Richmond daily register. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1917-1978, 1920-09-06
FIRE DESTROYS
GORDON WAREHOUSE
Immense Stock Together With
Horse Is Burned-Fight To
Save Nearby Property

lpied by f. II. Gordon, on Estill
avenue, just south Of the l.. & n
passenger station, was totally de-
Estroyed by fire Sunday night with
an estimated loss of between $12,-
1000 and $4,000, fully covered by
insurance The building, a frame
structure, the property of Mrs. ]
w. Christian, valued at several
thousand dollars, which was to-
tai loss, was not insured.
The flames were discovered at
| IL 80 o'clock and soon spread to
Iother parts of the building, rem
derihg the situation such as to
cause the firemen who respond
ed promptly, to have to fight the
| flames from a distance Two lines
Iof hose were laid, one from Estill
tavenue and another from Big Hill
Javenue. The start gained by the
fire prevented the saving Of any
lpart Of it, and it was soon discov-
cred that there would be great
difficulty in saving the adjacent
property.
A partial list of the contents Of
the building consisted Of one or
two auto trucks, one horse, large
Iquantity of baled straw. some
wheat, 1000 bushels Of blue grass
seed, large quantity of oats and
hay. There were three horses
usually kept in the building. how
lever, it being Sunday night. they
iwere allowed the privilege Of the
yard, and all but one of them were
there at the time Of the fire and
were rescued.
1t was with difficulty the build
Ilngs to the south were prevented
from being destroyed, there being
but two lines of hose, and after
one box car partly filled with coal
had become ignited on the rail
way tracks nearby, others were
pushed from the fire zone. Resi- |
dents on Estill avenue were very
apprehensive regarding the safety
OF their own homes and were kept
constantly engaged in drencIing
the roofs. Chief Ben Daughertv
lof the Fire Department, who was
lone of the first ones on the scene.
directed the efforts of the firemcn
and the work is said TO have been
the best under the circumstances
seen for some time. 1t is said
dozen fire engines could not have
saved the building owing to the
lstart it had gained. and for some
time 1t was believed the office
building to the north was doom
ed. A persistent bucket brigade.
however, save the day.
The building, which was a two
story frame, contained such
quantity of inhammable material
that the firemen worked at a
great disadvantage. The struc-
ture had been built for a planning
mill, but had been occupied by Mr..
Gordon for the past four years as
warehouse. it is rumered that
modern brick building will in the
future occupy the site Of the
building destroyed.
| The origin of the fire is not
known. There are usual runors
regarding mysterious persons
Iseen issuing from the building and
| for some time it was believed
Itramps had craw1ed into the
building to spend the night, but
There is no tangible evidence to
lthis effect There were no per
Isons, according to Mr. Gordon,
Occupying the building With the
exception of the one horse, no
lstock was destroyed The animal
Twas inside stall and an effort of
! the early arrivals was of no avail,
lowing to the intense heat.
Mr.. Gordon had recently order
ed a large quantity of cement,
Timothy hay, straw, and rosen rye
Iseed, which will be here within a
few days. He stated that had the
fire been three days later, all this
would have been consumed, since
he had received notice to the effct
that it had been shipped. The
lentire shipment had been sold TO
farmers OF Madison county and
they will be able to receive ther
stock upon calling. for it within a
.ifew days. There are about $50
tons of coal in the yards and this
was necessarily saturated with
water from the fire hose and saw
led. Mr.. Gordon said he would,
,Ibeginning Wednesday morning,
: -Ibc ready to fill all orders both in
the feed and coal lines, and would
Eresume business on that date.
The establishment was one OF.
:. the largest coal and feed centers,
/. Lin Madison county, and the facili-
: rfties at hand for resuming busi-
ness will prevent any great want
.,.>.~., a.. >,.-t :, tba p,trcnS