The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1916-12-06
BIG COTTON FIRE IN COLUMBIA
HARDY & co. AMONG THOSE To
LOSE COTTON IN BIG BLAZE.
twenty-five Hundred Bales DESTROY.
cd or Badly Damaged by Fire When
Central Platform of Columbia Com
press Was Lost With COntents.
Gross Value Wiped Out Is Perhaps
$3.50, O0O-Partly Covered by In.
SurancC.

"oruS OI 9IUV,UOO damage at the Co.
lumbia Compress cOmpany's plant last
night. Two thousand five hundred
bales of cotton, the compress ma
chinery and the office were on tn
wooden platform that was burned.
In an adjoining sprinklered ware.
house Of brick were $500 bales and
across the street in another ware
house Of wood with flreproof roofing
were $500 bales, a good part of
which was long staple. Four wooden
box cars were destroyed and one
more caught. At midnight the fire
was under control. 1t was discovered
at 1880 o'clock. The origin is UNI
known. u
The destroyed platform was on the
block bounded by Ga zen, Divine, Lin
coin and Gadsden streets. This cot
ton had not been compressed and the
compression machinery had not been
used in several days. Because the
records were in a safe in the midst
of the fire, it was impossible to say
last night exactly whom the burned
cotton belonged to, but it is
thought that in the main it was the
property of Hardy & Co., Of Sumter;
Rizer Cotton company Of Columbia;
C. F. Rizer of Olar; George H. Nc
Faddin & Son of Atlanta; and posi-
bly, the New England Waste compass
ny Of Boston. There are others who
patronize the Columbia Cotton Com
press company but it is not thought
off hand that they had cotton except
in the two warehouses. The cotton
in the box cars is said to have beer
1.-THE property of j. E. Latham & CO.,
of Greensboro.
w. H Jeffords, secretary and man.
ager of the company, said last night
that the cotton was fully covered by
insurance. The box cars are, of
course. insured.
Figuring cotton at 500 a bale, the
$500 bales would be worth $3.50, 900.
Figuring the building and m~achinery
at only $4,000, the total loss for
the compress would be 1885, 600,
providing there is no salvage. Puts
ting the loss al only 100000 allow
r. Ss.e iDarEfn Tor savage. wIes
cottoH can be saved will be known
only after the damaged bales shall
have been individually revoked.
At one time it looked as If the fire
would spread beyond the platform,
Some cotton on the small platform Of
the warehouse across the street caught
but was put out before much damage
was done. Three large tanks of the
Texas Oil company across the side
track We're blistered and on the west
side Of the fire was the plant Of the
Southern Cotton Oil company. The
tanks were SO heated that steam
flashed up when water struck them.
There were 200 bales Of linters In
the Southern Cotton Oil company's
yards and 100 Of these we're uncover
cd. This company flooded it's build
ings with steam to prevent the walls
and roofs from catching.
d. j. Denny, night Waterman, was
the first to discover the fire. He said
that he had made his rounds of the
platforms about five minutes before
and had crossed over to the ware
house on the other side of the street.
When he came back he saw a light on
the ground floor, under the platform
where bagging and ties are kept, and
Investigating found fire. He rushed
70 a hand extinguishcr but the flames
spread so rapidly that the extinguish-
err was of no use and he put In the
alarm. Tho fire caught near the CEN
ire slightly to the west. The fire
grew by leaps and bounds and by the
time the department made the long
run it had a big Roadway.