Flames Wrecked Autos in Camden

FLAMES WRECKED AUTOS IN CAMDEN Over Score of Machines Destroyed by Fire in Garage, Which Badly Damaged Church Twenty-three Camden business and professional men mourn the loss of their automobiles as a result of a fire which yesterday morning destroyed the garage of J. G. Reeves, on North Seventh street just above Market. Evangelical Luthern Church, immediately adjoining, was badly damaged, and altogether the monetary loss amounts to about $100,000. Most of the machines were insured. Just what caused the fire is not known. It was discovered by Albert Hildreth, a watchman, who no sooner saw the flames than he went to the fire headquarters in an automobile at topmost speed. When the fireman arrived they had not been in service many minutes before there was a terrific explosion that sent the walls down. Three of them were hurled across the street and severely bruised. They included Peter Carter, John Lennox and John Lutz, all connected with headquarters. The explosion came presumably from stored gasoline. Such headway did the blaze gain that it was necessary to call out the entire city department. For a time a number of dwellings nearby were threatened and the occupants began moving their household effects. The good work of the firefighters prevented a serious conflagration, however. The force of the explosion blew a twenty-foot hole in the wall of the Lutheran Church. The automobiles were valued at about $75,000, the balance of the loss being on the building and church. Some of those who lost their autos include: Lawyer Ephraim Tomlinson, Charles K. Parry, Mrs. Mary Baird Fox, Mrs. B. C. Reeves, Dr. Wm. Knowlton, Dr. Oscar Grumbrecht, Dr. A. H. Lippincott, Dr. Paul Mecray, Dr. Marvin Street, C. H. Haddon, Dr. Frank Horning, John T. Bottomley, John Croft, Dr. Daniel Strock, Joseph Deacon and J. S. Reeves.