Taylor County GaArchives News.....The Court House on Fire - 1893 February 28 1893 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Carla Miles http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00010.html#0002476 July 1, 2004, 3:47 am The Butler Herald The Butler Herald Tuesday, February 28, 1893 Page Three The Court House On Fire! A Narrow Escape About seven o’clock a.m. on Wednesday last the courthouse in Butler was discovered to be on fire. The fire was discovered to be in the office of M.H. Riley, the Ordinary of Taylor County, and in the southeast corner of the building. The fire was discovered sometime before the alarm was given but no one thought for a moment that the building was on fire. A large force of hands soon gathered around, entrance was forced into the building and the fire was at once distinguished. Two large holes were burned through the floor near the fireplace and through excitement much of the flooring in the Ordinary’s room was badly damaged, as the fire seemed to be mostly under the house among the chips and shavings. The mantle piece was burning and a valuable calendar and eight day clock was entirely destroyed. No records, books or papers were burned and the damage to the building will not be more than fifty or seventy- five dollars, which is covered by insurance, in the Etna Co., represented by D.F. Wilcox & Son, of Columbus. Mr. Wilcox was in town Thursday and the contract for repairing the building was let to Mr. J.A. Hollis. It was a very narrow escape and thirty minutes more it would have been impossible to have saved the building. Just how the fire occurred no one knows, but there can possible be no blame attached to Judge Riley, as there was but little fire left in the room the night before. From all appearances it is firmly believed by many to have been the work of an incendiary. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/taylor/newspapers/nw1224thecourt.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/gafiles/ File size: 2.2 Kb