LONG MEMORIAL BUILDING DAMAGED
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The Long Memorial Building, on West Coleman street, just off the public square in Farmington, which is nearing completion, was damaged by fire Monday night. The fire was discovered early Tuesday morning and was quickly extinguished. It's origin is a matter of conjecture, with two possible explanations. It could have been caused either by spontaneous combustion, or from a lighted cigar or cigarette stub dropped the previous afternoon by a workman. It is certain that the fire had smouldered for hours.
A hole about ten feet square was burned in the floor of the auditorium at a point beneath the balcony. The floor is of hard-wood construction. A section of plastering underneath the balcony had fallen. The greater damage was to the interior decoration. The auditorium is practically air-tight and was closed. The smoke had been so dense that the decoration, practically complete, was damaged to the extent that it will all have to be refinished.
This building is being erected as a community center for the city of Farmington, from funds provided for this purpose in the will of the late Dewby Long, and at a cost of $25,000. Mr. Long, who spent his early young manhood in Farmington, left years ago for Canada, where he made money in wool and hides. Not forgetting the town of his youth, he bequethed a sum of money for the erection of a building in Farmington for community purposes. The building will house a library with reading rooms, a spacious auditorium and office rooms...[line of print missing?]...the contractors who will make good the damage.