The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1916-03-21
TEN BUILDINGS
DES 7 RO Y { D
At MARIANNE
City Is Visited By Most Dis
astrous Fire In Its
History.
LOSS rs BETWEEN
$4,000 AND SIS, 600
First National Bank Build
ing Saved Through
Hard Work.
SPECIAL 70 THp JoUrNAr.

SPECIAL To THE 1OOElNAlA
Mariana, March 20.-This city was
visited this morning by the most de-
structive fire in its history, ten build
ings being destroyed, many of them
containing stocks of goods, while
warehouses and stables housed thou
sands Of bushels of corn and feed
stuffs. In one stable a car load Of
fine mules, and many head of cattle.
hogs and sheep, were confined and all
burned to death. The loss is estdmat-
ed at between $4,000 and SIS, 900, al
though it may be above the latter fig
ure. Insurance carried was only nom
inal.
At $3.50 an alarm was turned IN
and when the citizens were awakened
by the siren whistle at the power
plant it was to discover the sky aglow
from the flames that enveloped the
largest business block in the city.
A quick response from the volun-
teer firemen living in all parts of the
city was too late to render any aid
to the stricken buildings, which at
that time included the feed and stor-
age barns and sales stables of Dillon
& Dillon, live stock dealers, the large
cotton warehouse of the Mariana
Warehouse Company, and the frame
range of warehouses and sheds be-
| longing to Daniel e. Milton and oc-
cupied by the d. p. Daniels live Stock
Company and M. /. DelSle for storage
of feedstuffs and implements.
The FIRE department quickly had two
streams of water playing on the
flames, but the heat was so great that
very little could be done toward
checking the flames IN the buildings
on fire. A heroic fight was made, how
ever, lasting more than two hours, to
save the large two-story stores Of
Daniels & Milton, which were occu-
pied by Galloway q Dunn as reposi-
tory and show rooms for Ford cars,
| and by the D. p. Daniel Live Stock
Company for vehicles, and Daniel &
Milton, upstairs, for collins and cas-
kets. A fire wall protected this build
ing from the flames on the south, bat
an entrance was gained to the sec
ond story windows by the flames from
the wooden structures in the rear of
the block. The fire gradually worked
its way to tn efront of the building
which became seething mass OF
flames. This brought the next fight
ing point to the walls of the First Ma
tional Bank, where the freraen made
their last stand, fighting both from
the ground and from the top Of the
bank building.
This building being built Of re-
enforced concrete and supposed to be
fireproof, was the chief hope of the
) fremen, both for the bank itself and
: for the remainder Of thes block. For q
time it seemed as if the flames would
; work their way around the rear Of the
! bank and into the offices Of the Mil
ton Land and Investment Company
: which had been cleared of all furni.
ture and fixtures in apprehension Of
, this. Heroic efforts Of the firemer
, prevented this, however, and the
flames were checked at the rear 81
the brick warehouse Of M. T.. Delxlt
. and the Porter Carroll Hardware Co
The front wall Of the Daniel & Mil
ton building was menace to the fire
men in the street, as in order. to reacI
r the fire with the water it was neces
sary for them to stand under tn
: wall. When the wall finally fell a
feared, however, a quick race for thei
! lives saved all, and regaining the hos
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