National Republican., 1875-09-08
HYATrsvILLE,
The First Destructive conhagration in the
Village


Village.
About o'clock Monday morning the good peo-
pie Of the quiet little village of HyattsvIle Nd,
were aroused from their deep slumbers by the
startling cry Of " Fire !" "FIre ~ The annals Of
this suburban paradise furnish no evidence that
such an awakening alarm had ever before rung In
the ears OF its peaceful Inhabitants and the effect
SI mus unpreeedented not to say thrililng cry,
breaking The death-ltke stiffness of that morning
hour, can better be imagined than described. They
had witnessed railroad accidents till It had got 70
pc an old story. and their finer sensioilitles nad
become 90 completely Injured to the herrors natur-
ally attending such events that the most
SHOCKING AND APPALLING DISASTERS
oecssioned but a passing observation, and were
quickly forgotten. Human beings walking on the
track had been struck by the fiery locomotives
of lightning expresses and hurled l1teless and
CORY into their very door only to be dragSea
well chswed up, wasn't he; guess he won't under
take to butt against an engine any more;" or,
"Well, do declare, If there isn't another corpse
in the front garden, John; do have It cleared
away" Cows, horses, goats and pigs have been
ripped open by passing trains, and
sTREwN ALONG THE TRACK
in the most reckless and improvident manner, so
much so that the thing had got to be quite mo.
notOnous, and the people sighed Tor let-up IN
sStn y oItip IN 0 sucS natter, b1t
because of the muss It made on the track. The
most bloOdthirsty dueIs Imaginable had been
fought in the neghbOrhoOd, and the liVely crack
of the rifle and the sharp report of the revolver
awoke responses in the breasts OF the VILLAGERS
more akin TO pleasurable sensations of variety
and happy excitement than anything else But
now 10 have fire in their midst, real cracking,
seething, roaring, splitting, red hot fire, was
that their vivid imsginstions had never pictured,
and something their most extravagant dreams In
the domains of fancy had never contemplated.
AS the fearful cry rung out on the morning air
FIFTY WINDOWS FLEW OPEN
simultaneously and fifty heads popped out, while
a hundred eyes beheld for the first time in that
This occasion proved to be small cottage owned
by Col. b. F. Guy, and occupied by Frank Simons,
eEq., assistant 6ook.Eeeper@ III in the ONCE Of the
fagration was quickly thrOnged by scores Of ex-
cited citizens, old and young, black and white,
male and female; some dressed, some partly
dressed, and some hardly dressed at all. In less
thHn fifteen minutes from the first alarm the
whole house was enVeloped in flames, aud as the
building formed one of q row OF i've or six, but
ten feet or SO from each other it was feared that
the entire lot would have to 20 by the board, and
wind been stirring at the the time. Fortunately
there WIS no wind. and through the vigorous ex-
ertions of few of the re'gh0Ors-the majority Of
them standing in the street with
HANDS UNDER THKIR COAT TAILS,
looking on in most active manuer-the flames
we're Kept under control and the adjoining
houses saved, though they were somewhat dam
The fire originated by the bursting of a lamp
filled Of course with non-eXplosive oil, the acct
6ent taking place at the foot of the stairs, the
upper stc-y where Mrs. SimOns and her children
were sleeping. At the expense OF burnt whiskers
and charred eyebrows, Mr. Simons made his
way up the stairs and bro1ght his family safely
down, and by the time this was accomplished
the fire had gained such a heafway that he found
it impossible to save the furniture, SO nearly all
OF his things, including fine piano, valuable
watch, clothing, etc, fell under the rapacious
nav of tho devouring element. Indeed, our re-
porter is told that the five children Of Mr..
Simons escaped with only their night clothes,
and found refuge in the house Of Capt. Jordan,
near by.
While the fire was gaining headway, the tele-
graph operator of the Baltimore and Ohio rail-
road, stationed at Hyattsville, sent dispatch to
the fire department Of this city explaining
THE DANGER THE VILLAGE WAS IN,
and word came back that assistance would be at
once sent. If It was found that the flames could
not be Kept under control. Fortunately there
was no occasion for the protfered help. During
the height of the coBt1agration the flames lit up
the country for miles around, presenting quite q
grand spectacle, and the reflection on the sky
was plainly visible in this city.
1t IS matter Of regret that such q thriving
and growing place as Hyattsville is not provided
with some Kind Of fire apparatus, and this recent
event, which might have proved ten times as dis
Rstrous as it was, demonstrates, at least to the
authorities there, the actual necessity Of some
thing Of this kind. though it may not stimulate
them in procuring the same.