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VOL. XXXIIj >
QUARTER OF A MILLION DOLLAR FIRE
DEVASTATES HEART OF DALTON SUNDAY
I ETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING NEARLY IWO BLOCKS ARE SWEPT AWAY BY
I B ' GREATEST FIRE IN THE HISTORY OF NORTH GEORGIA.-CITY IS DAZED WITH
I LOSS, BUT SHOWS PLUCK ANO NEW STRUCTURES WILL GO UP
IN FATED HOTEL NARROWLY ESCAPE DEATH AND
I FLEE INTO THE NIGHT THINLY CLAD TO SEEK OTHER SHELTER
ft I Charred and smoldering ruins, with
ftftand there a column of brick ris
ftft,„ r spectre like above the debris, is
|nil that is left today of nearly two
ftft.. "f handsome business property
|H the heart of Dalton.
ft I A quarter of a million dollar fire,
IH : raged between 12 o’clock and
■Hav break yesterday morning devas
|l some of the most valuable pro
■Herty in North Georgia and threw
■Harlv a hundred people out of em
ft B’fhc Hotel Dalton, costing about
■Hb.-.jimi the Dalton Opera House, the
of the A. J. Showalter Company,
QB Dalton Buggy Company build
and the stores in all of these
ftft|' ruetures were swept away before
hurricane of flames which seemed
in their fury.
ft. fled from the fated lintel
in their night clothing and
in the cold north wind until
Heftier shelter was found for them,
ftf ■Thotisands of people watched the
H'onslaught of the flames until nearly j
before returning to their '
ft ft . V. Downing, an engineer in the ’
of the 11. S. Jaudon Engineer- 1
company, of Savannah, who has
Mgwn in Dalton during the recent
■Maret-t paving work, was seriously in-
whie attempting to escape down
|fta < liter pipe on the south side of the
Mr. Downing was burned
|fta|<' v the face and suffered consider-
shock form his exeperience but
out of danger.
loss to Dalton property owners
appalling but with the rue spirit
the city is rallying from the
ft. misfortune and newe* 1 buildings will
take the place of those ’de-
the first person to dis-
the fire was Air. W. A. Black,
alighted from the midnight train
' ' W. & A.. Mr. Black noticed
gj ow ;in ,| ran aroun( ] to the
of Hie Hotel Dalton where he
flames bursting from the third
.just over the kitchen.
at the same time Mr. John
v night clerk, and one of the
l^ft I '"' ''it duly ascertained that the
,;1 ■- was on fire and an alarm was
turned in.
■ft : -"hri- department with a full crew
immediately, but it was not
Sft minm. s before the entire build
envolved in flames which blis-
of adjoining stores and
I ''! plate glass fronts in houses
size of the hotel and the great
d fire in the structure made it a
l’ , "l'"si' ion for the firemen and
9ft ""it lime a n ] lo pe was abandon-
Hie nozzle men worked on the
ll ' building just north of the ho-
' Anally succeeded in cheeking
ft! : 't that point. The first Na
■j J bank and the Maples Hard-
‘""pany were in great danger
time. but the hazard decreased
a fi*‘ rt 'e attack with the hose
1 e danger passed.
THE DALTON ARGUS.
LEADING PAPER OF NORTH GEORGIA. BEST ADVERTISING MEDIUM IN PIEDMONT SECTION.
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No town of its size in the South boas ted of a handsomer hostlery than this
four-story structure, which was destroyed in yesterday’s fire.
The wind from the north was blow- ■
ing a gale, however, and the hotel was
j completely consumed. The clothing
I store of AlcWilliams Bros, north of,
’the hotel escaped, but their two other
! stores, on the hotel’s ground floor,'
I one a dry goods store and the other
a grocery store, were lost.
’ |
The clothing store of W. A. Robert
son and the drug store of Fincher &
Nichols, the other two remaining
firms in the hotel, were gutted and
little was saved from any of them.
The tongues of fire curling and
twisting through tfie air from the top
of the hotel radiated an intense heat
across Crawford street to the opera
house block and although the firemen
fought desperately, the roof of the
theatre suddenly burst into liquid
fire and the entire building ignited
like’ so much tinder.
Under the opera house were J. S.
Thomas’ dry goods store and the new
;
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ITOtOt > L. Mi O
ftrft ft| ft j J-" jftft ; ft i
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A SCENE DURING SUNDAY MORNING’S FIRE.
The picture was taken from Crawford Street, looking East toward the Passenger station. On the left is the
Hotel Dalon when he flames were at their height and on the right is the opera house block, shortly
after it caught. The crowds are being kept out of danger by the police.
DALTON, GEORGIA. THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 1911.
j Greek Case, and in a few minutes it
was apparent that the building was
doomed.
i
: The firemen then tackled the task
of saving the A. J. Showalter Compa
ny’s plant. This three-story build
ing rose to a height of several feet
' over the opera house and had good
walls and after a quarter of an hour's
I work it was generally believed that
the conflagration would be stopped at
this point.
However the intense heat and the
driving wind carried the flames into
the Showalter Company’s plant and
the firemen were powerless.
Long red streams of fire surged in
to the building. The firemen smash
ed windows and made a rapid attack
on the interior of the press and ma
chinery rooms, but to no avail They
fought daringly, taking their lives in
their hands and running the risk of
heat and smoke suffocation, but were
finally beaten and driven from the
spot.
This was the hottest fire of the
night; great billows of flame rolled
out of every window and the glass
melted when reached by the fire.
From the Showalter building, the
hungry blaze spread to the building
occupied by the Dalton Buggy Com
pany and in a few moments it was a
smoking ruin.
This being a one-story structure,
the firemen at last gained an advan
tage—the only one they had had—and
they made use of it. Work was con
centrated upon saving the two adjoin
ing buildings, the first owned by Mr.
Richardson and the next occupied by
the grocery store of J. F. Robertson
and owned by J. B. Brown, These
buildings were spared as well as all
others south of that point on Hamil
ton street and the fire company mas
tered the situation.
When tl|e fire was first discovered
Mr. Towns, the night clerk, made a
hurried tour of the hotel and awaken
ed the guests apprising them of the
fire and tilling them to get out as
quickly as possible. Mr. Towns had
made an inspection of the building
only a short while before and at that
time there was no sign of fire in any
portion of it,
Eyervoiui'cst-aped and with the ex
ception of Mr. Downing, no one was
injured.
In a few minutes after the alarm
had been turned in. people from every
section of the city, aroused by bell
and emergency whistle and the sight
of the flames, swarmed into Hamil
ton street and ropes had to be put up
to insure safety.
The heat affected buildings across
the street and the roofs wtre kept
wet over the stores and office build
ings on the west side of the thorough
fare. Windows were damaged at C.
L. Hardwick & Co’s bank and at the
store of Harlan & Neal, and numbers
of tenants removed a portion of their
belongings, believing as did every one
that the whole business section of the
town was in serious danger.
Some of the merchants got busy
with their various stocks of goods
and Hamilton street was piled with
various kinds of merchandise. '
The contents of the Dalton Buggy-
Company’s store were nearly all sav
ed and Mr. Robertson whose store
1 seemed to be menaced with destruc-
tion removed a quantity of his wares
into the street.
Some of the paraphanalia belonging
to some of the local lodges was res
cued from the Showalter building and
the rest was lost.
Manager Lynn, of the opera house,
was quick enough to get his moving
picture machine and about SI,OOO
worth of films from the burning build
ing, which would have been a dead
loss.
Mr. T. S. McCamy, associate edi
tor of The Dalton Citizen, rescued the
typewriters, books and files of the
paper as well as a number of other
valuable papers, not in the safes.
Mr. Dennis Barrett, proprietor of
the North Georgia Warehouse Com
pany, had about 20 head of horses
in his yards and these were removed
hurridly to Thornton avenue where '
they remained at the Memorial park
the remainder of the night.
At the Looper warehouse, which
building belongs to W. Al. Jones,
sparks blew in through the ventila
tors under the eaves, a distance of
several hundred yards from the fire.
Air. Jones and Mr. Looper were
watching their property and with the
use of a private fire hose extinguish
ed the burning jute before it burst
i into flame.
Shortly after the outbreak in the
hotel Mayor Trammell, realizing the
gravity of the situation, asked for aid
from Chattanooga. The mayor wired
Air. J. A. Baldwin, of the transpor
tation department of the W. & A.
R. R., asking him if that road would
handle a special from Chattanooga
with a fire company. Immediately
came a reply in the affirmative. Col.
Trammell also took the matter up with
Mayor Thompson, the Board of Pub
lic Safety and the Chief of the Fire
department and two Western Union
messages were received in reply.
Mayor Thompson had one message
forwarded which read: .*• HR
“Mayor Thompson and Board of
Public Safety of Chattanooga express
their deepest sympathy and are mak
ing every effort to send you assist
ance. ’ ’
The other dispatch read:
“Will send engine and crew as
soon as car furnished. We can load
in few minutes.” This was signed
by Mr T. C. Lattimore.
The Chattanooga Department ar
rived with a motor engine at 3:38 a.
m, but the fire was under control and
the machine was not unloaded.
I By four o’clock in the morning the
nearly exhausted firemen were guard
ing the ruins and excited but tired
' men women and children were turn
ing their faces homeward.
What will follow this most disas
trous episode in Dalton’s history is
not known, for the losers were more
or less dazed today and were not in
-1 elined to express any definite inten
tions as to what will be done.
They are all. however business men
of determination and strength and it
is safe to say that the ashes will be
quickly swept away as will the memo-
I ry of their misfortunes and that Dal
■ ton will be a better town than ever be-
I fore and that new structures will re
place the old.
j The losses and the amounts of in
surance on them held by the several
firms who suffered, are estimated to
be about as follows:
Hotel Dalton, loss $85,000; insur
ance $20,000.
McWilliams Bros., loss $18,000; in
surance $12,250.
AV. A. Robertson, loss $8,000; in-
ONE DOLLAR A YEAB
surance $4,000.
Fincher & Nichols, loss $16,000; in
surance $9,470,
Opera House company, loss $18,000;
insurance $6,400.
Thomas Dry Goods Co., loss $9,000;
insurance $7,000.
Dalton Case, loss $1,600; insurance
SI,OOO.
Showalter Company, loss $75,000
to $100,000; insurance $42,745.
I Secret orders in Showalter build-
I ing, loss $3,500; insurance S7OO.
I Dalton Buggy Company small loss;
' loss on building, owned by Julian B.
j Oglesby, of Atlanta, estimate at $2,-
I insurance SI,OOO.
Dalton Telephone Company, injury
and damage to poles and wires, an
estimated loss of about $2’500 which
will have to be repaired at once.
I
WHAT IS BEING DONE BY
LOSERS IN THE FIRE
“The man worth while
Is the man who can smile
When everything goes dead wrong.”
; A'ou cannot “down” the man from
Dalton.
1 There were many heavy losers in
the fire, but they are all wearing a
cheerful look under the circumstan
ces and none of them have wasted
time in mourning. They* have got
ten busy and are preparing for busi
ness.
i Fincher & Nichols carried the few
things they rescued into the store
room recently occupied by the Nance
Printery and an order for goods is
now on the way. By*tomorrow or
next day this firm will in all proba
bility be able to fill its prescriptions
and supply its regular trade.
The Dalton Buggy Company saved
its entire stock and are doing busi
ness today in their wareroom just
south of McKnight Bros. Livery sta
ble.
Stone's Barber shop, the roof of
which was crushed by falling brick,
will be located in Shope’s store on
Hamilton street.
Dr. Harlan Erwin, whose office was
damaged, has moved to the Hardwick
building
The Black barber shop saved its
furniture and other belongings which
will be placed somewhere as soon as
possible.
| The store of McWilliams Bros., in
the Oglesby building was not burned.
This was the clothing store and the
business of that firm will at present
be conducted in the one store. They
probably had some water damage, but
the extent of this is not yet known.
The consumed stocks of the several
clothing merchants will take some
i
time to replace and no definite date
can be determined upon for the open
ing of these business houses.
It has not been given out by the
Showalter Company just what the
plans for rebuilding are. It is known
that for some time they have con
sidered the plan of moving their plant
to more roomy quarters on some other
city property, but whether they will
rebuild in the old location is not
known this early after the loss of
their plant.
Everyone is looking cheerful and
trying to forget and the main idea
is to pocket the loss and try again.
HUMOROUS INCIDENTS IN
TIME OF TRAGEDY
As grim a spectacle as a burning
city is not without its semi-humor-
(Continued on Page 8)