Submitted by 
Marti Graham

Town Destroyed; Scores Homeless
Wister Minister in Oklahoma City In Behalf Of Fire Victims
Loss is Over $100,000
One Dead and Two Are Seriously Injured in Conflagration. 

Appealing to Oklahoma City to aid twenty families who have been left in a destitute condition owing to fires which swept the entire town of Wister, Okla. Wednesday...the Rev. T. B. Stanley, of the Christian church of Wister, arrived in Oklahoma City Thursday night....

The town was destroyed by two separate fires, of which the second was the most serious. The first conflagration was discovered early Wednesday in the second story of the Brown Hotel, and was presumably started by a guest. One man is supposed to have lost his life in the building. Before the blaze could be stopped two business blocks were gutted, in spite of the efforts of the bucket and rope brigade composed of the entire population of the town, both men and women, who carried water to the scene.

Later in the day another fire broke out in the Shippey drug store, owing to the explosion of an ignited alcohol lamp, which seriously burned John Shippey, son of the proprietor. Before a strong wind the flames made rapid progress, and although dynamite was used to check their path, two more business blocks, three more hotels, a restaurant, and several residences, some stores and the telephone exchange were destroyed. While fighting the second fire, James Hemp__, a farmer, was seriously injured by failing timbers. He is at his home near the town in critical condition...

Information posted as courtesy to researchers only. The poster is not related to nor researching any of the above.