OCR Text |
Show Sweep Lake Charles, La,, De-Istroying De-Istroying Thirty Business Blocks S and Most of Residen-ill Residen-ill tial Section. IflAGE is estimated to be U ABOUT FOUR MILLION DOLLARS sral Persons Are Missing, Scores Injured; Fire Starts in Old Opera House Near lis Center of the Town. a ' S 2ed Wire to The Tribune. St LKE CHARLES, La., April 23. Fiyo thousand persons are homeless, tare missing, scores injured and property damage to tho extent of 25 300 has resulted here from n lire which started in an old opera house, J? ie conter of town, wiping out thirty business blocks and then burned :t, through the residential section of the town late today, lc f. Dynamite to Stop names. i jt 8 o'clock tonight dynamite was used to stop the path of flames. The i iTrere checked in this manner, but not until they had practically wiped si c iown. The cause of tho tire has not yet been ascertained. "4H tho many persons missing, it was impossible to toll tonight -whether ' ive beon killed. Temporary sheltering camps have been established on ?? tskirts of the burning city, and the thousands of homeless and in-4 in-4 re being cared for as comfortably as possible. V j Stricken People Suffer. Ui the. sudden drop in temperature, it is certain that the sufferings of Mli icken people will be intense. The firo departments of Jennings. La., T Texas, Alexandria, La., and Beaumont, Tex., aro now here, assisting ung the firo under control. Lake Charles, while an old community, is 2l illy a new city of 20,000 inhabitants. Tt is tho biggest town in south- iimsiana and a big rice and lumbor district. Tt is also tho conter of m ipings oil fields. |