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VOL. 2<>. SMITHFIELD, N. C., FRIDAY, MAY K), 1001. NO. 0.
JACKSONVILLE'S DISASTER
FLORIDA CITY SWEPT BY FLAMES.
An Awtul Conflagration That Defied
All Opposition?Principal Part of
the City Destroyed?About 130
Blocks, 1,300 Buildings, In
cluding Most ot the Pub
lic Buildings,
Wiped Out.
Jacksonville, FU., Dispatch, 3d.
It is estimated that #1.'">,000,
000 worth of property has none
up in smoke and that 10,000 per
sons have been made homeless as
the result of a fire which broke
out in Jacksonville at 12:45 p.
m. to-day. Six lives are report
ed lost. The fire was gotten un
der control at 10:15 p. m. Late
night the ruins are still burning.
When the fire reached Bride
street in its eastward course it
enveloped in flames three blocks?
the Duval, Monroeand northside
of the Adams, burning up that
entire section of thecity and run
ning 14 blocks to the Duval street
bridge.
The conflagration has burned
over as far as is definitely known
a distance of two and a half miles
long by a half mile wide.
The plan of the city, as prepar
ed by the city surveyor, shows
that 130 blocks are known to
have been burned and part of an
other block. The estimate of res
idences to the block in the resi
dential district is 10 and in the
business section the blocks were
solid.
When the fire reached Julia
street it was a roaring furnace,
without any prospect of being
put under control.
The local military companies,
were called out to keep back the j
crowds. The Fire department
began to use dynamite to blow
up houses a block from the fire
and thus prevent the fire from
spreading. So fierce was the
blaze, however, and so strong
had become the wind that mil
lions of sparks and burning shin
gles spread over five or six
blocks, setting the roofs of the
houses on fire in advance of the
department.
Soon Senator Taliaferro's resi- <
dence and the adjoining houses j
on that block were ablaze. Des- (
iterate efforts were made to save ,
Windsor and the St. Jamehotels, |
but both were quickly enveloped (
in flames. For about an hour
the guests in the Windsor had j
been busily packing their trunks (
and they went away loaded with ,
their goods.
Leaping madly across the
street from the Windsor the ]
flames set Are to the Methodist ]
parsonage. A few moments later ]
Trinity Methodist Episcopal
church was a mass of flames. The
opera house block followed and
the Richards and Livingstone
boarding house.
A desperate effort was made to \
save the Raidwin mansion which (
was recently purchased by the
Elks for $18,000. No earthly
Eower could save the building, j
ut that entire block and the one .
west of it were quickly a mass of (
flames.
When the fire got started on ,
Street the closely adjoining
buildings went one after tne oth- (
er. Faint shops with barrels of oil t
in stock were plentiful in this dis
trict. As they caught fire one
after the other, the blaze rose
hundreds of feet high and quickly
set the other buildings across the (
street on fire.
Then the Hubbard hardware
store caught and the people scat
ter ed when they saw what had
happened. Hundreds of pounds
of powder and a greut deal of
dynamite was stored in this1
building. Ten minutes passed,
when suddenly there was a loar
and the building collapsed like an
eggshell. The dynamite and the
powder had exploded.
The firemen at this time were
working in great danger. Cart
ridges began to explode and bul
lets began to fly around, so the
effort to fight the fire at that
point for a time had to be aban
doned. This was only the start
of the most intense part of the
Are. The new Furchgott build
ing was soon ablaze and the
Jardiner building' was also a
mass of flanies. Down the street
the fire spread with rapidity and
n a short time the entire section
if Bay street from Market to
Main street and extending for tive
?locks back was burning all at
ince.
The city hall went, the fire de.
aartment building, the armory,
the county court house, the
Jerk's office, with the county rec
irds, the criminal court house,
the city jail, the schools, the
'utolic church and orphanage,
?It. John's Episcopal church and
the convent. Almost all the fine
luildings in thecity were burned,
n less than four hours.
At 8:30 p. m. the fire was
?hecked at the intersection of
Laurel and Day streets, where
the Commercial bank is located.
Pile bank went up in fiames, but
the Western Union building just
icross the street was not dam
lged. " |
Aomong the prominent hotels
turned besides the St James and
Windsor were the United States,
the Dlacide, the (iirard, the Gre
lada and Oxford.
An Epidemic of Hres.
In addition to the awful con
iagration at Jacksonville, Fla.,
lestructive fires have occurred
it many places in the country
within the past few days.
At Gridley, 111., Friday, 80
juildings were destroyed. Loss
istimated at $80,000.
At Nashville, Tenn., Saturday,
>rr, Hume & Co., wholesale!
grocers, and three other big
wholesale houses were burned.
A lumber plant at Ashland, Me.,
was burned Saturday with a loss
jf more than $200,000.
The repository of the Southern
Rock Island Plow Co., at Dallas,
rexas, was burned Saturday
night with a loss of $250,000
and $150,000 insurance. The
fire was caused by lightning.
Twenty-two business houses
were burned at Lufkin, Texas,
?Saturday, entailing a loss of
ibout $05,000.
A butterine plant in Chicago
was burned Saturday night,
mtailing a loss of $150,000,
fully insured.
Yarns and wool worth $150,
J00 and a six-story waretiouse
ii Philadelnhin neeimied liv
Jharles J. Webb & Co., were al
most completely destroyed by
fire Saturday night and the
idjoining warehouses of Richard
4. Blythe and H. B. Heston &
jo., wool merchants, were badly
lamaged by water. Several lire
men were injured by falling glass
md timbers.
The grand stand of the National
League Baseball Park at St.
[jouis was burned Saturday.
Loss $30,000.
Massacred by Cannibals.
Brisbane, Queensland, May 8.?
\ search party, which has re
turned from New Guinea, discov
ered the half-eaten remains of the
Rev James Chalmers and the
Rev. Oliver Tomkins, of the Lon
don Missionary Society, and
their followers, who were massa
cred in April by natives of Fly
river, New Guinea, after a tribal
fight.
It appears that when the party
of Mr. Chalmers approached the
shore they were surrounded by a
fleet of canoes filled with armed
natives. They were never seen
again.
The punitive expedition partly (
destroyed the villages and ca
noes of the district where the |
massacre occured and killed 24
natives.
In the criminal court, at Win
ston. the jury in the case of Arch
Woodruff, for murder, late Thurs
day evening returned a verdict
of "guilty iu the second decree," I
and Woodruff was sentenced to
10 years in the penitentiary.
An important meeting of busi
ness men was held at Raleigh
Thursday evening to take inital
at?ps for building a $100,000
hotel, specially for northern trav
el A r, option on the best site in
tJHt city was secured.
Grantham, Austin & Co., sell
eady-made clothing.
DAY AFTER THE FIRE.
A Scene of Desolation?148 Blocks, j
Covering: a Larg;e Territory,
Burned?Help tor the Suffers.
Jacksonville Dispatch, 4th.
Jacksonville's great fire, which
began yesterdav, has burned
itself out. One hundred and |
forty-eight blocks of a beautiful
city have been laid waste. 1 he
loss will not be known even ap
proximately for a week, but it is
believed it will amount to f 10,
000,000.
Sue Hogun, a negro woman,
was burned in her house and her
charred remains were buried by
friends this afternoon. The
burned districts is thirteen blocks
wide and two miles long, and
extends from the St. John's riv-1
er, where it burned ten docks to
the water's edge, to Chart herine j
street on the east, Orange on the j
north and Davis to the west.
This immense area was swept as
Jear as a floor.
The city is under martial law
and all of the availible State
militia is on duty in the streets.
Some order is being brought out
of the confusion. .Jacksonville is
meeting the emergency calmly
and has organized for relief
work. Ten thousand people are
homeless and many of them left
on afternoon and night trains
for St. Augustine and other
coast cities and near-by towns,
while numerous river craft took
many to little places on the St. i
John's river. Supply stations
have been established in various
parts of the city and sill day they
nave been thronged by the hun
gry. The prompt action of
Secretary Root in tendering the
use of the barracks at Fort
Barrancas, near St. Augustine, i
was received with gratitude on I
every side. The Kast Coast train
leaving here at 5 o'clock this
afternoon carried over 2,000
people to St. Augustine, who
nope to receive temporary shel
ter from the government. A
committee was appointed at a
meeting of citizens this afternoon
to wire the Governors of various
States for all tents they could |
spare to Jacksonville, it will be
weeks before anything like per
manent shelter can be provided ;
for the homeless thousands, and j
Jacksonville for some time to
come will be a city of tents. The
relief fund raised by. the citizens
of Jacksonville at a meeting
this afternoon amounts to #15,
000. Other subscriptions are
being received from many places.
The city of Jacksonville has not
vet made an official call for aid.
There seems to be some objection
to this, but it is based on the
assertion by many leading citi
zens that Jacksonville and
Florida can meet the emergency
and care for its own.
10,000 Homeless Bern? Fed.
The hunger of 10,000 homeless
people was satisfied to day, upon
the arrival of relief trains and
boats bringing provisions from |
neighboring towns. Early this
morning acommissary was estab
lished in the centre of the city,
and tliQUsands were fed during |
the day. The relief fund is hourly
growing and every mail brings
offers of assistance. Today an
order was promulgated under (
martial law, requiring all mer
chants, whose stores were spared j
by the conflagration, to openj
their doors and sell to all who |
asked. The streets have been
crowded all dav with shoppehe
who lost all in tlie fire and many
stores will remain open all night.
It is estimated that 3,000 per
sons have left the city and every
outgoing train is crowded with
refugees. Five car loads of tents
were received to day, the property
of the State, which are to be
used by the homeless tempora
rily. Another shipment of tents
is expected to morrow from the
government.? Jacksonville Dis
patch, 5th.
The least in quantity and most
in Quality describes DeWitt's Lit
tle Early Risers, the famous pills
for constipation, ti d liver com
plaints. Hood Hros.,Hare& Son,
: J. R. I>edbetb
Great Fires in the Past.
U. C. Crosby, late president of j
the National Fire Protection As
sociation, has compiled a very
interesting list of goat tires. In
describing some of the most im
portant disasters he said:
"The United States has a rec
ord of destruction of property by
tire not equaled by any other
country.
CharlestOwn, Mass., in 1838.
1,158 buildings.
"Savanah, (la., in 1820,4(13
buildings and $4,000,000 val
ue.
"New York, in 1835, 530 build
ings, 52 acres burned over, and
$ 15,000,000 of property destroy
ed; in 1845, 300 acres burned
over, $7,500,000 value, 35 lives
lo !t.
"Pittsburg, Pa., in 1845,100
buildings; $1,000,000 property
value.
"St. Louis, Mo., in 1849,15
buildings, $3,000,000 value, in
1851, 2,500 buildings destroy
ed.
"Philadelphia, in 1850, 400
buildings.
"San Francisco, in 1851, 2,500
buildings, and a number ol lives
lost; property value, $10,000,
000.
"Portland, Maine, in 1800,
over one-half the city; 200 acres
burned over and 1,743 buildings
destroyed.
"Chicago, in 1871, known as
the "Great Fire," 2,124 acres
nearly covered by buildings en
tirely burned over, including 17,
430 buildings; many lives were
lost and property value of up
ward of $106,000,000 was de
stroyed.
"Boston, in 1872, 65 acres of!
mercantile section burned, in
cluding 776 buildings, nearly all j
of brick and stone construction;:
property value, $75,000,000.
"In June, 1889, Seattle was
destroyed, the loss being $30,
000,000. Two months later
Spokane Falls burned, the loss
being $7,000,000. In November
of tke same year $5,000,000
worth of property was consumed
at Lvnn, Mass. Within a few
days fires broke out in the dry
goods district of Boston and
tkivtnurt c vnliuul of *8*1 (1(H) OOO
was burned.
"In October, 1892, a fire at
Milwaukee caused a loss of $6,
000,000.
"At Hobnkenon June .'10 last
the North (ierinan Lloyd piers
and steamships sustained a loss
of 110,000,000 and 200 lives
were lost. These are the great
est fires that have occured in this
country. There have been many
in which the losses exceeded a
million.
New Gun to Fire 21 Miles.
There will be on exhibition at
the Pan-American Exposition, |
Buffalo, during the coming sum
mer the most marvelous piece of
ordnance ever manufactured,
and the superior in range and
striking energy to any gun built
in the history of the world. It is
building for the army at the
Watervliet Gun Factory, and is
to l>e shipped to the Exposition
in July.
The gun can easily destroy any
ship afloat at a distance of 21
miles. It is to be mounted at
some point commanding the
entrance to New York Harbor.
The calibre is 1(5 inches; its
weight, 130 tons, and its length,
49 feet 3 inches. In ranging to
the distance oi 21 miles the shell,
weighing 2370 pounds, would
reach the maxium elevation of
30,516 feet, higher than the
combined heights of Pike's Peak
and Mont Blanc. The charge
required is 57(5 pounds of smoke
less powder, ana the cost of firing
is several thousand dollars.?
Philadelphia Record.
Wednesday afternoon while
Carl Kirkman, a fireman on the
Southern at Greensboro, was
cleaning the ashes from the ash
pan of his engine, theyard engine
backed against it and the unfort
unate man was dragged some
distance, his right V> ?, and 1 g
terribly mangled, a 1 vh g
internal injuries In a which Lt>
diod.
(
1
Concerning: Fire Insurance.
Editors Thk Herald:?At the|
reauest of some members of the
J oh list on County branch of the
Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance
Association of North Carolina,
I wish to make a few statements
concerning the Association in
this county.
First, I will say that at the
last annual meeting (Aug. 7,
1900) the Association was in
debt about #50.00 for losses and
salaries for the previous year.
This made it necessary to levy
an assessment, and accordingly
the supervisors met and directed
that an assessment of one fourth
of one per cent, be levied on all
outstanding insurance. Thej
membership then represented
about #280,000.00 ot insured
property; therefore this assess- J
merit should have raised about
#700.00, which after paying the
indebtedness would have left
about #050.00 in bank to the
credit of the Association to be
used in paying off any losses that
might occur. but it is to be re
gretted that this assessment fol
lowing a heavier one in the
spring, caused many to lose con
fidence in the management of the;
Association, resulting in drop
ping off by failure to pay the as
sessment, about #70,0O() worth
of insurance, lea ving now in good
standing about #210,000.00.
From that assessment of Sept.
20, 1900 about #550.00 was col
lected and disbursed by paying
previous indebtedness #50.00,
assessment to State Association
at Raleigh #12.00.
Since the assessment was levied
the Association has sustained six
losses by fire, all small, but large
enough to take all the funds in
hand and leaving the Associa
tion a few dollars in debt. How
ever, it is not probable that an
other assessment wid lie called
for before the next annual meet
ing to be held the first Monday
in August.
The cheapness of carrying in
surance in this Association is its ;
best recommendation, while it is
perfectly safe. This year the
cost of insurance in this associa
i! 'II a. _ 1 .1- __ A.
uuu win uui exceeu cents oil
the hundred dollars of insurance
carried, whileiu any old line com
pany it will cost not less than
three times as much. And I wish j
to suggest here that in my opin
ion plans can be adopted that
will enable us to carry safe insur
ance at a cost of not more than
% of 1 per cent, per annum. To
do this it will be necessary for all
members to carry a little of the I
risk themselves?just as old line
companies require. I mean by
this that no member should ex
pect the Association to insure
property at over three-fourths
of its actual cash value?this
strictly enforced would have a
great tendency in preventing
criminal carelessness of fire by
unprincipled parties who go into
the insurance business for a prof
it. The Association only agrees
through its policies, to carry in
surance for three-fourths of the
cash value of the property in
sured, but estimating the true
value of a building or its con
tents bv viewing the ashes after
being burnt seems to be an un
certain undertaking. Neither
can township supervisor tell the
true valuation of property which
he probably never saw without
very explicit and correct repre
sentations of it?and here lies the
great trouble that the Associa- j
tion has to encounter, both re
ceiving insurance and adjusting
a loss. Every application for in
surance should contain a full
and precise description of the
property proposed to be insured
and then the application should
lie referred to a committee whose
duty it should be to examine the
same and make any reduction in
valuations that might seem nec
essary. then after approving
such application let the president
of the Association issue the
I policy as is the custom now.
I would like to hear from oth
er members of the Association
along this line, and hope that at
the annual meeting the proper
plan may be agreed on and ad
opted. Respectfully,
J. C. Bingham,
Sec.-Treas.
I
The Town Election.
The town election held here
Monday was without any special
interest. There was only one
ticket?Democratic of course?
which was elected without any
opposition. Only three negroes
voted, .lames 1). Darker, editor
of the lately deceased Smithfield
Courier, went to the polling place
in the afternoon, lie asked the
election officers who was running
for Commissioner in his ward and
being told that the nominee was
Mr. James A. Wellons, lie said In
wished him success, and declining
to vote, passed on.
The newly elected Board is as
follows:
First Ward?James A. Wellons.
Second Ward?W. L. Woodall
and Ed. S. A bell.
Third Ward?James H. Wood
all and Floyd II. Danish.
Fourth Ward?John 0. Elling
ton and W. J. Stephenson.
The new Board was sworn in
yesterday afternoon and at once
elected the following officers for
the ensuing term:
Mayor, J. C. Bingham.
Clerk, F. H. Brooks
Treasurer, T. R. Hood.
Tax Collector. (1. N. I'eacock.
Chief Dolice, \V. L. Brady.
The Importance of Early Training;.
Eurrous Herai,d:?We have a
few days of leisure here now, as
our crops of corn and cotton arc
planted. The stand of corn is
not good, but we will secure one
by careful replanting.
While we are in this state of
"stand still' I thought I might
do some good by writing a few
lines on the importance of the
early training of the child. While
at the University President
Swain used to say m his lectures
that the child learned more up to
seven years of age than h? ever
did again. Paradoxical it seem
ed to me then, but the more I
think about it, the more nearly 1
agree with him; for during this
time of seven years he learns the
English language (at least nearly
all the common words, such as
we use in our daily talks) and
nearly all the objects nature
around us. He learns, too, right
and wrong to a very great ex
tent. Hence we say too much
importance cannot be attached
to the early stage of life. David
said, "As a man thinketh, so is
he." And how does a man think?
Generally as he is taught to
think by his mother, father and
teacher. "As the twig is bent,
the tree inclines" is an old but
ever new maxim.
Habit almost makes the man
or woman, hence the importance
of right habits, of right thoughts
being instilled in the young.
And now its our Legislature has
done so much for hientior
of the boys and <_ >i N~or.lt
Carolina, let us see to*
money appropriated is wisely ex
tended. Let us use wisdom in se
lecting teachers to "teach the
young idea how to teach." Bet
ter, far better keep a child at
home than to send him to any
one of bad habits, for the teacher
impresses his own character upon
that of the cnild to a far greater
extent than is generally supposed.
I have heard of boys going to
celebrated teachers, learned in
science, the languages and math
ematics, but tinged with infidel
ity. The boys imbibed uncon
sciously the same belief, and oh.
how hard to shake it off.
Our catechism says, Man'sehief
end is to glorify God and enjov
Him forever. "Teach the same
precious doctrine as early as pos
sible. Yes. teach it at home,
teach it at school. Instill the
principles of Christianity (to be
Christ like) as soon as the child
can lisp the name of Jesus. I**t
| it grow up with him, and when lie
is old he will thank you for it,
more than for any earthly treas
ure you can leave him.
Yes, send the bovs and girls to
the Sunday Schools and employ
teachers in the day schools, who
; have the Bible on their desks and
daily read it to the pupils.
! B. W. Y.
Leachburg, May 6.
j ?? ?> -
Grantham, Austin & Co. have
a nobby line of Ties. The prettiest
you have seen.