St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1874-12-18
The Vermont Reform School Burned.
TIE Eoys ALL SAFE AND SOUND.


The building of the Vermont state
reform school mt Waterbury. built. tw"
wears ago, at IL cost of Sl~ ,W,O and in
Surcd for go .unO was burned on Sat
mtlay morning. the fine being caused 10y
Il sudden escape of gas from the gas
omrtcr in the basement. Superinlcnd-
ent Fairbanks had gone t" Massachu-
sets, leaving Il plumber To repair the
gas works. He worked on Friday
night, the meter being filled to its ut
most capacity. He had nearly finished
on Saturday morning ut three O'Clock.
when the wirr-rnpc holding the heavy
weight lifting the ga>omrtcr broke. and
the ga>umctci Sauk. pressing ont the
@..S through the lIiling pip" with such
force rs Ia knock the man down. The
room of course, filled with "a>. and the
man and two boys assisting him had t"
uum for their lives. The gas ut once
caught tire. and spread with such la
pidity that the inmates could barely
save themselves. The officers took
out nothimg y ith them but their night
clothes. Tia" wife of Assistant SUPER
iutcndcnt ilraIN WAS :" nearly >utiuc:t-
al thai she fell. but VAS found and car
rird out. There were I-i6 h"N> III the
bunk rooms. The officers woke them
and marched them down To the gNmII;I-
SUM. hut they were speedily driven
thence 10y the the into the Nard. Mr.
llcaly shouted To- them. ".rrt like men
cont run: must =" back .''Wcll stick
10y l"lr, MI. IIcall - replied the boys.
And stick 10y him they did only one
boy attempted /" get off His nam,
| IL
story 'rrtlccri"n" room alone: he broke
a window and escaped hl the. root and
coping. Nothing could hr done. even
T." save Il place III which t" comiiuc Tia"
bays. ~ the engines were cut oil from
Water and the lii" had the mastery
from the tiI>t. Accordingly. the hoy =
we've formed ~ un parade. and march
ed thIcr-uIaItcr> of Il mile I" the W AT
rIhurN hotel. where they are now puaI
tered. Their hchal iur WAS RENAL hahll
good. II took lat Il couple of hours fol
the fire Ia utterly destroy the building.
\ despatch from Water bury ON sat
uday SAYS that GoN. Peck and the
/ ru-trrs aIc in consultation this after
f.n.'n. hlt II CIluot bC cOmicctulrd To
~ hat conclusions they will come. I'm
extra session at the Legislature /" vote
m appropriation tor rchuildIu" l. >ug-
.,>tcd. but that measure has it, nh Icc-
lions. The trustees might =" on and
rebuild. hut they would hc entirely at
the mercy of the the Legislature to Ic-
cover the money expended. There l.
no authority Ia di>chaIg, the boys 81
to remove them cl~,.N here. OF tu dis
continue the school. The dilemma is Il
hard one.
TEMPORARY PLANS For THE >tIInnL.
Montpelier. W.. Dee. l3. ". G..
Fairbanks. EST. the superintendent of
the Vermont Reform school. reached
home at > o'clock yesterday afternoon
from Gardiner. where Il telegram reach
ed him about . in the morning. On
his journey homcward he perfected
plans for the temporary disposal of the
lis >chool-boNS under his care. His
plans were Immediately laid before the
Governor and the trustees of the school.
and adopted. They are a> follows ::
Near the location of the building Dies
troNcd Is Il large shop. l2n feet long 10y
10 broad. owned 10y Mr.. Fairbanks.
The building has under one end Il pow
rrtul steam engine. which operates va
IiouS works in the first story OF the
binding. The second story Mr.. +.
would use for shop for the boys. and
for Il dining room. The attic will he
finished up as Il sleeping room. and
thus the boys will be made quite com
Portable for the present. The first
story of this house is warmed Ivy steam.
the second story will he pipcd before
the boys are put into it. and the attic
will hr warmed 10y opening the doors
from the second floor. The school will
he mainly dispensed with temporarily,
aud for play ground the old yard is
H. available aS ever. Mr.. Fairbanks :
plan is much the best one ut command,
and meets the hearty approval of the
trustees. About ten days will he re
quired to put the building in condition
tor its new uses.
There WAS considerable loss by the
~, t." individuals. MI. and Mrs. Fair
bans lost Il fine piano, sewing machine.
furniture and valuable pictures. Other
attaches of the institution lost clothing