St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1875-05-14
The Montpelier Fire.

they are probably right. We condense
from them some details not heretofore
given in our columns: 1t was a bad
night for fire There had been no
rain for several days, and everything
WAS unusually dry strong south wind
was blowing, which very soon changed
to the west, and augmented by the fire
itself blew II perfect gale.
The fire broke out where the fire of
March 9TH left off. at Bruce's paint shop,
close to Adams livery stable. 1t seems
TO he the impression that the shop
caught from some straw OF light stuff ont
side, set on tire perhaps by Il spark from
some loater's pipe.
Montpelier has three fire engines, tone
of Them an old affair run by boys.
which were early nn the ground. The
scene of the fire WAS IL nest of old wood
Ell rookerics, in The oldest portion OF
Montpclicr. and t soon became evident
that sweeping cnntlagratiom WAS
threatened. Gen. PitkinS, chief engim-
eer of the fire department, soon saw
that to attempt to save any of the
buildings on fire, or in near proximity
To those burning. would be Il fruitlcs>
task. and would only exhaust the men
without accomplishing any good. Mes
>emgrr> were sent to N"Ithtield, Water
bury and Barre for aid. and II plan of
battle was perfected Immediately.
The house of Frederick Marsh. ON
the east side of Main street. and an old
barn were 50 situated that if they hum
eel the rutre northeastern portion of the
village would pIohahly also 90. This
house and barn We're accordingly Sc
lcrtcd ~ "nr of the great points of re
si>tancc. and the Rev. DIR. Lord was
put in command. with Capitol Engine
Ne. >. under him. Sending Il few men
to the old barn. which WAS in great dan
gel. Il line of bucket men WAS organized
and the barn kept thoroughly wet.
while Dr.. Lord and Capt. Livingston.
with aNe>. followed 10y Cave and Page
with the hose. entered the house. which
va, already on fire. and working their
WAY to the loft. fought the tire. and
Kept II from gaining Il toothnld inside.
NJ the same time. the south side Of the
old house heated To cracking. and the
men. wrapped in wet carpets. played
there IL Ion" as they could endure
then falling back for a lest. the attack
was begun again. Three times did the
furious flames threaten To gain the mas-
trIN. and ~ MANY times were they beat -
cn back.
80 intense was the heat OH the Pres
ton hnilding side. that without the uS,.
al the wet C;lpetIn%. no man could pos
>iblN have lived even Il minute. and
even with that protection. it was dis
covered the next day that feet and legs
had been BADLY hli>tered. There was
only one ladder to work with. and 50
tired were the hrakcmcn that at times
ii was impossible to get two streams to
the roof of the building. The fight was
kept up for more than tw" hours. and
was not reliuqui>hcd Till the subsistence
OF the main comtlagratiom. The Doctor
went into the fray Il respectable looking
clergy man. wearing nice looking tall
hat and Il shirt with Il spotless bosom.
He came out one of the most dilapida
ted men in toAn-hat drenchcd and
>quashed, face so"tN. and clothes be
diaggled. But the flames had been
conquered. and the northeastern section
of the town saved.
Gen. Pitkim determined 10 make the
second great fight ut the Wells River de
pet. The old Farmers Hotel buildings
must burn. and if the depot was al
lowed to catch. the griSt-mill and Gil
mans carriage shop. and then the
bridge and the cah-shop would go,
| Two hundred thousand dollars worth
of property depended on the fires stop
age at this point. Mcssrs. +. W. Bailey
and Arthur Ropes were put in command.
| The force here consisted of Montpelier
| \n 4 ll.aNnnI,r
engine No. 3, manned by the BOYS: and
the force pump belonging to the Mont
pelier Manufacturing Company. with
hose brought through the bridge. Soon
the old hotel and Scribner's tin-Shop
were all ahlaZc. and the narrow space
between them and the depot was all
alive with burning brands and sparks
In this gap stood. for nearly four hours
four brave men, Humphrey Cambell and
Frank Jangraw. who held Four's butt
aud Samuel Luke and Fred Butterfly
of the force pumps. They would first
play on the burning buildings. then OF
the depot. then on each other-and in
this manner they operated till the ar
rival of the Barre and Mortified en-
gineS gave opportunity for rest
After the large building containing
the store of Hyde X Foster and severa
tenementS, on the corner of Barre an(
Main streets, caught. the fire began t,
rage III two dircctions-up Barre ant
down Main streets, Oh both sides of cacl
street. General Pitkin placed Col. Ran
dali in command at Barre street. an,
having no engine to give him, his ORDER
were to wage IA hand To hand fight Il,
best he could. The battle on Barr,
street soon divided into two-oBe a
Joseph Sideways where the Rev. J
Edward Wright was the leader. and tn,
other mt the Charles Lyman house. ;
substantial brick dwelling. on the nortl
side of the street, just bought and oc
cupied by Lewis p. Gleason. Pullin.
off his boots and stockings Mr.. Wrigh
mounted a ladder barefoot. and ascend
ed to the ridge-pOle, where he was helt
in his place on the roOf by aid of pal
of reinS thrown round chimney. Tw,
boys and il man followed him. and tw,
lines of men with buckets supplied tin
water. The heat was so great that Mr.
Wright's coat was badly scorched. We
carpeting around the neck and an occa
sional bucket of water dashed over hin
enabled him to hold his ground. till tin
| house was saved. \ gallant and equal
, ~ successful fight was made at tn
, Lyman house across the street, by Col
: Randall. The wind blew the smok
, and burning fragments the entire lengt
t of the street, and it required men aroun
every building to prevent the hyin
, combustibles from igniting them.
} The Colonel says that while, us usua
on such occasions, there was mass G
f loafers who were wholly impervious t
| all appeals to fall in and help, eithe
= from paralysis OF laziness, yet there wa