Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1878-04-05
SATURDAY. Nights Fire.


one since last December being that at Con-
ductor Chamberlin's house, by which. how
ever, a less Of few hundred dollars only
was sustained &; and the present fire is of
unusual interest not particularly On account
OF the great pecuniary loss it occasions, but
OF its peculiar circumstances and the way in
which it baiiled the efforts Of cur Fire De-
partment.
| The alarm was sounded at about half past
0 clock, Saturday evening. and. as is too
such manner as to give no recognizable
indication whatever of the location Of the
fire; and as a result some Of the hose COM
psnies ran in directions the exact oppo-
site of what they should have followed.
1t was speedily ascertained. however. that
the Park House was the locality Of the
blaze, and thi;her the hose companies and
the Hooks promptly repaired and were soon
actively at work The Ethans got on the
frs. stream, followed in few minutes by
the Boxers and the other companies. The
fire was chiefly confined to the garrett. which
was covered by a double roof 1.-THE first COW
cred with tar) soping each way from the
centre. and to the timber between the plas-
ter and the clapboards of the outer walls of
the third story, both in front and rear
and its location. and the peculiar construc-
ton of the huiliing-an old and very inflam-
mable wooden One-rendered it remark
ably difficult thing to cope with. The tar
covering of the first roof fed the ilimeS, and
A. L.
them ample play, while at the Same time
they were completely shielded from the wa
ter thrown upon the building. The fire.
therefore, burnt out the inner roof and then
dropped down into the outer walls. A num-
her of streams were put on and the firemen
worked with an activity and zeal beyond
all praise. The Hooks did splendidly,
working with notable Indifference to per-
sonal comfort and disregard OF danger and
by tearing of the clapboards and exposing
the fire, and cutting holes through the roof
and enabling the pipemen to food tho gar
ret, contributed materially to checking the
copfiigration.
Tho building joins directly upon Park
Block, and is really q part OF it, nothing
but pine partition separating them and
had tho fire penetrated the block an i'm
mense loss of property would probably have
ensued. But, with well-grounded conf
dence in our Fire Department, none Of the
merchants there removed any part OF their
goods; and, with the exception of some I'M
avoidabe damage by water to the goods of
afford Il Humphrey on the first floor, and
the furniture of c. Z. Allen on tire upper
floors, no loss was sustained.
At last water triumphed over fire +; and in
the small hours of Sunday morning the
flames were cxtinguished. The roof is pretty
much destroyed, and the upper story badly
burned but aside from this the damage is
principally BY water, the two lower stories
being practically untouched by fire. 1t was
one OF the hardest struggles our hremen
have ever had and gave new proof. if any
were needed, Of their efficiency.
During the progress of the fire portion
of the furniture Of the house and the effects
Of its inmates was taken out and piled in
the front yard; q portion was thrown out
of the windows in the summary manner so
frequently observed at fires; and much of
it was left in the building. What was saved
is in an emincn,ly demorslized condition
and what was LETT in the house is in q state
simply unspeakable. The whole building
was fairly soaked in water. and Sum-
day morning every room was trans
being several inches deep with water.
The beds are soaked through and
through bureaus are rudely divorced from
their contents and mirrors; crockery is re-
solved into infnitesimal fractions; and
everything Is in the most foIlorn condition
imaginable A number of the peopls who
gave their valuable assistance apparently
considered the property taken fair salvage,
and unostentatiOusy walked home with
everything they could lay their hands on.
The loss by this means Is quite sum and
the seemingly wanton destruction Of prop
erty is another stable item.
TIE ORIGIN OF THE FIRE
cannot be definitely ascertained. and is a
matter of great speculation The most
plausible theory is as follows At the head
of the first flight Of stairs is a small closet,
in which was a trunk, lett at the house by
a travelling man, some time since. In this
it is supposed there might have been some
matches, which ignited from the gnawing
of rats, or some other cause, and thus start
ed the FIRE. A chimney forms one side of
the closet, but there had been no fire in it
for a number of weeks. This is not par
ticularly satisfactory explanation, but it is
probably the only one that will ever be
found. The fire was first discovered by Mrs.
Pike, who was sitting in the second floor
paflor, close at haud, aud in her belief it
originated in the closet Northumberland
the precise manner is Of course matter Of
conjecture.
LOSSES AND INSURANCE
Tho building was owned by Horace
Wheeler. Esq who had six thousand dollars
insurance upon it, divided as follows: Two |
thousand dollars in the Millville, of New |
Jersey, and one thousand in each of the fol- |
lowing companies Capital City, of Albany, |
Connecticut River Mutual, of Bellows Falls, |
Champlsin Mutual. of this city. and Me- |
chsnics Mutual, of Boston. Of course there |
is q wide diversity of opinion as to the extent |
OF the loss but perhaps it may be safe to |
say that two thousand dollars would pretty |
much cover it. MIR. Wheeler occupied |
apartments in the south wing of the house,
but fortunately his loss on furniture and
household property is trifling.
The building was occupied as hotel by
Mr., II. Ii. Pike. who had in it furniture,
etc., representing something like $4,000.
on which the percentage of loss. by lire and
water, is very large. Mr.. Pike had three
hundred and ten dollars in money in
bureau drawer, which was burned or stolen
and is total loss. On the furniture there
was no insurance. 1t had been insured for
a fraction of its value, but the policy had
run out couple Of months since and had
not been renewed. The piano in the parlOr
was somewhat damaged, as is apt to be the
case when played upon by firemen This
WAS insured Tor $3.50 in Col. T. S. Peck's
agency.
Meesrs Stafford 4 Humphrey are insured
lin Col T. s. Peck's agency for So 600
81 600 in the Fire Association Of Philidel-
phia, and $4,000 each in the Connecticut
of Hartford and the Westchester.
Mr.. &. &. Allen was insured for $4,000
he toI ~
York and tho Franklin of Philadelphia |
with Col Peck. and an equal amount with
Messrs. Griswold L Frissell.
The extent Of these losses can not vet be
ascertained.
THE FIRE FIEND
seems to follow Mr.. Wheeler with special
persistency, this being, is is said. the
doZenth time he has been burned out lilo |
lad retired Tor the night at the time Of the |
alarm, and his first intimatiOn OF anything |
wrong was the frenzied bowls OF the tiremen
and bystandcrs and the simultaneous pour
ing upon the house OF about million
gallons Of water.
The Park House is an old time landmark,
and in its present forlOrn condition it offers
a noticeable and striking contrast to its
former high estate. 1t was transformed into
a hotel, about four years ago. under the
auspices Of Charles E. Eaton, and has since
been kept a. public house under a sue
cession of landlords, of whom Mr.. Pike was
the latest
NOTES.
Mrs. Wheeler. daughter-in-law of Mr.. Ii.
Wheeler, whose room was on the second
floor, became so excited that she made the
attempt to throw herself from II window.
She was prevented only by main strength,
and was carried fsinting from the house.
By the time the fire was extinguished,
(about 30 a. ID } the Ethans had prepared,
at their engine room, an abundance of hot
coffee with milk and sugar, with a sub
stantia lunch of crackers, cakes, cheese,
cold meat etc. which they invited their
brother fremen of other companies to share
with them A large number accepted the
Invitation, than which nothing could have