N&W in 1909--Devon

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Bluefield Daily Telegraph
August 8, 1909

PRACTICALLY WIPED OFF THE MAP
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All of Little Town of Devon East of Ritter Lumber Yards Burned
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TWO HOTELS AMONG THE BUILDINGS DESTROYED
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Norfolk and Western Station Also Prey of Flames but Freight and Records of Company Were Saved
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FIFTH DISASTROUS FIRE IN HISTORY OF THE VILLAGE

    Devon, eighty-two miles west of Bluefield, was practically wiped off the map by a fire which started at 10:30 yesterday morning, according to advices which have been received here, with a loss of over $10,000.  The fire originated in the Wohlford Hotel from an unknown cause.  The fire fighting apparatus was crude, and the flames spread rapidly to the neighboring buildings.  The entire block in which the hotel was located was destroyed.  Among the buildings were two stores, a restaurant, a barber shop and the St. Charles Hotel.  The Norfolk and Western station and the agent's house also went up in smoke, entailing a loss of $2,500, fully covered by insurance.
    Practically all the town east of the Ritter lumber yards was burned.  Much of the household goods was carried out, but was damaged very seriously by water.  All of the freight in the Norfolk and Western station and the records of the company were saved.  The Ritter Lumber Company used its small engine to place cars back of the station and into these were loaded the freight and express matter from the burning station.  The company brought the engine crew from the lower Elk planing mills down and the men assisted very materially in fighting the fire.  After the crews arrived the flames were checked where the Big Sandy & Cumberland tracks pass through the town.  The Ritter people themselves suffered no loss.  This is one of the few fires at Devon in which the Ritters have not lost heavily, and this is not the first time in which the town has suffered from conflagrations.  The fact of the matter is that five other disastrous fires are recorded in Devon's history, and each one was almost a total destruction of the village.
    The last fire which visited Devon was about eighteen months ago, and this consumed the main part of the town.
    The Norfolk and Western station was destroyed [in the last fire], but within forth-eight hours the company had a new station built and was occupying it.  In the present instance carpenter crews and building material were hurried to Devon, and the officials at the division office in Bluefield say that the end of forty-eight hours will see a new station standing in the place of the old one.
    It is difficult to estimate the loss from the information at hand, but it is conservatively stated that the loss will exceed $10,000.  Most of the property, it is understood, was insured, and the buildings are to be replaced in a short time.
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[The article mentioned that Ritter Lumber Co. used its small engine to place cars back of the station and that items from the burning station were placed into the cars.  The W. M. Ritter Lumber Company's Big Sandy & Cumberland RR at Devon was narrow gauge, so I wonder if it were the narrow gauge cars that the engine placed back of the station.  Certainly the station front faced the N&W line, so it is possible that the narrow gauge track was at the back of the station and freight normally was transferred between the two railroads through the station.

Out of curiosity I checked the list of Shay locomotives on the Website shaylocomotives.com and found four Shay's listed for the W. M. Ritter Company's Big Sandy and Cumberland RR at Devon.  Also, the book, The Climax Locomotive, lists Ritter with four Climax locomotive at Devon.  On related note, I was surprised to see that the W. M. Ritter Lumber Co. had owned some 64 Shays and 17 Climax locomotives in six states.]

Gordon Hamilton
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