The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1917-05-25
FIRE IN CITY OF ATLANTA
DESTROYS 70 BLOCkS

FIRE IN CITY OF ATLANTA
DESTROYS 70 BLOCKS
Early Estimates on Losses Vary Be.
tween $2,00S, 600 and $5,G0Oy1G0.
4 Mayor Gambler Does Not Believe
the Fire Was Of IneeIdiary
Origin.
Atlanta, May 21-Fire that today
swept through a large section Of At
tanta from Decatur street north aAa
&rtheast, cutting clean sWath o.
wing width finally was brought
control tonight just before 1t
4 ed the Atlanta baseball park, in
pinion Of Fire Chief Cody.
Under Martial Law.
bnight the city is virtually under
15eial law administered by hundreds
>Zof soldiers who have been training at
4 Fort Mcpherson o. National Guards
Gsn { in camp here acting under the
ection of CO.! Charles Il. Noyes, T..
S4W 4. :, who officially is under the guid-
ance of the chief f police.
Thousands of homeless persons to-
night were being fed and housed IN
the auditorium armory, the negro cad
Fellows hall and in hundreds Of prl-
Yate homes.
Dynamite Wins.
For six hours dynamite was resort
ed to and it finally won the fight.
Fighting apparatus sent from other
cities was of some aid and will be OF
more, as acre after acre of s:nolder-
ing ruins tonight await water to make
them safe.
Only one death had been reported
konight. Mrs. Hodges died OF shock
&AIer her home burned. Sixty injured
ksons were taken to hospitals, but
HAS reported none was seriously
|I8 Seyenty.five Blocks.
Approximately Is blocks were oeV-
lated. but the area can not be cor
lily estimated by blocks, as, after
Night at Ponce dc Leon avenue the
es skirted that thoroughfare On
south side of the street for some
hnee.
Gals tonight would not hazard
guess at the monetary loss. Tie de-
Rstroyed buildings ranged all the way
from shacks occupied by negroes TO
homes up to $4,000 or $4,000. Some
estimates were between S2,o0O,O00 or
s3,00o,0o0, but they were neither from
sources nor based on calculations 10
hgive them weight.
Starting Point.
The fire startes in the Skinner Sto-
.ge and Warehouse plant near De-
ktur street, just east Of Fort street,
tom a cause not determined tonight.
quickly spread to the small houses
earby, which were dry from lack OF
n hin. and driven by high wind, start
La to rapidly eat its way north ana
Around the fame
swept area tonight, with its streets
fittered with broken wires, splinters
|h rom acres Of dynamited homes and
al the odds and ends, Of furniture
and clothing that was gathered In an
&indescribable mass from hundreds OF
II homes, United States soldiers stood
II guard. The men we're composed OF
4 Georgia Guardsmen and members or
4 the officers reserve training camp at
$fF'ort McPher son.
Soldiers On Guard.
Col. Noyes, with headquarters in an
automobile repair shop near the burn
ed district, had mapped out the burn
ed area early in the evening and
placed his companies to guard various
sections. Strict orders were issued
that nothing be removed from streets,
vacant lots and yards. Night Chief
of Police Jett and Col. Noyes agreed
that to allow anything to be moved
would invite locting. There had been
little of that late tonight. One man
was sent to police station charged
1&with trying to steal a piano that ne
9ad found on the sidewalk. That, ac-
Fording to Night Chief Jett. was the
kAly known case Of looting. For
6ks on either side Of the actual
he'd district no civilian could en-
Aexcept on pass signed by the
eayor, police officials or Col. Noyes.
Under Police.
Our work is being done strictly
Ik1nder the police" Col. Moves explain
Rd tonight. eve are acting just as
B .ough we were civilians sworn in to
Y 18guazd property"
W Mayor Gambler made tour OF the
burned area tonight. He issued a
statement saying the fire was accl-
II dental in origin. "I am positive" he
~vn xm. Sum