. An oil stove accidentally turned over in 8 boarding house-restaurant on Caw- son street started the conflagration. Fed by a small stream of oil from the stove, the blaze ate it's way through the frame work and when'it got to the outside the | tiny flames leaped as they were famed | by the stiff breeze. In moment the building was mass of flames. The fire spread in another instant to the Victoria hotel and that was enveloped quickly. Famed by the wind, the fire soon, became serious. Fire apparatus of the DuPont
 factory responded to a call for help. It
 was powerless. however, and the Peters burg fremen also were unable to stop the spread of the flames
 Every street in the place was swept. The Norfolk and Western railway sta tion and the Southern Express company s offices were among the first buildings to go.
 All of the buildings were of cheap con- struction. Merchandise and household goods destroyed account for the largest part of the loss.
 Petersburg, Va, December 9.--Hopewell, e-year-old city of 25000 people, To- cated near the guncotton plant of the E. I. DuPont de Nemours company, near here, was practically destroyed by fire this afternoon. The fire was not under control early tonight, but there was little l left to burn The guncotton plant was not endangered The loss will approxi- l mate close to $1,OOO,000 and there was pr actically no insurance on building or | stocks No lives were known to have been lost in the fire, but negro was l hanged for looting
 | At the request of the chief of police | Governor Stuart rushed six companies of l militia from Richmond to the scene. They were on duty tonight
 Petersburg early tonight was filling up with Hopewell men and women rendered | homeless by the fire. The local militia | patrolled the city and Mayor Cabaniss ordered all saloons closed. The Peters burg city council held a special session l tonight to provide funds for the relief of l the neeedy, while the churches of the city were converted into sleeping quarters 1 for the homeless.
 ORIGIN OF FIRE The fire started at 1:45 o'clock on | the third floor of a Greek restaurant on l Appomattox street. A strong wind famed the bla1 and within ten min l utes the entire block was in flames. | Long before the DuPont and Peters" burg fire departments arrived in re- | sponse to an urgent call, the fire had gained such headway that the firemen | were helpless, and every business house, restaurant and hotel in the town was destroyed.
 Adam Drum. an 11-year-old Richmond | boy. was the hero of the fire. He | dashed into two burning buildings and rescued infants and finally was borne | away on the shoulders of men. Drum | first dashed into the building where | the fire started after he had heard the screams of a baby. He rushed into a ! front room on the second floor. He | appeared at the front window sec ond later with the infant in his arms. l He shouted to the men below to hold
 a blanket. They grabbed a bed cover {! ing from among those thrown from the 1 building and the boy leaned forward and with cry fell with the infant in his arms. Both were caught in the 1 blanket and were unlnjured.