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x x v 1M N IG..1 E N S A , M 2 , 1 1 .N . 2 'AJLANTA FIRE ON MONDA! SEVENTY-FIVE BL AND THOUSAN' "Atlanta, May 21.-Fire that swer through approximately seventy-fiv block in the residence sect: At of Al anta from Decatur street north an ortheaseward to Ponce De Leon avt '?nue late today caused a loss thi ) Mayor Candler tonight estimated t, $3,000,000. One woman, Mrs. Bessi Hoges, (lied of shock and sixty wer treated for minor hurts. From 1,200 to 3,000 homes were d( stroyed, according to Mayor Candle and others who toured the littere zone around the burned district lat tonight. The homes ranged from flir sy negro cabins to handsome resi dences along Ponce dle Leon avenu valued at $10,00 or mcfe each. Man homes in this bejautiful residence sec tion were destroyed by dynamit which finally conquered the flames al ter the fire department aided, by fir pfighters, from half a dozen nearb cities had failed. Troops on Guard. The burned area wars guarde throughout the night by Georgi guardsmen and members of the offi cers' reserve training camp at Pot McPherson. Local police early in th night turned guard duty over to Co Charles R. Noyes, U. S. A., in con mand of the Fort McPherson trainin camp. There were few reports of looting and the only arrest made up to lat at night was that of a man charge with attempting to steal a piano. Civilians *ere not even allowe within blocks of the fire area an newspaper men who w mt throug with passes were halted at every cot ner and their credentials scrutinize< The guardsmen had their rifles. Simouldering Fires. Throughout the burned areas, i some places was only a block wid and in others ranged to severe blocks, hundres of fires smoulderin long after midnight. The wind tha blew in a gale this afternoon an swept the flames over the sheets c water that fire fighters threw up, ha died down late tonight, however, an both Mayor Candler and -Fire Chic Cody expressed the opinion that ther was no further danger. One reaso that the fire gained such headway wa that firemen were fighting a blaze i West End, a residence section acros town from the big fire that broke ou shortly after noon. There were ses eral other small fires in the fternoo and these led to reports of incendi arism. Intimates Incendiarism. "German spies," was heard every where, and Fire Chief Cody intimal ed that he thought the flames migli be incendiary. "I have made a thoi ough examination of the entire sec tion." Mayor Candler said in reply to thi "and I can positively state that th fire is not of incendiary origin." The mayor and members of th Chamber of Commerce arranged mass meeting of business men for tc morrow morning to raise a rand fc the sufferers, and tonight the Re Cross and Associated Charities house scores at the auditorium armory,i churches and private homes. Preparr tions were mande to furnish breakfam to five thousand. Soldiers on Gutard. Col. Noyes, wvith headquarters in a automobile repair shop near the burr edi district, had mapped out the burne area early in the evening and place his companies to gutard various set tions. Strice orders were issued tht' nothing be removed from streets, yr cant lots and yards. Night Chief c Police Jett and Col. Noyes agree that to allow anything to be remove wvould invite looting. There had bee little of that late tonight. One ma was sent to police stationi charge with trying to steal a piano that h had found on the sidewalk. That, a< cording to Night Chief Jett, was th only known ease of looting. Fc blocks on either Sidle of the actuc burned (district no civilian could ente except on a pass signed b~y the mayo: police officials or Col. Noyes. Under Police. "Our work is being done strietl under the police," Col. Noyes explair edl tonight. "We are acting just a though we were civilians sworn Int guard property." Mayor Candler made a tour of thi burned area tonight. lHe issued statement saying the fire waB ack fNIGHT DESTROYS ECKS IN NEGRO SECTION DS OF PEOPLE ARE HOMELESS t dental in origin. "I am positive," he e said, "that there is no chance of its having been incendiary. It started I from a small fire and was swept along - in the teeth of a wind that blew al t most with the force of a gale. I knew t at 3 o'clock this afternoon that we e were going to lose a great many e houses." City Equal to Occasion. - Mayor Candler declared that Atlan r ta could take care of its homeless and ii that while the many offers of outside e help were appreciatted that it would be unnecessary to take advantage of - them. In this he was joined by lead e ing members of the Chamber of Com V merce. - All officials agreed that a great deal e of relief work would have to be (lone - tomorrow. e An emergency fund was started to V night and it was announced that a meeting would be held tomoi-row to further the relief work. One of the l first subscriptions reported to tho a mayor was $1,000 from Ernest Wood _ ruff, a local capitalist. T The fire started in an abscure ne gro section of the city at Decatur street just east of IFort street this afternoon, burned several blocks of small houses clean, jumped over five low brick buildings and a row of small shacks and swept on nearly a e mile unobstructed until it reached a I better residence section. At 8 o'clock tonight it was two blocks beyond : Ponce de Leon avenue and not under l control. The fire fighters, who includ ed hundreds of soldiers who aided by an abatement of the wind, but by no means had mastered the flames, which many feared would not be con quered until they burned themselves out at the edge of Piedmont Park, a large open space in the northeastern 1 section of the city. Thousands Homeless. t Thousands of persons tonight were l homeless and are being fed and quar f tered in public buildings by the Red Cross and a committee of Atlanta men. f The loss at 8 o'clock was estimated e at from $2,000,000 to $3,000,000, but persons familiar with real estate vat s ues stated that any estimate at this n time was nothing more than guess s work. The flames did not attack the e more exclusive residence sections, but a large part of the devastation was in neighborhoods composed largely of homes ranging in value from $2,500 to $6,000. Scores of pretty homes in a com parative!y r - section of the city to night were I, blown up with dy namite to : the blaze, but four hours of this work had not resulted in much good. The confi agration was eating up home after home, more slowly than in the afternoon when driven by a high wind, but moving forward relentlessly. el)riven Back Two Blocks. The dynamiting began at Boulevardl Place at about 4 o'clock, but the r fighters soon were dIriven bar-k two wvhere the greatest eff'ort was nmade. Aided by the wvide avenue and the slowly dlying dind, soldiers, firemen tand private citizens blew up blocks of houses. Once or twice a house on the north sidle of the street wouldl catch lire, but for almost twvo hours Sthese sporadic outbreaks were -stoppedl. Lanter, however, the flames gainedl a foothold across the street, swept on a block to Vedo Way and mlovedl on t in a northeasterly dlirection. Between Edgewvood avenue andl De f catur street, at the start of the fire, il the flames confinedl themselves to the cI section between Boulevard Place and " Hlilliard street. At Edgewood they a movedl eastwvard as far as Prospect a Place in sp~ots, wiping cut a block e nowv andl then. Practically the entire -section bounded by Hilliard street on e the west, Prospect Place on the east, r Edgewood avenue on the south and INorth avenue on the north wais laidl r waste, *, Peachtree Street Threatened. At North avenue North Jackson street became the weistern boundary y and with a slight change in the wind, the fire moved steadily on in a north s easterly direction, It never got near o or Peachtree street, the main thor oughfare of the city, than seven e blocks, although at times a moment a ary change of wind threatened in that dIrection.4 Firemen had been fighting a small )laze in the big Atlanta cotton ware iouse, where a great deal of military mupplies are stored, and at the same ime six residences in West End were )urning, when the alarm came in from he Decatur street box. As many as !ould be spared were sent to this see ion, but it is doubtful if the entire lepartment could have checked the lames that, driven by a high wind, !airly ate up the small houses, on .vhich rain had not fallen in many lays. Household Goods Piled Up. Vagaries of the wind caused great darm) in sections that afterwards iroved safe and tonight for blocks on dl siees of the area of destruction aousehold goods were piled in every ronceivable place. These were guard :i in most cases by soldiers who were lso pressed into all kinds of work. Several hundred buckets were rush d to Ponce de Leon avenue when the ight centered there. Each soldier vas supplied with one and as a tiny )laze started on a roof these - men vere rushed to it. It was by such letai!edI methods as these that the laze was checked at the avenue for o long a time. The presence of the oliers directing traffic, guarding ousehold goods and keeping people rum the danger zone gave almost he appearance of martial law. As ar as has been reported tonight, good )rder was maintained everywhere and here were no attempts at looting. In a statement to the Associated 'rss tonight Mayor Asa G. Candler tated that he had fully investigated he reports that the fire was of an in endIiary origin. "There is nothing whatever to sup ,ort that theory," Mayor Candler aid. The fact that three fires were )urning at practically the same time, t is believed lent strength to the in endiarism reports. Where Blaze Started. The blaze started in the Skinner Nt rage Company's plant, which is al nost surrounded by many small frame louses. When the flames had jumped across 7dgewood avenue and were being iriven with incredible rapidity toward he better sections of the city a gen rral call for aid went out. Fire de artments at Chattanooga, Mac on, \ugusta, Newman, Georgia, Marietta, ta., and Griffin, Ga., were asked to end aid. Fort McPherson was called ipon for all the men that could be pared, busin"ss houses were asked to aend trucks to haul extra hose and miy other supplies and private auto nobiles were offered by the 'scores. The 2.500 men in the officers re erve corps and most of the members if the Fifth Georgia guardsmen were ent in from the fort and entered into he work lustily, as many of them vere working to save their own homes >r the dwellings of relatives. News >aper men sent into the area tele >honed along with other reports that heir own homes in many instances tad been destroyed. A pproximately seventy-five blocks vere cl.vastated, but the area cannot 1e correctly estimated by blocks, as fter the fight at Ponce I Leon aye mae the flames skirted that thorough 'are on the south side of the street 'or some distance. Of s tonight wvould not hazard a guess at the mionetary loss. The lestroyed buildings rangedl all the ray from shacks occupied by negroes o0 homes upj to $6,000 or $8,000. Some 'stiimates wer~e between $2,000,000 >r $3,000,000, but they were neither rom sources nor based on calculations .o give them weight. Starting P'oint. The fire startedI in the Skinner Sto 'age and Warehouse Plant near D~e 'atur street, just eas of Fort street, roam a cause not determined tonight. t quickly spread to the small houses mearby, which wvere dIry from lack of 'nin, and~ dIriven by a high wind, xtartedl to rapidlly eat its way north mdt northeastward. A round the flame wept area tonight, with its streets itteredI with broken wires, splinters rom acres of dlynamited homes and ill the 0(dds and ends of furniture and lothing that was gathered in an in lescribable mass from hundreds of aomes, United States soldiers stood guard. The men wvere comp~osedl of 3eorgia Guardsmen and members of he officers' reserve training camp at 'ort McPherson. O President Signs Bill. Washington, May 22..-President Ailson today signed the bill increas ng the enlisted war strength of the lavy to 150,000 men and the marine orns to 30,000, WILL PROTEST TO GERMANY Against the Detention of American Citizens. Washington, May 22.--Protests to Germany against the detention of American citizens was made by the State Department today through the Spanish Government. The depart ment has received positive informa tion that the Americans are being held in Germany and has asked for a ~full and definite statement of the Imperial Government's attitude con cerning their departure. It is pointed out this government always has acted promptly on ap plication of German subjects to leave the United States. --- ----0---- - MAXIM SAYS DEVICE (ONQU'ElRS t'-BOATS New York, May 22.--Iludson Maxim announcel today that he had invented and peri'fected 11 device which will make ships immane from the dangers of' the submarine. Ile said that torpedoes, even when fired at close range and striking their t:argets would explode harnlessly atgainst the hulls of their intended victia.. The inventor made the announce ment at a luncheon given in Brooklyn. lie asserted that the invention soon will be demonstrated by the govern ment, which already had been advised in details. "The invention is practical for every type of vessel," he said. "It can be applied within a few months at a comparatively cheap price to the hulls of ships already constructed. 'I' only change necessary in vessels al ready built will he a slight enlarge ment in their beams. .\1y device is of solid material and ene ireles the en tire ship from the how to the stern. It in no sense or manner resembles either a scre'en or net." ----- ------------ - - t-l)AT'S GET' GItAIN ill'S Vessels With food Cargoes Were liolnd for F'inland. Stockholm, May 22...--(Via London). ---Severy li'hthouse stations report ed that German submarines have cap tured three Swedish steamers loua.:d with freight for Finland. Numerous submarines apparently are patrollin the Bothnian gulf, working in con junction with Zeppelins, which fre <picntly are seen at different points oil' the east coast of Sweden. Trailic to Sw(- ,en b.: water routes recently was tenporai'ily .Stolpped. STCCESSFU'L 'l'REN('II RAI) London, 'lay 22.--"Our troops sUe cessfully raided the e'nemy's trenches at \'ernell's at noon today," says the war oflice statement tonight. On the rest of the front there was nothing of special interest to report. One Ger man aeroplane was brought down in the air fighting yesterday and another hostile machine was driven lown damaged. One of our nero: planes is missing." IAPPENINGS OF 20 Y[ARS AGO The .Jordan school gave an ('n joy able picnic yesterday at Al r. W. G Frierson's on Santee. Miss Lizzie Geiger, of St. Mat thewvs, is visiting at the home of heir brothe'r, Dr1. J. Frank Ge(ige'r. Mr. WV. I. Conyers is in Charleston on dluty as juryman at the s;essioni of the U. S. District Court. E'fgineer Zack Nettles, wh'lo fre quently rani over this road, comimitt ed suicide ini Florence a1 few dlays a;go b~y cutting his throat. This is the last week of school at the Insti tute' ando the boys aren looking forward to mantiy e'venings of swim ming and baseball. Mr'. J1. Iorton Rigby has r'eturnedl from Anderson where lie represen ted this lodge at the Griandi Lod(ge mee(t ing, Knights of P'ythias. Last Tfhursday morning wvhile ab sent from home, the house of Mr'. Louis Levi, near St. Paul, wvas (de stroyedl by fire and nearly everything was lost. Mr. Levi's loss will amount to about $3,000. No insurance. The jailer reports sixteen prison ers now in jail, six of themi belong ing on the chain gang andl the other ten awaiting trial at the approaching term of court, chargedl with sundry crimes, none of which, however, are for mnurde MANY NEW REGIMENTS TO BE ORCANIL[D To Supply Tactical Formation Neces sary for Establishment of Six teen Divisions of National Guard. SIXTEEN AEIIO SQUADRONS Carolina's Quota: Refgt. Infantry, Three Troops Cavalry, llegt. Field Artillery, Two Com panies Engineers. Washington, May 22.---Organization of scores of new regiments of Nation al Guard artillery, engineers, signal troops and cavalry will be undertaken soon to supply the tactical formation necessary for the establishment of the sixteen divisions of the guard provid ed for in the War Department's plans. In addition, immediately after the existing State soldiers have been drafted into the federal service, there must be organized divisional head quarters detachments, supply, a mtnu nition and medical trains, heavy fiheld artillery and signal battalions anl aero servic", two cavalry divisions and many new coast artillery units and reserves. Infantry Arm. In the infantry, the arms of the ser vice in which the guard is strongest, thirty regiments and six companies must 'be created to provide the 1.1.1 regiments of the divisional structure. The principal shortage is in field artillery. Each of the sixteen divi sions requires three full regiments of six batteries each, or a total of 288 batteries. There now exists in the guard 108 batteries. The shortage in engineers is al most as great. There will be needed sixteen regiments, or a total of nin ety-six companies, whereas there now are only thirty companies. Aero Squadrons. Each division also will have an aero squadron or balloon company, making sixteen air service units. The first effort of the department is to bring up to full war strenth all existing units of the guard. The next step will be to create the new units necessary to complete the six teen infantry diii::, and the adju tant generals of the States have been instructed that they should preparc for these new organizations without delay. Southern States will be called upon to furnish in addition the fol lowing: Ninth Division-North Carolina, one cavalry machine gun troop, one regiment field artillery, one ralio company, signal corps; South Caro lina, one regiment infantry, three troops cavalry, one regiment field artillery, two companies engineers, one outpost company, signal corps; Tennessee, one regiment infantry, ont eroop cavalry, one regiment field artillery, one wire company, signal corps. Tenth Division-Alabama, one regi ment field artillery, one batallion en gineers; Georgia, two battalions in fantry, one regiment field artillery, one battalion engineers, one wire com pany andl outp~ost company, signal corps; Florida, twvo battalions infain try, one battalion field artillery. Fifteenth Division- Texas, four regiments infantry, one -regiment (less one squadron) eavalry, two regi ments (less twvo batteries) fiel artil lery, one battalion (less two conmpa n ies ) engineers, one field battalion, signal corps; Oklahoma, two regi ments infantry, one regiment field artillery, one battalion (less one com pany ) engineers. Eighteenth Division. Eighteenth Division-A rkansas, one regiment infantry, one regiment field artillery, one outp~ost company, sig nal corps; M ississippli, two regiments infantry, twvo squadrons cavalry, one machine gun troop -cavalry, one regi ment field artillery, one battalion en gineers, one radlio company signal corps; Louisiana, two regiments in fantry, one squadlron (less two troops) cavalry, one regiment (less one bat talion) field artillery, one battalion engineers, one wire company, signal corps. FOR WAR RISK INSURANCE Washington, May 22.-The admin istration bill appropriating $50,000, 000 for the government War Risk In surance Bureau and authorizing It to insure lives of crews on American merchant vessels was passed today by the Senate. A similar measure is pendingr in the usea. PRESIDENT SAYS BERLIN'S INSULTS WERE UNBEARABLE President Says No Self-respecting Nation Could Longer Hlave Horne Wrongs. WAR ONLY WAY O"' 01: IT Ir. Wilson Restates Ieasons for ,Nation's Intry Into (Greal World War. Washington, 'Jay 22. -.\o nat ion thst respected itself or the ric-hit of humanity could longer have borne the overwhelming wrongs that GIermatnyt inflicted Upon the United States. I'res idIent Wilson declared in a letter re stating the reasons for this nation'; entrance into the war, written to Rep res itative Hleflin, of Alabama. anl made 'ubliic today at the \Vhit. 1l ouse. Mr. Hieflin had written to the Pl'resi dent, saying some of his recent ut terances on the war apparently .had caused confusion over the issue with (e'miianly. in restating his p ,ition the President again made it clear that the United States has no quarrel with the German people, but with an au tocracy "which acts Ip-onl purposes to which the Germans have never con sented." 'resident's Letter. The letter follows: "It is incomprehensible to me' how and frank or honest person could doubt or question my position with regard to the war or its objects. I have again and again stated the very serious and long continued wrongs wh ich the Imperial German Govern tiert has perpetrated again st the rights, the cominerce and the ('itizeins of the United States. The list is long and overwhelmoing. No nation that respected itself or the rights of humanity could have borne those wrongs any longer. "Our objects in going into the war have been state I with equal clearness. The whole of the concejptioni, which I take to be the conception of our fel-. low countrymetn, with r'egard to the outcome of the war and the terms of its settlement, I set forth with the utmost explicitness in an address to the Senate of the United States toi the 22d of January last,. Again, in my message to ('ongress on the 21 of April last, those objects were' st: ed in unmistakable terms. Only One Purpose. "I cati conceive no purpose ini seek ing to becloud this matter, except the purpose of weakening the hands of the government and making the pa t which the United States is to play in this great struggle for hiutma i liberty an inellieint and he'sitati t part. We have enercd the wa' fee our own objects clearly state-.. an I shall forget neither the reasons nor the objects. "'There is no hate in our hearts for the ('rman people, but there is a re solve that tanot be shaken even by miiisretpresenltat ion to overcoetna the prettenttins of the au tocrat ic goivern mlenit wihich thle G ermni pe(ople hiave ne(ver con'tilsen ted." British N aval A ut horit ies Sutspect Onie Has3 Estcape'r froii a German Port. Ntew York, lay' 22.- -informat ion that the Br'it ish naval authborit ie suspected't thiatta Germanti ( seat ritder es5capedtt fr'omi a German pori31liit anad was at hairge wais br'ought to Amteicae~ to day by a Belgian rel ief ship. The Bel gian c'apta in si ithiis vessel was htiredt uponi by a Brit ishi druiser' May 13 otl' the north of Sdot land. 'T' r'elief ih ip halted and thle Briton expla inedl, the Belgian catptain re(potedttt, that Ite re liekf ve'sselI, which cairrites four 3 mast, was mtistakein for a fotur-itastedi raitd er wvhiich was believted to have left, Germany undter the guist' of a me(r chainman. HitAZILIAN V'ESSEL:l SUNK Steamer Tijueat D)estroyed Oft' (oatst of' Brittany. Pairis, May 21 .--The Brizilian steamer Tijuca was sunk off the coast of Brittany yesterdaty. Part of her crew was pic'ked up. The Tijuen wats last repiorted na having sailed from Pernambuco for Havrc on April 9. She was of 2,304 tons oma.