Gunnison news-champion., 1922-12-15
Of AS
T0R|A FIRE

A vivid account of the great
tirs IN Astoria, Oregon n short
time ago, is given in q letter from
Miss Minnie Green to her sister,
Mrs Sanford Zeigler. Miss
Green is n Gunnison girl, taught
school here for a number Of
years and is now teaching in the
schools at Astoria She writes:
Astoria, Ore, Dec. 8, -.
"Dear Folks:-
!, NO doubt you've seen or soon will
see the reports Of the Astoria fire.
I'm wondering If you will be worrying
about my safety, for l suppose news
paper accounts will be much exagger-
ated.
This morning ! awokc with the
started sensation that / had oversight
and would be late for school. as my
room was almost as light rs daytime.
The south window was open, and il
took me some moments to realize that
the strange reflection must be caused
BY fire, for could smell no smoke.
Looking from my window, could
see terrible line of flames directly
below Us (north), along the water
front, about seven blocks from us, and
of course, far lower, so l was not
frightened. But l was curious. and
slipped into some clothes so | could 20
out on the street To see the fire better.
l heard only one or two cars and saw
two or three men going down, but had
heard no fire gongs or whistles. My
moccasins soon soaked thru in the
pouring rain, SO l came back. Soon
the telephone rang-Mrs. Higgins son
calling to tell her that their depart
ment store had burned to the ground.
Then l knew the fire was in the heart
of the business district l started
out and the young fellow rooming
here Il think he is a shipping clerk),
find out if It would be necessary to
fire wasn't near at that time, so we
Hoeffler's fine candy sSore and eating
place doomed up, just q frey shell;
the Bank Of Commerce was entirely
gone. So many buildings were gone.
! couldn't realize where we were. We
were right in front OF one. fine hotel,
and people thot It would resist and
check the FIRE, but while we stood
there, smoke began pouring out from
the sidewalk beneath US. Most Of the
lower part Of the city is paved over a
piling foundation. II was spectacular
70 see not only the buildings, but the
street or the pavement in many places
q mass of flames. We were soon ord
cred back, 1.-THE crowd. ! mean. for by
this time great numbers had arf'ived,)
for fear that gasoline tanks at the
garages would soop explode.
"First thing knew, was going
down the street arm in arm with some
woman, who wanted me to go with
her to see If her husband was in his Of
fice. The place was not in a danger
Gus section. When we left, the First
National Bank, the Savings Bank and
Odd Fellows Building were intact.
but by the time we returned-it could
not have been more than Is or 20
minutes,-the Odd Fellows building
was badly damaged. Less than an
hour later we were watching the Saw
ings Bank crumbling away.
It seemed as il nothing was being
done to check the fire, but Of course,
they did all they could. We heard re-
ports that they rang out Of dynamite
and chemicals. Portland was rushing
help, both by train and fire-boat, but Of
course it took hours.
sThe patients from st. Mary's hos
pital were taken up to the high school
building. st Mary's didn't burn, but
Ruess L Is badly damaged by water.
and most Of the windows are out
"The most wonderful sight was The
sky before dawn. Turning our backs
to the fire we saw the most beautiful
deep blue sky, the evergreens outlined
aeainkt it, and the white buildings and