| Show iT BUILDING LEFT Burned District in J Jacksonville Thirteen Blocks Wide by Two Miles Long Is Swept Clean as a Floor t Ciiy Is Under Martial Law and All Available State Aili tia Is on Duty Loss Will Amount to at Least 10000000 Rumors of f Loss of Life Lack Verification Ten Thousand People Are j Homelesfc tJI Government Is Supplying Tents Jacksonville Flo May iJaclison 1 lire yesterday has burned dies great Mdl out One hundred and forty blocks of a beautiful city have Aht ten laid woste The loss will not be approximately for a week rron even li It is expected It will amount ton to-n There are many rumors foat that many lives were lost but as undertaker In the city was Tcry trned l out It Is Impossible to obtain caflrmallon of the rumors IJ1 One story is I persistently reiterated j I t the effect that a party of men and omen driven to the docks by the compelled to Jump into the f f were eater and that several of them were trorwed Mrs Hogan a negro AO 10 was burned in her house and clmrred remains were buried by tlr C1fl1T ifrfendp this afternoon EWEPT CLEAN OF EVERYTHING thirteen blocks The burned district is Tide and two miles long and extends mm the St Johns river where it troed ten docks to the waters edge Catherine street on the cast Orange tithe 1 north and Davidson on the west TaJs Immense area was swept as clean A I1nnr 1 IIVV I UNDER MARTIAL LAW 1M city is under martial law and i3 l available State mllltla Is on duty tote t streets of Jacksonville Some tu Is being brought out of the con teio Jacksonville is facing the taerpncy calmly and has organized tel rtM work TEN THOUSAND HOMELESS Ti j thousand people arc homeless and ainy of them left on the afternoon aad night trains for St Augustine and dher coast cities and nearby towns vhllc numerous river craft took many to little places on the St Johns river Supply stations have been established d5rfvarious parts of the city ancl all djry they have been thronged by the hungry TENTS FROM WAR BUREAU p The prompt action of Secretary of War Root lI1t tendering the use of the barracks near St AugustIne was receded re-ceded with gratitude on every side I The cast coaaVtralns leaving here at ri oclock this aUtrnoon carried to St Augustine over 2000 i people who hope to receive temporary shelter from the Government WILL BE CITY OF TENTS A committee was appointed at a meeting of citizens this afternoon to telegraph the Governors of various States to send all the tents they can spare tp t Jacksonville It will be weeks More anything like permanent can bs provided for the homeless thousands thou-sands and Jacksonville for some time to come will bo a city of tents RELIEF FUND RAISED The relief fund raised by the cltl wra of Jacksonville at a meeting this evening amounts to 15000 This was augmented tonight by a telegram from th Armour company of Chicago Intruding I In-truding Mayor Bowden to draw for 1C l o Other subscriptions aie being I received from many places Jacksonville Jackson-ville haD not yet made an official appeal ap-peal or aid There seems to be some objection to this but it is mainly based on the asrcrtlqu by many leading cltl ZTIS that Jacksonville and Florida can I meet the emergency and care for their own The following telegram was received re-ceived from the Governor today SPECIAL RELIEF FROM STATE Tallahassee Fla May 1 MacWil hams AdjutantGeneral Your call for Gainesville Orlando and Starke companies approved Have appointed LLngls B R Yard and Rogers special spe-cial relief committee placing 20000 at their disposal lOW S JENNINGS Governor SOLDIERS PATROL STREETS At i oclock this morning Gov Jen flags declared the city under I martial I i ha The city is patrolled and thc en trances to the burned district guarded I to nllncls j The8Uburb of Jacksonville stood out mij like oases in the desert of deso I IM aticn l irom Bridge street to Laura a thin rlnp three blocks deep stands iini i t uninjurftj along the rlvtr front but to r > tastwanl northward and west J 1 Ji or Hemming park an unbroken I of ashes meets the eye in which hnh K Unl chimneys rear themselves like I I wonumenla in a forgotten cemetery CAMPED ON VACANT LOTS Cery acanUloL In the territory tl 11mnLflng the burned district faml DU arc camped Some have piled fur a am about them spreading over this n kpt l making tent In ts a many this forfh KCOVcrlnK was only enough K 1 hriS I > baby Some had brought a fry 40 n ome a coffee pot some had h tur ° ° y lo buy neadi all were shared L1Jfln Over the gathering occaslon Ehrlllld t WHC i the mourning of a negress Ulv hlld ANaJJ missing to be followed I Ubit In very key that told ° c the I jji11 ° r rfprt Bibn In I the Caucasian I It the savi frankness the l rifan i J BtRIED GOODS TO SAVE THEM l < Urlng the pro rcrs of the lire hunt I I I hun-t oi people moved their goods into i t d fNls but It was Impossible to t4 fir Js i 10 caT the goods away I Ir I tPe h nJture booka and brirabrnc t rood Dr Stout saved his II Jhlb digging a hole in his yard he hurled his books wrapped in n wi ed ht blankcl ThIs plan was fol Wr t trunks 3 zercral persons Some buried b In the iis i same manner Ifeil 11ks Joaded with fiirniture and U fill > the streetr all day Home r Pto alrpt on Improvised beds ticir l th furniture in quarters away IJurned 1strirL In the 41 rt 1 of rrlled early 1 lire r many people moved Cl rrorcrt distances of half a mIle fJ yic only to find it necessary to ehcj again as the Ilames en t i HOW FIRE ORIGINATED e Proprietor of the lnrin Fiber company made the OrIi 1 n Statement ot today lcgardh1t J the fire Outside lire I I t factory there is a drying platform 200 feet square upon which the moss is piled after it has been ginned Twenty feet away there are two negro cottages cot-tages and the chimney of one of these cottages was one fire This however is a frequent occurrence and once or twice before the fiber on the drying platform had been set afire from the falling soot of the chimneys of the cottages The men knocked off at 12 oclock for dinner and were lying around In the shade when one of them discovered that from thp middle of the pile of moss smoke was issuing FIRE BEYOND CONTROL This having happened before no ImpOrtance im-portance was attached to It and two men grabbed buckets of water and went to extinguish the fire But the I fire by this time had gained considerable considera-ble headway The hose was quickly brought into play but the fire got away from the men and the alarm was sent In There is no fire In the building the factory being worked with electricity and it is six months since the boilers were in use Every effort that could bo made to put out the fire was made but the dryness of everything was too much for thc men at the factory and when the department depart-ment reached the scene the pine buildIngs build-ings and the flying shingles made it Impossible to control the fire TO BOND CITY AND COUNTY The chairman of the Board of County Coun-ty Commissioners Porchcr LEngle said today A bill will be Introduced in the Legislature at once to bond Dual Du-al county for perhaps 200000 to rebuild re-build the courthouse and the county jail The bill is being prepared I understand un-derstand that a bill for the issuance of 500000 of city bonds will be at once Introduced also Of this 5300000 will be used to take up the Judgment debts bf the city and the remainder to rebuild re-build the city buildings RECORDS IN VAULTS Tho prisoners in the county jail thirtyfive In number including many for serious offenses some capital were marched to Riverside under heavy guard before thefire reached them and this morning were taken by the Sheriff to Green Cove Springs Fernandlna and St Augustine The county records were placed In the vaults in the court building Their condition will not be known until the vault cools THOUSANDS ARE HOMELESS The disaster has effectually obliterated oblit-erated the dividing line between rich and poor and a common catastrophe has made all akin Women wealthy yesterday penniless today sat on the curbing beside the beggar sharing alike the pitiless fate that befell them both Tonight the sidewalks are thronged with homeless people The wharves arc crowded wi lth sleepers and every available craft In the harbor har-bor has been made Into a temporary hotelALL ALL CHURCHES DESTROYED Religious services will be held tomorrow tomor-row in the open air Not a Oily church I remains standing Fire Chief Haney I Is Improved tonight and It Is thought I he will entirely recover The children I of Dr P H Decn reported os burned or missing this morning have been found alive Dr Deans Injuries are slight President Barnett of the National Bank of Jacksonville is not seriously hurt There were many prostrations from heat during tho day CITY IN DARKNESS Jacksonville is in total darkness tonight to-night save for the reflection that burns I In the sky In the western portion of the city marking the vast fields of 1 glowing embers that now and then are fanned into flames At C oclock the first trolley car was operated since noon yesterday At 7 oclock additional troops reached the city to relieve the i soldiers who had been on duty for more than twentyfour hours Crowds are leaving the city on outgoing trains yet the multitude of homeless people on the streets does not appear decreased de-creased PITIFUL SCENES The night scenes are picturesque and pitiful lAbout the city are cordons of soldiers and at each corner a policeman police-man or a soldier stands Amid the great excitement the day passed and I thc city tonight is very quiet Little disorder has been reported EXCURSIONISTS SHUT OUT At a meeting of the citizens commit tee this afternoon a resolution was adopted prohibiting the running of excursion ex-cursion trains Into the city Requests had been made by several places for special trains to Jacksonville but the committee Informed the roads that If the trains were run the excursionists would not bo permitted to leave the trains I The negroes though hungry and tel i rorstrlckcn have so far shown no disPosition dis-position to give trouble The TimesUnion and Citizen announce an-nounce tonight the receipt of nearly 2000 contributed to the relief of the city SurgeonGeneral Wyman Is bend ing tonight a carload of tents for the fire sufferers BELIEVES MANY PERISHED I A sailboat that way at the boatyard boat-yard at Third and Main streets was made use of by Alfred Ball of Spring r field a suburb Mr Ball says There were certainly many lives lost at that point The shrinks and ciles for help that came to my ears during the first moments of the four hours that I was on the river were heartrending and awful 1 I was utterly helpless to aid I am positive at least five percons were I drowned at that place I got in a sailboat at Gardners yard at 5 oclock There were about fifteen persons aboard two negroes among the number When we got Into thc boat every avenue of escape was cut ofrrc got a line to the steamer Edith and she pulled us to the dock SAW NUMBER DROWN A moment later the line parted Two boats were drifting alongside and eight pcmons tried to get Into them In the panic both boats capsized I s < iw several go down and drown Several Sev-eral of those who got out of the sail boat were swe under the wharf at thc foot of Market street and think all must htv e perished I got to the wharf and for four houra held to the piling When I was rescued I was badly burned about the head I felt a body float against my legs and tried to lift It to the surface but failed CALLS FOR HELP Undoubtedly there were many lives I lost at the foot of Market street Arthur Cummer of the Cummer Lum ber company told the following We heard shrieks and cnlls for help as we uteamed from the wharf at tljc last minute Wp heard a number of persons per-sons were in peril on the wharf and made for tho pier again A sailboat was in the docks Young Cqxsetter of St Augustine swam to the steamer Edith and we gave him a line The line either parted or was huined In thc same Instant both steamer and boat were enveloped in dense smoke We got a glimpse of the sailboat drift ing In shore and then it disappeared I in the flames As the Edith steamed toward midchannel l to escape we heard cries for help There Is no doubt hut that all in the boat suffered a frightful fate The officers and crew of the Edith report that they saved sixty persons who had Jumped into the river to escape thc names |
