St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1874-12-25
The Burning of the Vermont Reform
School

The Montpelier Freeman and Journal
come t" IL with tullcr particulars of the
destruction of the Vermont reform
school ut Waterbury. and with some
vivid descriptions of narrow c>capr>.
=, ". has. .',.l, "N,,rv,l =" la, l.c-
tore the readers OF The Globe the latest
and fullest information upon this sad
disaster. We compile some additional
items from the Montpelier press. even
ut the risk of. in Il measure. repeating
some incidents heretofore published.
After rccitiug the origin of the fine.
which has been substantially given 10y
lis before. ii is said
Waterbury : crack engine. the seth
Warner" fully manned. WIS quickly
upon the ground. hut the supply of
water was quickly exhausted. and ii
mrcaimr apparent that the entire build
ing must Ice consumed.
The principal difficulty in saving
property from the Institution WAS oc-
cI>iuurI hN the Terrible >nokr which
filled the entire building. iirt"r,. the
tire had reached hrNoud Tia" basement.
Il dru>r. black cloud of >m"k, could hr
seen pouring ont of every window IN
the attic. and il i wonderful that all
the inmates escaped with their lives.
The stock of coal for the winter had
been recently pat in. and will pruha-
bly, h" all consumed. There was ais"
Large stock of provisions which had
been laid in tor winter store. and Il
large quantity of clothing for the boys.
all ni which WIS consumed. Nearly
every officer and teacher connected
with the school. lost heavily. Mr.. Bu>S
the "\rI>crr. with his wife and child
were driven ont OF the house hv the
flames in their night clothes. and had
to 90 some distance. Ia IL mrighhoI'> he
for" tlcN could find shelter and addI-
ti"mal clothing. Mrs. :. y. IIcaIcy.
wife of the assistant superintendent.
WAS taken ont helpless from >rtfuc.ttinn
Miss Ellen Morse. oNcr>rrr of the boy :
dining room. in the smoke and darkness
CROPPED her way int" the hospital. ON
the second floor above the boiler room.
and WAS about giving up all hopes of
escaping. when >l" accidentally placed
her hand on Il sick boys head. which
rca>>uIcd her. and they managed tn
get ont together. Two of Mr.. Fair
bank children were taken ont nearly
dead with >utfncatiom
Nh. and Mrs. IIcalrv lost everything.
and among the articles belonging tu
them. which were destroyed. was very
valuable watch and chain. Il present to
him.
Mr. and Mrs. Fairhamk lose heavily.
including plane. sewing machine and
other furniture. and. indeed. all the
teachers and >upcrimtrnd,ntS lose near
~ everything.
The most exciting escape. perhaps.
WAS that of the hoy from Burlington.
named Daniels. 1t WAS in one of the
'lrii"ctlng rooms, 50 called rooms
for solitary confinement where he had
been put. to cure him of the habit of
running away. On being awakened
10y the gaseous smoke which came up
Though the ventilatorS. he took slat
from his bed. pricd ont the bars of the
door. went into the outer room. broke
the window in the northwestern corner
of the building and went down the
projecting bricks forming Il huttrcsS ON
the corner, reaching the ground before.
the other boys were fairly in the back
yard. and thus being almost the first
person out of the building. The Incl
dent Is described as follows hv Il cor
respondent of the Freeman
1t WAS run for life. Some were
fortunate enough to get hold of "A few
articles of clothing. hut none had time
To dress themselves. OF course there
were no lights. The gas having broke
away from its keepers, was let loose
INTO every part of the building. And
the officers, cropping in the darkness,
barely escaped i'll their night clothes
Watches, !iewelry, money and clothing
were left behind. In fact most of the
officers had laid aside their rings, hair