The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1922-05-03
ESTIMATED LOSS
Of HOTEL BLAZE
RUNS TO $4,000
New chiekasha Hotel Practically
Quilted by Fire Last Night;
Origin 10 Mystery; Caught
In Back Room.
EVERY ROOM OCCUPIED
WHEN ALARM SOUNDED
Exit Of Guests Orderly; Flremen Bat.
tic Seven Hours; Adjoining
Buildings Sustain Con.
siderable Damage. Vi

Forty.oight hours after tho disas.
trious blaze which Sunday night to-
tally destroyed the building aud con-
tents OF the Washlta Valley Broom
Corn Storage company's warehouse
southeast OF this city, fire OF un-
known origin early this morning do
stroyed the main building OF tho
New Chickasha hotel. 12i Chickasha
avenue. Loss rs estimated at ap.
proximately $4,000.
The main building OF the hotel,
embracing 40 sleeping rooms. tho
lobby and adjoining rooms, was laid
waste by the fire. Damage to tho
new four-story annex, which includes
more than 30 elegantly furnished
sleeping rooms. was comparatively
small. Only the south rooms OF tho
annex were damaged by fire. Other
rooms. however, were damaged by
the intense smoke which emerged
from the bazes.
Extra Firemen Called.
City firemen, under the direction
of Fire Chief Gattis, battled the blaze
from about 1920 o'clock last night
until 500 o'clock this morning. All
city firemen were summoned to pre-
vent the spreading of the blaze into
adjoining buildings. Many volunteers
assisted in fighting the fire. Hose
was connected to two fire plugs and
huge volume of water was used.
The fire started in a pantry adj
joining the kitchen and Just back OF
the bath room Of the New Chickasha
Barber shop, owned by Joe Wofford.
Climbing upward. the fire SOON reach
ed the roof of the building and then
began spreading down through the
walls and partitions of the third sto-
ry. The second and third stories of
the building were practically destroy
ed by the blazes, while bulk of
the damage to the lobby and the
barber shop was directly caused by
water.
Adjoining Buildings Damaged
Damage from the fire was sustain-
ed by the Workingman's store. form
erly the Levy Loan Office, which
adioins the hotel on the west, and
the Speak hotel, just east of the
New Chickasha. Loss to both of
these places was caused by smoke
and water.
Mrs. J. w. Speake, proprietoress
Of the Speake hotel, this morning
roughly estimated her loss at approx
imately $4,000. Several rooms of
this hostelry was soaked. The loss
sustained by the Workingman's store
is believed to be small.
Burtschi's Loss 100000
J. l.. Burtschi of Decatur, ILL.,, for
hotel building. Although no definite
figures were available this morning,
it was estimated that Mr.. Burtschis
loss will exceed 100000. Improve
ments costing approximately $4,000
were recently completed in the hotel.
Several thousand thousand dollars
was expended in enlarging the lobby
and making elaborate improvements
therein.
That the charred, water-soaked
walls cannot be used in replacing
the building was the belief expressed
by many this morning.
Mr.. Burtschi was in Oklahoma City
last night. He was notified of the
fire by relatives here early this
morning. He is expected to arrive
in the city some time today.
Phil Potter, proprietor of the hotel,
and who owned the furnishings, es-
Inmates his loss at approximately
$4,000. Mr.. Potter stated this morn
ing that he would not know when
the hotel will be re-opened until he
confers with Mr.. Burtschi.
Part of the loss resulting from the
fire is covered by insurance. The
per cent of insurance carried could
not be learned this morning.
Joe Wofford, proprietor Of the
barber shop, stated ethat his loss is
entirely covered by insurance.
Every Room Occupied.
Every room in the hotel was occu-
pied last night when the fire was
discovered by Harley Bone, night
clerk. While the negro porter and
MIR. Potter used the fire extinguish-
ers, Bone called the fire department
and then notified the guests in the
hotel. All rooms were vacated with
out panic. Women guests were calm
the night clerk declared this morn
ing. With but few exceptions, all
personal belongings of the guests
were removed from the rooms.
Continued on page two.)