The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1920-06-21
CHURCH AND STORE
DESTROYED BY FIRE
Early Sunday Morning on South
Main Street-Everybody Blames
Everybody Else for Lack Of
Efficient Fighting of Fire.
-, -. Departments.

A disastrous fire in the wee, small
hours Of: Sunday morning completely
destroyed the building and contents
of the general merchandise: store be-
longing to /. G.. Brown on lower
South Main Street, and only the
walls of the Methodist church next
door are left standing.
Miss Gossett, community nurse at
the cotton mill, was returning from a
case and discovered the smoke and
flames bursting out of the roof of
Mr. Browns store and she immedi-
ately gave the alarm. Mrs. Brown,
who with her husband occupied the
dwelling next door above the store,
walked just about the same time that
Miss Gossett discovered the fire and
soon aroused Mr.. Brown.
Miss Essie McCord, assistant man
ager of the Abbeville Telephone Co.,
states that the operator on duty Sat-
urday night says that the community
house phone rang shortly before 8
o'clock Sunday morning and that she
Immediately rang both the telephones
in the fire department and the city
council office, also giving the fire
alarm but Miss McCord states that
it was ten or twelve minutes before
she got an answer from the fire de-
partment Notwithstanding she kept
continually ringing the fire de-
partment phone.
Miss McCord also states that Mr..
Browns telephone got out Of order
before midnight Saturday and it was
discovered later by llneman of the
company that the phone wires lead
ing to Mr.. Browns house were burn
ed in two from being crossed with the
electric light wires. ...-..
Mr.. Brown, in talking to repre-
sentative of the Press and Banner
this morning, states that he endeav-
ored for fifteen minutes or more to
get Central on his phone but, when
he heard the fire engine coming to
his aid he had never succeeded. He
thinks probably Miss Gossett sue
ceeded in getting Central on the Com
munity House phone. He further
states that after the fire department
arrived on the scene that it was an
hour before they succeeded in get
ting water through the hose. He does
rot know what the exact trouble was
but states that the wrench which is
used to turn the hydrant tap would
not grip the original hexagon shape
of. the tap, which had been worn
round by frequent turnings with an
unauthorized wrench, and that the
FIRE department did nos carry Still
son or pipe wrench for emergency
purposes and were relying on the use
of an. old fashioned monkey wrench.
Some one finally secured pipe
wrench which did the work. Mr..
Brown says that the church could
have certainly been saved had the
fire department been able to get Wa
ter and he is of the opinion that a
large part of his stock of goods could
have also been saved.
J. L. Mcmillan, chairman of the
water-works commission, states that
the !entire fault of the inefficiency is
to be laid on the fire department
which should carry a pipe wrench
with the fire engine at all times. Mr..
Mcmillan did say that some of the
hydrants in the city were "dead"
from failure to be frequently flush
ed and the mechanism oiled but that
the commission through its superin-
tendent of water.works attempted to
put every hydrant in good Order just
as soon as it was reported to them.
j.. At any ratesrenditions were 50 far
from satisfactory at the fire that
Mayor Mars was summoned by tele-
phone to come to see for himself.
Mr.. Browns loss is practically
complete, the total insurance on both
the store building and stock Of goods
being only s1450 while he estimates
his stock alone to be worth approx
| mately $4,000. The money and pa