The Coconino sun., 1927-11-25

Within a few minutes of half past
four Sunday morning, John Vining,
night telegraph operator at the de-
pot, went out upon the platform in
front of his office, and on looking to-
ward the west end of Railroad ave
nue., he saw small body of flame
coming apparently from the back Of
the postoffice. All the saloons were
closed with the exception of Wallis.
Mr.. Vining ran up t54e street, kicking
utes the startled occupants were on
the street. Ina short time the fire
had made considerable headway Kill
patrick's store, Berry's saloon and
Murphy's store were in flames. There
was no Water and the whole block
was built Of frame houses.
Twenty minutes from the time the
fire broke out, the whole block, ex-
tending from the postoffice on the
corner of Gold avenue to James
Wallis on the corner. of San Francisco
avenue, was in flames and partially
consumed. The next building to take
fire was our newspaper office, on San
Francisco avenue. The fire ragged so
fiercely that this was quickly reduced
to ashes followed by the residence of
w. L. Dykes, on the opposite side of
the street. These were the only two
buildings consumed outside Of the
property on Railroad avenue
When the flames reached VaiPs
saloon on the corner of San Francisco
avenue, it was hoped that the destrue-
tion would end. On the opposite side
of. the street the massive stone walls
of P. B. .Brannen & Co.'S store seemed
to offer an effectual barrier to its fur
ther progress. Beyond this was the
meat market, Dr. Brannen's office,
Shannon's saloon, Hawks restaurant
and j. A. Marshall's residence, all
frame structures. The flames leaped
over and went around the Brannen
building, leveling these with the
ground in very short space of time.
The only building now left in the two
blocks was the Brannen store, a very
solid looking structure. which stood
as if defying the flaming enemy
which roared around it. The people
gathered in front of it on the opposite
side of the railway and watched the
result with silent suspense. The heat
was too great to approach near the
building. The fire toyed with the
wood cornice over the front of the
store and danced around the sash of
the office window, but no sign of fire
in the interior could be seen through
the front doors and the large plate
glass windows. The wood sidewalk
around the building was on fire in
places, but did not burn fiercely. For
fully fifteen minutes the fate of the
building was in suspense. Presently
a dim light was seen through the
windows, soon followed by the crash
of the large plate glass. With a
subdued roar the dense black smoke
rolled out, and behind it the leaping
flames. In a few minutes the aper-
lures that had been occupied by the
front windows and doors were belch-
ing fire like a huge blast furnace.
When the gray light of morning came
three shaky walls was all that was
left of the finest business store on
the line Of the Atlantic and Pacific
railroad Then the sun rose, seeming
more bright than usual, in this land
of sunshine, and lit up a scene OF
smoldering desolation from the post
office corner to the eastern limits of
the town.
The saddest sight the dawn revealed
was the blackened and charred re-
mains of the body of William Biding-
er. Before daylight appeared it be-
came known that he was missing, and
the conclusion that he had perished
in his room at the back of Berry's
saloon was general. As soon as the
fire was sufficiently abated all that
was left of poor Billy could be seen
lying close to the room he occupied,
but it was some time before the heat
would allow anyone to approach near
enough to attempt to remove the re-
mains
The flames were first discovered is
suing from the roof of the kitchen at
the back of the Chinese restaurant,
in the Berry building At first there
were a great many wild stories in
circulation, some claiming that it was
the work Of an incendiary, others that