A fire which was discovered in the beautiful store of Silver’s Inc., 114 N. Market, early Saturday pm and had it not been for the prompt action of the fire department, it is where the store building and also the Reid Hotel block which is the adjoining building and which also used part of the rooms on the second floor above the Silver’s Inc. Store would have been destroyed.

The fire started in the rear of the store and investigations show that it originated from the wiring in the fitting room. This was one which had been built of beaver board and where it appears the wires were not sufficiently insulated. The store was closed down at 6 pm and mgr M.A. Koplowitz had just gone to supper when the fire was discovered.

The store room at the rear was filled with Easter goods; many of the boxes having arrived on Saturday were still unpacked. In the rear of the store were the stocks of hosiery, underwear and millinery. These were burned as were also many of the suits and dresses. The stock in the center and front of the store was all in cases but the water and smoke damage on this is heavy. On Feb. 1 the Silver’s Inc. store celebrated its first anniversary.

The corp. bought the store from C.I. Silver who established it 9 yrs before and who is still the owner of the building. The books and papers were all saved and arrangements have been made so that those owing accounts can same at the Marion State and Savings. The damage to the building is heavy.

The Reid Hotel rooms are all damaged by smoke so that it will be necessary to redecorate them in addition to the store room itself. This will be covered by insurance. A hose at the Bradbury corner burst during the fire which gave a number of spectators a drenching.

Gas masks were used by the firemen in order to get inside the building to fight the flames.

(Extracted from local newspapers by Harry Boyd)