SWEPT BY FLAMES.

MOBILE, ALABAMA, SUFFERS FROM A MILLION DOLLAR FIRE.

Twenty-four Squares Burned, Entailing a Great Loss to the City-Narrow Escapes From Death. A Collapsed Stand Pipe Floods a Texas Town-Property Destroyed.

MOBILE, ALA., October 26.-Mobile suffered severely by fire to-day, the buildings consumed being a shingle mill, three cotton compresses and five cotton warehouses, with 5,630 bales of cotton, the Gulf City oil mill; the Mobile ice factory, three steamboats, eleven loaded and five empty freight cars, two and wood yards, a freight depot with a small amount of freight and six wharves. The fire was aided by a strong northwest wind, but had it been a point or two nearer north pretty much of all the town would have gone. There was no loss of life, although many of firemen were overcome with heat and smoke, and many narrow escapes from falling walls occurred. The loss is one of the most serious ever known here, and can be safely put down at a million dollars.

At 6 o'clock to-night the fire is well under control and no fears are entertained for its continuance. The fire originated in a pile of shavings at Stewart & Butt's shingle mill at One Mile Creek, and after destroying the mill swept southward. Goodman's warehouse caught fire from the sparks and soon went up in flames with its 400 bales of cotton.

The Selma warehouse, in which was stored 1,200 bales, was all swept away, the horses being the only things saved from the warehouse. The Taylor Press, adjoining, then caught and burned. Truwitt's warehouse, with its contents, 400 bales of cotton, was the next to go. Beer's warehouse, adjoining caught, but was put out with partial loss.

The Mobile and Montgomery freight warehouse was soon gone. At the same time fire was discovered in the cotton seed oil mills, having caught from the cotton fire, and soon this large property was wrapped in flames and burned. The Mobile Fertilizer Manufactory was the next to go in the general conflagration. Then followed the 200 foot warehouse of the cotton seed mills, filled with cotton seed; Johnson's wood yard; river steamers Ruth, Mary, Elizabeth and Jewel, burned to the waters edge; Cooley's Cotton Compress, Emanuel and Cooley's warehouses with 1,000 bales of cotton; Johnson Brother's wood yard; Mobile ice factory; Gulf City Wood and Coal Companies yard; O'Donnell's wharf and 61 bales of cotton; four squares on Commerce street in all being denuded.

The Wheeling Register, Wheeling, WV 27 Oct 1890
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Transcribed by Linda Houston. Thank you, Linda!