The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1921-08-24

|
Dead but One Man Not Yet
Identified.
Macon, Ga, Aug. 22.--Work of ex-
ploring the ruins Of the Brown
| House, which was completely de-
stroycd by fire at an early hour this
morning and where more than
dozen bodies are believed to be
| buried, stopped at sundown tonight.
Building Inspector f. Joe Bishop,
III charge Of the hunt for bodies, an
nounccd that the search will be re-
sumcd at daylight tomorrow morn
ing with Il force Of 100 convicts from
the county and city chaingangs.
I'VE will know before noon," he
said, "mst how many bodies are in
the debris. We expect to find at
least l2, possibly more. | can al
most put my fingers on the spot
where l believe there arc twp
bodies"
Coroner Lee Wages announced this
afternoon tina tthc coroncr's Jury
had concluded that an explosion Of
escaping gas in the basement Of the
Brunner Drug company caused the
fire.
The blast cut a hole through the
hotel from the basement to the roof
tore out the stairways and wrecked
the elevator after driving it upward
| Fire escapes at the rear Of the build
ing were envcloped in flames an n-
stant later and fire also was burst
ing from every window in the big
brick structure.
1t is understood that the state fire
marshal will arrive here in the morn
ing to aid in the investigation that
is under way. Facts obtained by To-
cal city and county officials and the
state fire marshal will be laid be-
fore the Bibb county grand jury at
its next session
-Four Bodies Found
Tonight, when work of exploring
the ruins of the burned hotel stop
ped for the night, four bodies lay
in local undertaking establishment,
only three Of which had been dcn-
titled. Eight persons were in the
Macon hospital suffering from seri-
Gus burns and broken bones received
from the fire and in jumping from
second and third floor windows
Three other persons, whose names
have not been obtained and WHO are
known to have jumped from the
blaZng structure, were attended by
private physicians and left on the
train for Atlanta during the fore
noon.
The list of known missing mounted
tonight to seven, but there were
many inquiries from all parts Of
Georgia for persons whom it is
feared "crc in the hotel
Horace Wccms. clerk at the Brown
House, son Of the proprietor, said
that SO Of the 81 rooms in the hotel
were filed, some with two beds in
each room. He said that there were
more than 100 guests, many Of them
tourists who were passing tiNUugh
the city. The tourists are the ones
that are causing the most concern To-
cally, for there is no way to obtain 4
check on them, the hotel register be-
ing destroyed in the fire
Thousands of persons watched the
fire and visited the scene through
II pthcir vigil even after a thunder.
storm broke over them and rain be-
gan TO descend in the late afternoon.
Only Wall Left
There was nothing left but Il black.
, Cncd brick wall at the front and
Jagged columns in The center of the
! structure. The entire side wall ON
the Plum street side had been COM
/ Ii'CS!N NSIIlhIlSntl, DN me lOrH' OF
the explosion and by the collapse Of
the floors.
Only a small section OF the crig.
NAL building, built long before the
! Confederate war, remained intact,
with floors still clinglng to the side
walls, although tn" ceilings had fall
on. 1t was in exploring one Of these
lodges, this morning that fircmcY
came upon two bodies, one of which
was Identified as John l.. Collins.
The other body, which lay only a
foot away With hands elapsed ana
outstrctchrd, has not been idcn.
titled. The unidentified man is
that Of person weighing POO
pounds and about five feet eight
inches in height. His hair was black.
Fircmcn worked continuously on
the blaze from /: :35 o'clock this morn.
ing until late IN the afternoon. They
were recalled to the scene al 7:30
! o'clocl, when flames broke out again
in the ruins.
1t was this heat, which caused the
second fire, Building Inspector Bishop
stated, that caused the abandOMmcnr
of the hunt for bodies tonight.
Harry SwanshCrr carried n $1,000
diamond, his gold watch and a wa.ip,
with big sum Of money, lcaymr
his clothing behind, when he lcap,a
| from a third story window, sustain.
ing injuries which later caused hia
death. He clunG to the articles
named and delivered them 10 p doctor