Fire Sweeps Through Grays Harbor City Home
A morning fire destroys a family home and the local post office, leaving the residents with little but the clothes on their backs.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Yesterday morning W. J. McNamara, soon after having started his fire, discovered flames between the walls near the chimney. He had only enough time to alarm his wife, who was dressing. She ran out taking a bird with her and he with a trunk. That was all they had time to save, the house burning so quickly. The house was nicely furnished, a walnut chamber set costing $160, among other things. Goods, clothing and everything were quickly consumed. The post office, in an adjoining building, was also burned, but not until it was cleared of all movable contents. Mr. McNamara estimated his loss at least $4,000, on which there is but slight insurance.
“She ran out taking a bird with her and he with a trunk. That was all they had time to save.”
Fire was the constant, terrifying companion of early Grays Harbor life, where rapid growth often outpaced the town's ability to maintain safety standards. The loss of a home and a post office in minutes mirrors the vulnerability of today's wooden-frame housing to fast-moving infernos, even if modern building codes have shifted the risks.
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