The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1918-06-26
Gle ELum BURNS
MANY H0ME LESS

Omitted Press Leased Wire.)
OLE ELUM, June g.. -
With more than half OF the :.
5000 inhabitants of Ole
Elum homeless, the result Of
last nights devastating fire,
leading citizens faced today
with scant hope the problem
Of reconstructing the town.
The fire that started in the rear
room of a store, ate its way
swiftly thru the heart of the town,
leaving a great wedge-shaped area
of charred ruins. The loss is es-
timated at over 100000.
Buildings destroyed included
the Masonic temple, valued at
SIC, the Miller & Short lum-
Der mill with a loss of $4,000,
the high school annex, $4,000;
the Ross theater, $4,000; Werlich
furniture store, $4,000; Jones
mercantile store, $4,000, and a
score of other stores and homes.
Ask Red Cross Aid.
Miners came from nearby
plants which were closed down to
allow them to help fight the fire.
They dynamited buildings when
the water supply was made made
quate by bursting mains, but the
fire leaped over the demolished
buildings and was not stopped un-
til it reached the last houses on
the edge of town.
Meanwhile a small fire broke
out in the woods nearby. One un-
known man was arrested.
The scanty food supply remain
ing was Communicated by a citi-
zen committee. Guardsmen pa
trolled the streets today. Relief
is being sent in from surround
ing towns and an appeal has been
made to the Red Cross.
Army tents are being sent here
to shelter the homeless, who are
foreigners for most part.
Women and children are being
taken to residences as far as pos
sible. Others are being bunked in
the wash-house of the Independent
Coal Co., in the school. houses, in
the rink, in one or two halls left
standing and in the churches.
Feeding Homeless People
A committee, headed by Mayor
Balmer, has taken over one res
taurant and people are being fed.
Thirty men are on guard in the
devastated district, but thru a
misunderstanding somewhere no
troops were called out.
The arrival of a steamer from
Ellensburg with the fire depart
ment saved the Hazelwood school
and several buildings, as the water
pressure had dropped so low 1t
was impossible to check the
flames.
An appeal was made by the city
officials to Gov. Lister for troops
to guard the city and for means
to shelter the homeless fire vic
tins.
All mines in the Roslyn and Gle
Elum coal mining fields were
shut down and every miner set at
work to endeavor to save the city.
Hundreds of bursting water pipes
all over the city cut down the
supply so that there was little
pressure.
Starts in Store.
The fire presumably started In
the rear of George H. Moss rack ct
store and when discovered at 1926
o'clock in the afternoon the rear
end of the store and of the Rose
theater were burning.
Driven by a high wind the
flames spread rapidly and in
three hours the fire had gone
NEARLY to the eastern boundary oil
the city, a distance of 10 blocks
1t spread over width of three
and four blocks in places.
For a distance of six blocks II
the east end of the city not 6
building is standing over a widtf
of three blocks.
Light Cut Off
An unknown sheep herder is il
the city jail on suspicion that h,
set fire in the woods. He wa,