The Laurens Advertiser

ANDERSON HOSPITAL BURNED.
Was Built Four Years Ago at a Cost of $50,000—Patients Made Narrow Escape.

The following special to The State describes the burning of the Anderson hospital Thursday afternoon:

The Anderson county hospital, a three-story brick building, constructed four years ago at a cost of $50,000, was completely destroyed by fire late Thursday afternoon. The fire originated from a lighted match carelessly thrown by a white man, an oil wagon driver, near a can of kerosene which he had just deposited on the side porch. The gasoline nearby exploded, throwing flames in every direction. The negro orderly was the first to discover the fire, and he hurriedly informed the superintendent, Miss Utes, who in a composed manner instructed the nurses to help her get the patients out of the building. All patients who were well enough to walk were led from their beds to the elevator and were taken to the ground safely. Six other patients, who had undergone operations in the last day or so, were too weak to help themselves, and these were carried to the ground by ladders put up to the second-story windows. The flames so rapidly spread over the building that no time was given the rescuers to even bring bed clothes around the patients as they passed them through the windows. Four patients were brought to the ground in nude condition.