The Monroe journal., 1922-12-05
FLAMES RAGE FROM
MORNING TILL NIGHT
A Mile Square of Homes Fall t.
Ashes As High Wind Drives the
Flames From House TO House
A DAY OF TERROR
FOLLOWED BY RELIEF

FOLLOWED BY RELIEF
New Bern, Dec. l.,-When inter
viewed at 1890 o'clock tonight, May
o. Clark stated that as far as ht
could Judge five hundred residence.
and business houses had been total,
destroyed, approximately 1900 per
sons were homeless and the total fir,
loss for the day, including the Roper
Lumber mill, was in excess of $1,000
600.
Pitiable Aspect.
The war devastated towns of Bel.
gium and France hardly presented q
more pitiable spectacle of complete
destruction than does that section OF
New Bern which was swept by fire.
Over an area of a mile or more ir
length and from two to five blocks ir
width nothing remains but row after
row of ghostly chimneys, standing
as vigils in the midst of charred tim
bers, which almost completely cover.
ed the ground.
Not a single piece of frame work
remains in an upright position. Ev.
eryShing in the path of the terrific
blaze was swept before it.
Hundreds Homeless.
1t is a grim and pathetic spectacle
Scores of families late tonight were
wandering among the ruins looking
for the sites of their former homes
trying to see whether the fire god
had overlooked anything. Women and
children were crying and men gazed
at the ruins with hopeless and suller
expressions on their faces. In several
places the charred timbers still burn
ed and the homeless people gathered
about these, seeking warmth from the
cold which was beginning to make it.
self felt. In spite of the fact that
both whites and blacks had been in
formed that sleeping quarters would
be provided for them, many appar-
emily paid no heed; they were too
stunned to think Of anything but
their homes and household goods
/, which had been taken away from
them by the roaring, cracking fire
which spread terror throughout the
city for more than nine hours.
Huddled in Warehouse.
In one of the empty fertilizer
warehouses are huddled from two to
three hundred negro men, women,
and children. Several of the women
sit with infants hugged tightly to
their breasts. Here and there a
child sleeps, but for the most part
every one is wide awake and talking
in low tones of the toll exacted by
the confagration.
Many of them have nothing left
except few articles they managed
to save before the fire was upon
them.
Relieving Homeless
New Bern tonight is turning its
attention to relieving the homeless.
Empty warehouses, church rooms, the
Y. NJ. C. A. and scores of private
homes have been thrown open to the
victims Of the great fire. In spite
of the aid there were many who
spent the night in the open, covering
themselves with mattresses and
blankets and camping beside what
furniture they had managed to save.
Railroad traffic through the city
had been suspended, the rails having
been warped for a considerable dis
tance by the intense heat. Telegraph
wires also have been severed and the
telephone affords the only means OF
communicating with other towns.
The full scope of the disaster has
not yet made itself manifest, but
with the coming of dawn tomorrow,
New Bern will begin to take stock
of the damage DONE.
Estimates of the total loss vary,but
in the opinion of some city officials
il will be in excess of S2,000,000.
Lumber Plant First
New Bern was threatened at $3.50
o'clock when the hoarse notes of the
city's fire whistle told the residents
of the burning of the Roper Lumber
company's mill. This concern, leased
by the Rowland Lumber company,
suffered quarter of million do''ar
fire which threw more than 300 local
men out of work. While the flames
were still raging at the mill, an
alarm was turned in from the western
section of the city where the fire
had started in the colored district and
which soon caused everyone to forget
the conflagration at the Rowland mill.
Firemen at Roper Mill
With their services required at the
lumber yards firemen were unable 70
respond to the new alarm and it was
not until half an hour later that they
rushed to the spot.
By that time five houses were in
ruins. The roaring flames sped on
their way by high winds of almost
gale force, crashed through house
after house gaining impetus in their
advance which sent them leaping
through the roofs of dozens of struc-
lures simultaneously. Frantic negroes
assisted by hundreds of volunteers
hastily removed their household furni-
ture to places of safety. As the fire !
gained headway, however, people
were forced to leave their homes
without being able to remove any
thing.
Fire Spreads Swiftly.
Cracking fereely in their inten-
sity, and roaring their message of
destruction so as to make it heard
in every sem of the city, the .