Three fires over the weekend included a blaze which resulted in several hundred dollars damage to the new furniture store opened last week by Harold Moake in the Holland building on W. Main St. The fire was discovered about 9:30 pm by Harry Holland, started in a pile of wood in the basement and burned up through the floor on which the display room of furniture store is located. Some of the furniture was damaged by the fire where the flames broke through the floor, but most of the damage amounting to several hundred dollars was due to smoke. Firemen were handicapped in reaching the blaze because of the dense smoke which filled the building. When they were able to investigate the basement they discovered that the fire had apparently started in a pile of crating lumber, although the cause of the blaze could not be determined. The theory that the wood could have caught from the furnace was discarded by firemen who said the wood had been piled on the opposite side of the basement from the furnace and was not close enough to have been set afire from the heating plant. The fact that the fire was discovered early and the firemen were able to confine the blaze entirely to the basement doubtless prevented destruction of a block of business property. The damage was covered by insurance.

(Extracted from local newspapers and compiled by Harry Boyd, posted at http://www.marionfire.us/ )