MISSISSIPPI TOWN HAS $400,000 FIRE.

INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL FOR COLORED GIRLS IS COMPLETELY DESTROYED.

OCCURRED EARLY IN MORNING.

IN THE AFTERNOON COTTON PRESS, SHED AND 5,000 BALES GO UP.

FIRE DEPARTMENT UNABLE TO WORK.

COMPRESS WEIGHER ATTEMPTS TO SAVE HIS BOOKS AND IS BURNED TO DEATH -- LIGHT INSURANCE.

West Point, Miss., March 6. -- Nearly $400,000 worth of property was destroyed by fire here today. The Mary Holmes college, an industrial school for colored girls, burned this morning, and this afternoon the cotton pres shed, etc., together with a large amount of cotton, was destroyed.
This morning at about 6:30 o'clock an alarm was sent in that the Mary Holmes seminary was on fire. The building is situated far outside the fire limits of the city, making the response of the department useless as far as extinguishing the flames was concerned. The building was soon a mass of flames, and being fanned by a strong wind, the magnificent structure was quickly made a mass of ruins. All of the inmates escaped uninjured, but a large portion of their personal effects was lost.
DR. HENRY PAYNE, president of the institution, was severely burned about the face and hands while trying to save his desk, containing valuable papers and records. The fire was caused by the burning soot in the large chimney in the cook room. The building was erected two years ago at a cost of $50,000. The equipment cost $10,000 or $15,000 more. The total insurance is only $40,000.
At about 3:30 o'clock this afternoon a spark from a Mobile and Ohio engine started a blaze in the compress yards, and as a perfect gale was blowing from a favorable direction, the fire spread as if in a powder magazine, and in an instant the entire yards and warehouses were in a blaze, preducing great clouds of flame and smoke. An alarm was instantly turned in, but to no avail, for the fire had spread so rapidly that nothing could be done but to watch $300,000 worth of property go up in smoke. Five thousand bales of cotton were in the yards and were consumed, as were a few cars that stood on a switch near by. The total loss of the press, together with the warehouses and cotton, the managers say, will reach fully $300,000.
R. C. McDANIEL, the compress weigher and for many years identified with the cotton interests of this section, in attempting to obtain some papers from his office, was caught in the blaze and burned to death. The press and cotton were insured to the usual extent of such properties.

The Atlanta Constitution Georgia 1899-03-07
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!