Sight Fire Damage
Fire of unknown origin yesterday afternoon in the residence
of Mrs. H.D. Abernethy did considerable damage to a large clothes closet and
destroyed most f the clothing of the owner and her daughter. The damage to the
furnishings was about $150; that to the clothing was not estimated. There was
no fire near the closet and it is supposed the blaze was due to spontaneous
combustion.
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Kitchen Roof Fire
Fire on the roof of the kitchen of Mrs. Raymond Robinson’s
residence on Thirteenth street yesterday caused damage estimated at $2.50. The
blaze must have started from a defective flue. It was the second alarm of the
day.
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Fire Drills Are
Carried Out Well
Fire Chief Harry E. Whitener, accompanied by a group of
firemen, made an unexpected visit to all of the Hickory schools this morning to
test the efficiency of the fire drills that are given in each school. The south
graded school was the first visited, and in 30 seconds from the call of “fire”
every child in the building was in the yard. An inspection of the basement showed
this building to be in perfect condition.
The north graded school was visited next, and it took 1
minute 42 seconds from the first call to empty the building. This delay was sue
in large measure to the fact that one of the outside doors had been fastened
back, so that when the children massed against the door they could not get it
open. The lock on the door had been broken and the janitor had tied it the
night before, forgetting to take the fastening off this morning. Chief Whitener
gave a good lecture on the importance of preparedness, and said this experience
should be a lesson to the school as well as all others in the city.
The high school scholars responded to the call of “fire”
very promptly, and the building was emptied in 1 minute. The inspection of the
basement was not satisfactory to the chief, and he read the riot act to the
janitor had tidied it the night before old paper against a board partition near
the furnace room. (?) He also took exception to the placement of an oil stove
for cooking in the little room in the basement without protection of any kind
in event of the stove flaming high, as oil stoves sometimes have the habit of
doing.
The last call was made to the colored graded school. The principal
of the school was in the basement looking after the cleaning up of that part of
the building when the party arrived. Rushing up the steps and yelling fire at
the top of his voice the chief came mighty near being stampeded by the rush of
the colored children to get out. They got out in record time—25 seconds—and ran
around the building looking to see where the smoke and flames were located.
Chief Whitener is certainly on to his job and announced his
intention of testing every fire plug in the city, as he believed there were
many of them that have never been opened since they were put in.
Chief Whitener announced today that fire drills will be held
every week hereafter at the city schools.
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