Fire Ravages Cle-Elum
A devastating blaze wipes out a business district, echoing the recent destruction in North Yakima.
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.
This town is very much discouraged over the set-back of the recent fire, which reminds me of North Yakima’s late conflagration. Out of a loss of probably $40,000, only $5,000 is covered by insurance. The owners of the buildings destroyed will rebuild at once, and one at least will erect a substantial brick structure. The building owned by W. J. Read had a very narrow escape, being blackened and having all the glass broken on the west side. A big forest fire, started by the Roslyn engine this morning, is now raging a short distance from town, and the people are beseeching Providence to keep the winds from the north to prevent a repetition of last Thursday’s devastation.
“The good people of this thriving burg are beseeching Providence to keep old Boreas pumping to the north so as to avert a repetition of last Thursday’s devastation.”
The precarious nature of early Western towns, built primarily of wood, meant that fire was a constant existential threat. These repeated conflagrations eventually forced the transition to brick and stone architecture, literally hardening the town against the elements.
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