Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1875-05-14
The Montpelier Fire.

for FIRE. There had been no rain for seve-
raj days, and everything was unusaaiiy dry /;
strong south wind was blowing, which
very soon changed to the west, and, aug
mented by the fire itself. blew a perfect
gale.
The FIRE broke oct where the fire Of March
5th le't f, al BEuce's paint shop, close to
AGans' livery stable. 1t seems to be the
impression that the shop caught from some
straw OF light stuff outside, set on fire per-
haps by spark from some loafer' pipe.
Montpelier has three fire engines. Zone of
them IL ald affair run by boys) which were
early 60 the ground. The scene of the fire
was ncst 81 old wooden rookeries. in the
Oldest portion OF Montpelier, and it soon be-
came evident that a sweeping conHagratio2
was Threatened. Gen. piikirs. chief cngin-
| esr of th Gfc department, soon saw that to
attempt 90 save any of the buildings on fire.
or in near proximity to those burning would
be iruiJie>- tasA, and would only exhaust
the men without accomplishing any good.
Mes-encc.s were sent to Mortified, Water
| bury and Barre Tor aid, aud plan OF battle
was perfected Immediately.
The house Of Frederick Mar ~ :iu cast
| side OF Main street. rnd an O.d barn were
30 situated tlal II they burned the entire
northeastern portion OF the village would
| probably also 90. This house and barn were
accordingly selected "a une OF the great
points OF resistance. and the Rev Dr. Lord
was put 10 command. with Capitol. Engine
No ). under him Sending few men to the
old barn, which was IN great danger. line
of bucket-men was organized and the barn
kept thoroughly wet, while DR.. Lord and
| Capt. Livingston. with axes, followed by
Cave and Page with the hose, entered the
house which was already on fire, and work
ing their way 10 the lott. fought the fire and
Kept 1t from gaining ;oOthold inside. At
the sane time, the south side OF the old
house heated 10 cracking, and the men,
wrapped in wet carpets, PLAYED there as
long as they could endure; then falling back
for rest. the attack was begun again.
Three times Gid the furious flames threaten
10 gain the mastery, and as many times
were they beaten back.
81 intense wa~ the heat on the Preston
building side, that without the use of the
wet cLrpeiing no man could have possibly
lived even minute, and even with that
protection. It was discovered the next day
that feet aud legs Rad been badly biistered.
There was only one ladder TO work with and
80 tired were the brakemen that at times 1t
was impossible t. get two streams to the
roof OF the building. The fight was kept
~ Tor UJ.e than tao hours, and was not
rellnqui>had til the subsistence OF the main
conaa-saulu. The Doctor went into the
fray respectable looking clergyman, wear
ing uir--u1king tall hat and shirt with
a -pot.c-s tss-0m. lie came out one Of the
4
cd and slla>he1. face s0oty, and clothes
bedragslcd. But the flames had been con-
quersd. and tle northeastern section of the
town saved.
ten. PIkia determined 20 make the see
oud great fight at the Wells River depot.
The old Farmers Hotel buildings must
burn. and d the depot was allowed to catch.
the grI>,-nIl AID Gilman : carriage shop.
and then the bridge and the cab-shop would
20. Two hundred thousand dollars worth
OF property depended OF the fires stoppage
al tins point. Msssrs. Z. ". Bailey aud
Arthur Ropes were put in command The
force here consisted Of Montpelier, No 4,
Alexander Jangraw. foreman engine NJ.
;, marug4 hy the boys; and the force
pump belonging to the Montpelier Manu-
iactufing Company, with hose brought
through tAe bridge. Soon the old hotel and
ScributT ,in->hop were al ablaze, and
the NARROW space between them and the
depot wa-a.l alive with burning brand, and
spark 10 this gap stood. for nearly four
hours, lour brave men. Humphrey Camp
bell and Frank ,J4a-rAw. no held Four's
butt ana Samuel Luxe and Fred Butterfly. 4
oil The lure, pumps They would first play /
on the burning buillings. then on the depot.
then On each cther-aud in this manner I
they operated TIL the arrival OF the Barre I
ana Mortified engines gave opportunity I
Tor rest.
AFTER the large building containing the I
store % Hyde j Foster and several tene- /
mentS. on the corner Of Barre aud Main |
streets, c-4sht, the fire began 10 rage in |
Two directions up Barre and down Main I
streets. GA b0;h sides Of each street Cen
eral PItkin placed Col. Randall IN com
mGnd at Barre street, and having no engine
10 s.7e him. his orders were 10 wage a
hand u hand fight u best he could. The
battle on Barre street soon divided into
twO-oue al Joseph sideways where the
Rev. j. Edward Wright Va the leader, and
the other 1t the Charles Lyman house.
sub>tan thai brick dwelling on the north side
OF the street. just bought and occupied bv
Lewis ?, Gleason. Pulling off has boots
and stockings Mr.. Wright mounted lad
pole. whore be was held in his place Oh the
700! By aid Of a pair Of reins thrown round
d chimney. Two boys and a man followed
him. and Two lines OF men with buckets
supplied the water. The heat was - great
that Mr. Nrlghts coat was badly sc0rched.
W Ct carpetlng around the neck and an &C.
caslOual bucket Of water dashed over him
enabled him to hold his ground, till the
house was saved. ! gallant and equally
fight was made at the Lyman
house across the street. by Col. Randall
The wind blew the smoke and burning
fragments the entire length of the street.
and II required men around every building
to prevent the flying comoustibles from IL
hitting them.
The Colonel says that while, as usual on
such occasions, there was mass OF loaiers
y DO were wholly lmperyious 10 all appeals
to tall IL and help, either from PARALYSIS or
azlness, Yet there was a body of resolute
and energetic men, some seventy in number,
and to then. all praise Is due. He wishes to
pay special tribute To the Rev. j. E
" right and the Rev \. Newton Glazier.
NJ. Wright proved himself true hero,
md IN Colonel Randall's opinion, no
Drawer ect was ever done. than his mainteu-
.nce OF the rldsepOle Of Sideways house,
or two hours, N the midst Of shower OF
lrC-brauds, and with the air 50 hot that il
Mas only by wet carpets around his meek
md head. and repeated dOwsings with va
er. that he could survive. As for Mr..
Ilazler, has one arm was worth more than
he Two that many men possess-men like
he one whom the Colonel asked to fall into
he Inc Of bucket-men, and who replied I
hat hS c0fhes iocre too good. The
]o.oucl acquaintances can imagine the ad- !
ursu1n tina. young man GOT. l
the barre engine arrived at hali-past !
NO, just a!,eg The victory was secured on
Barre street. but Immediately went 10 work I
nd IVES siuat assistance IN keeping the
ire m 10 .uiG~ Guwn- The Northheld en- j
inc ca.ne e ii.lle after the Barre engine L
I'd, and some OF the men went to work on
be brakes of Montpelier engines, and Q
heir own machine. but the fire was sub /
tantiaily over The Waterbury engine 7
vas loaded to start. but they could get no P
ngine to draw their car and 50 did not u
lake their appearance. h
The FIRE lasted four hours, and the burned Z
istrlct covers two acres. OF the nearly
lrty houses and barns burned bat three
ere OF BRICK. ard many were quite old and I
{ small value The loss Is finally at O
l02 600. Insurance. 500 The total r
lumber OF families burned out was forty -
So. The total number of business firms
urned out was fifteen Q
INCIDENTS Il
Having been ordered to change their posi- q
on the No. boys undertook to run their I
ID through Main street They found it hot "
ork, and for u minute, having run their l..
achine against post. were obliged to n
, abandon her to get air instead of fire for Il
reath. They plunged again into the street "
hieh the flames were now sweeping across. =,
nd dragged their machine through Bis y
red hands and faces attest the holiness of
Re hole in which they found themselves f
hen making their perious journey.
Capt. A. A. Mead took leading share in W
&c fight with the flames at the depot and ~
lille encouraging the boys and standing in ii
ne of the hottest places was struck on the Vi
cad by a ladder. lie was taken away and re-
is wounds dressed when he returned to the n
ene. r
During the war on Barre street. Colonel n