Neighbors Rally After Fire Claims Orchard Home
When McCord Taylor's home was lost to a sudden blaze, the local veterans' post immediately pledged to rebuild it for him.
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.
Fire of an unknown origin on Wednesday evening completely destroyed the residence of McCord Taylor on his orchard property south of town. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor were dinner guests that evening of Mr. and Mrs. U. S. Agnew. They left home about 7 p.m. and the fire was discovered about an hour later; when the neighbors and those from town arrived, they were able to save only a shotgun and two stepladders that were leaning against the back of the house. Both of the Taylor dogs, as well as a kitten, were in the house when it burned. Mr. Taylor said there was no insurance on the property and the loss was complete. On Thursday, Ford Johnson, commander of Dallas McGlothlen Post, told Mr. Taylor that if he would buy the lumber to rebuild the house, members of the Post would do all the necessary work, gratis. He said he had a crew of 10 volunteers and if needed, there would be many others. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor expect to leave Saturday morning for Seattle, where they had previously planned to spend the holidays, but will return as soon as the weather breaks and rebuild.
“If he would buy the lumber to rebuild the house, members of the Post would do all the necessary work, gratis.”
The total loss of an uninsured home remains a devastating event for any family, but the immediate mobilization of a veterans' group to provide free labor reflects a tight-knit, rural social fabric that is harder to find in the modern, individualistic landscape of the Columbia Basin.
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