As the ruins of Tuesday’s fire which destroyed a business block on the east side of the Marion Public Square continued to smolder Wednesday afternoon, neither owner of the destroyed properties would venture a statement on plans to rebuild.
Louie Gudder, who owned the three-story Goodall Hotel building and the adjacent two story structure housing the Economy Variety Store and the Virgil Center Store, said he couldn’t say yet whether he will erect a new building on the site of the old.
W.T. Hudspeth, owner of the two-story building at the southeast corner of the square which housed the Aubuchon Variety Store and offices above, expressed doubt that he will build another building. He said, however, that he could not make any definite plans, pending an estimate of the cost. Meanwhile arrangements were being made to tear down portions of the Hudspeth building which still appeared to menace the public safety.
Surplus stock of the Economy Variety store which was stored in the basement of the Hudspeth building offered a possibility of salvage Wednesday while it appeared also that a part of the Aubuchon stock may be salvaged from the ruins.
Aside from what may be reclaimed from the ruins of the Hudspeth building, the stock of the Odum Jewelry Store which was carried out during the fire constituted all that was saved from the flames. While most of the Odum stock was saved, much of it was lost, including some watches and clocks which had been left in the store for repair.
As the ruins of the fire still smoldered, firemen and police had difficulty in keeping spectators out of the danger zone. School children particularly presented a problem when they sought to scramble over the debris at the site of the fire Tuesday afternoon. One boy suffered a crushed foot when he clambered over the ruins. A heavy steel beam slipped from a pile of bricks, and fell on his foot.
The boy was identified as the son of Frank Robinson, 810 Park Ave. Police rushed the boy to a doctor for treatment, and then took him to his home. The boy, Charles Robinson, is a student at the Jefferson School.
(Extracted from local newspapers and compiled by Harry Boyd, posted at http://www.marionfire.us )