CHURCH BURNED AT NASHVILLE.
Among the destructive fires which recently followed one another in rapid succession at Nashville, Tenn., was one which broke out on the night of July 4 in the McKendrie Methodist church. Whether it was caused by fireworks let off on Independence Day or not was a question. As the building was situated in the very heart of the business section of the city, for some time a most disastrous conflagration was threatened. The blaze gave Chief Rozetta and the fire department a very hard fight to get it under control—a work of some hours, and, when the flames were extinguished, the church was completely gutted, and the loss was total, as the accompanying illustration shows. From the nature of the surroundings it was a very difficult task to get at the fire, which had made considerable headway before it was discovered. Each side of the street front was completely hemmed in by buildings, whose close proximity not only was a source of considerable anxiety to the firemen, hut rendered it impossible to do much in the way of attack except from the rear. On that side, also, many difficulties presented themselves, especially as the flames were particularly fierce in that quarter. Like all buildings of its class, the church was a structure peculiarly adapted for the quick spread of a fire internally, and pews, galleries and organ afforded the flames plenty of inflammable food to feed upon. The main roof was. of course, of wood, and when it caught, the fate of the building was sealed. The water pressure was normal; a large force of apparatus and plenty of hose was on hand; the firemen worked well. But nothing could save the building; all that could be done—and that was a work that called for all the energies of the department and a wonderful display of intelligence and skill on the part of the chief officers—was to confine the fire to the place of origin, and thereby save the adjoining property and a consequent heavy loss. The damage entailed by the fire was quite $60,000. The McKendrie church was architecturally a handsome structure and one of Nashville’s show buildings.
