Weather Forecast
Carolina — Sunshine
Wear Your Rubbers
MAROON AND GOLD
VOLUME 28
ELON COLLEGE, N. C. FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 1949
Truth and Travesty.. .p. 2
Cartoon.. .p. %
I’m Teling You... .p. 3
NUMBER 11
Atkinson Apartments Considered A Total Loss
M & G Cameraman Gets Shots
Of Fire Fight ers 111 Action
Harvey Foushee, student photo
grapher who was the first to hear
Mrs. Bruton’s yells of “Fire,” took
time only to relay news of the fire
to students and Mr. Bruton before
rushing for his camera and film in
the Science Building’s photo lab.
Above left, students arrive on
the scene as more than 100 stu
dents already inside begin the re
moval of furniture.
Upper right, “Speck Harper, Bill
Matzes, Tod Ferneyough and Mar
ion Adams pass furnishings from
the second floor as flames begin
' eating through the roof.
^ Below,-firemen gain the upper-
' hand as the roof caves in.
I Beiow right, a fireman plays his
! hose on the roof as the fire be-
Igins to recede. All furniture had
I been removed within 20 minutes,
and before it could be damaged
jwith water.
1 The aerial shot, below center, '
was taken by Frank Bruton, Bur
lington photographer, who had
I gone aloft to take pictures of the
1 college campus.
Whij^ Gibsonville Fire Chief,
Siistains Only Severe Injury
The firefighter who sustained
he severest injury at the scene
of the Atkinfon House blaze was
G, B. May, Chief of tne Gibsonville
volunteer fire department, who
suffered lacerations of the head
when he was thrown from the Gib
sonville truck.
An ambulance, which was al
ready at the scene of the fire, took
Chief May to St. Leo’s Hospital in
Greensboro immediately. Fearing
'■kull injury and possible injury to
vertabrae, the hospital kept May
under observation for two days.
On Monday, March 14, the staff
of St. Leo’s Hospital released May,
satisfied that he had recovered
satisfactorily from the mishap.
Chief May’s misfortune occur
red when he failed to anticipate
the sudden stop made by the Gib
sonville fire truck in front of At
kinson House. His untimely des
cent from the truck put him out of
action, and he was uitable to direct
'the efforts of his crew.
0^
School Has
Third Fire
Since 1923
With the Administration Build
ing disaster of 1923, and the dis-
struction of the Dining Hall wing
of West Dormitory in 1942, the At
kinson House blaze of March 11
is the third major fire in the his
tory of Elott College.
A total loss for all practical
purposes, according to Dr. L. E.
Smith, the 57-year-old landmark
was partially consumed by a fire
which started under the roof and
destroyed the second floor of the
structure before being extinguish
ed by fire departments from Bur
lington, Gibsonville and Elon Col-
ilege.
Despite the combined efforts of
the three fire departments and
members of the student body, the
building has been written off by
college officials as a total loss. Al
though the ground floor was not
damaged by flames, it was ruined
by water and smoke. The house was
completely covered by insurance.
“The college wants the insurance
adjusters either to give full value
for the house or assume the respon
sibility for rebuilding it.” said Dr.
Smith.
A contractor reportedly stated
that it will cost approximately
$25,000 to rebuild the house. It is
not certain whether or not the
structure will be rebuilt on the
same site.
Atkinson House was built in
1892, and purchased by J. O. At
kinson in 1897. The college bought
it from the Atkinson heirs in 1943
and converted it into faculty apart
ments.
Improvements made on the house
by the college included the addition
o? an upstairs room, two baths and
two kitchens. The 14-room house
had four apartments.
At the time of the fire, the build
ing housed three families; Dr. and
Mrs. James Howell, Professors
Soyle and Stella Bruton, and Mr.
and Mrs. James Lewis, a student
family. All the burned-out families
were accomodated with living
quarters the afternoon of the fire.
The Howells and Bruton’s now
live in Vets’ Apartments, and the
Lewises live in Burlington.
biudents Get All The Credit
I or Clearing Furnishings
By HOYLE BRUTON
The world was off its axis Fri
day morning anyway. Unusual
things were happening, and there
were ominous portents in the air.
Mrs. Bruton went to Chapel for
the first time in weeks or months.
She should havt gone home, as
usual.
Dr. L. E.Smith himself took the
rostrum in Chapel. He spoke of the
old days when there was little
water pressure in Elon College, of
wells going dry; and of a great day
. of reckoning.
A few minutes later Atkinson
House was ablaze, constituting a
day of reckoning of a sort, and
frustrated students who held an
Elon College fire department hose
vthat could hardly spit over its chin
■were ^Jiinking that the wells had
gone dry again.
ieaving chapel, Mrs. Bruton was
met by a Negro woman who point
ed out the the smoking house, and
said that nobody was home there.
Mrs. Bruton rushed into the house,
checked the source of the smoke,
and phoned the fire department.
Outside again she screamed across
the tracks to students leaving
chapel, sacrificing a little dignity
for a lot of help.
Help came fast. Within a few
minutes more than 100 students
were inside t'^e house, throwing
pans of water and moving out
furniture unbelievably fast.
Dr. and Mrs. Howell took inven
tory of their possessions as stu
dents brought them out. Accord
ing to reports, Mrs. Howell pleaded
with students to rescue her nerve
medicine, for which she confessed
a need.
Jim Lewis blistered a hand
(Continued On Page Four)
Student Volunteers Hurt
In Work During The Fire
At least three members of the
i;ion College student body were
known to be on the injured list
vhen the smoke cleared away from
he fire which destroyed the At-
'cinson House apartments last Fri
day.
The most spectacular injuries
ere sustained by Bill Anderson
nd Dave Griffith when they top-
:>led from the second floor side
orch of the structure. The railing
ver which they were passing the
furnishings of the second floor
'artments became so weakened
rom the weight of the fire hoses
nd the strain of the evacuation
roceedings that it collapsed.
Anderson was forced to limp to
'le ranks of the spectators, and
Griffith aggrevated a service-incur
ed back injury, rorcing him to re
sume wearing a brace which he
had discarded.
Ireland Upchurch, the other cas
ualty, suffered a hemorrahage of
the elbow, forcing him to carry
liis left arm in a sling for three
days. Upchurch is uncertain as to
whether his injury came from a
vault over the college wall on the
way to the fire, or from a blow sus
tained wfifle in the burning buil(l-
ing.
Students report that a few of the
collegiate firefighters had skull
plates from service injuries. They
could have been hurt badly had
they been struck by falling tim
bers.
Considering the number of per
sons engaged in removing the fur
niture and the rapid progress
made by the flames, it is fortunate
that the Atkinson House fire injury
list was limited to three students.