Walla Walla Athletic Club Destroyed by Mystery Blaze
A fire of unknown origin gutted the front of the Athletic Club on Alder Street, causing $2,000 in damages and threatening adjacent businesses.
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.
A fire which started in a closet in some mysterious manner gutted the front part of the Walla Walla Athletic club rooms on Alder Street at 10:30 o'clock last night. The blaze caused an estimated $2,000 in damages, including the total loss of the club’s bowling alley seating and cigar stock. Firemen managed to contain the flames before they spread to an adjacent saloon, though the building sustained heavy smoke and heat damage.
“A fire which started in a closet in some mysterious manner... gutted the front part of the Walla Walla Athletic club rooms.”
Commercial fires were a constant threat to 1903 downtowns, where density and wooden construction made neighborhood destruction easy. The concern expressed for the safety of the adjacent saloon highlights the social centrality of these gathering spots.
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