The daily gazette., 1881-02-04
Capital Hotel Burned. !.

ED OUT DovER's PRINCIPAL HOTEL,
Dover's. well known and favorite
hotel the Capital, was almost com
pletely destroyed BY ere at an early
hour this mornisg.
The nre Vas discovered about ten
minutes before two o'clock. Col. 8.
A. Maoallister, of this city, who occu-
pied room No. 80, on the third floor Of
the new east wing, happened to be
awake about this time, when his at
tsntion was attracted by evidences Of
smoke in the room. He got up and
made close examination, but could
find nothing afire in his room, where
upon he went out into the corridor
and noticed smoke coming from room
No. " ON he opposite side. At the
same instant one Of the occupants of
No. 81, Mr.. King. of Wilmington,
came out aud announced that the
house was burning.
promps alarm was given along the
corridor aRd soon the inmates OF al the
third floor rooms were out Of bed anu
dressed ready for fight. A r,Ish was at
once made by the men for room Nc. 81,
but at first glance no tirs was visible
save that glowing brightly In the open
CRATE which stood In the corner clos. to
The partition between this room and
Nh 40 ha tzmf -
norteastern corner Of the building.
Through cracks IN this partition fire vas
notised, and on going into room 50, the
ceiling was found 10 be In q furious
blaze, which was fast extending aud
dlllng all the space between the ceiling
AID the roof. Buckets OF water were es,t
upon the aams, but they were OF no
avail, and IL soon became evident with
the knowledge that there was no fire
apparatus OF any kind in the town) that
the building was doomed. At this time
a good city plug stream would have
deadened the fire In ten minutes, and
entirely suppressed 1t ia less tlan half
an hour.
In q quarter OF an hour after the dis
covery OF the fire the flames burs.
through the root, and were instantly
ianaed BY the stiff northweslerly wiud
that then prevailed. With incredible
swIhness they sped along the entire
ensth Of the east wind aud enysl ,psd
the position Of the hotel fronting OH
Capitol Square. Meanwhile a general
alarm had been sounded with the Court
House bell, aud the population, respon-
ded en- mdSse. The hook and ladder
truck own cd By the town was brought
out, but II was Of no earthly use excep.
10 enable venturesome men 10 climb up
and apply wet blankets TO the roofs OF
adj AGENT buildings that were amply pro-
Lected by several inches OF snow. People
Joined with. will In the work OF re-
moving furniture from the house, and
succeeded In saving fully ons-bali. Be-
fore three O'Clock however, The east VIVID
had 10 be abandoned 10 the flames, and
The front part OF the hotel was Ia full
blaze. The iire swept downward az il
advanced and wraps every floor Ia It's
dsyouring grasp. The Office aud bar
room, both Of which are In the old por-
lion Of the hotel, extendinR along State
street, were fred, but the rest of this
gart Of the house, was saved. the course
Va hho WAA1 - W dAANG
he aAm es away frsm 1t.
by foar o'clock the interior of the
building, with the exception above al
iuded to, Was one mass of flames, from
which clouds of heavy sparks arose, and
we're carried by the stiff breeze cleal
across Capitol Square. The great ben-
eft Of Tuesday nights snow was then
clearly apparent, for bad not the roof
oeen 30 lhlekly covered other buildings
doubtless would have been flied.
The greatest danger of spread of the |
fire was TO the two-story building ad. |
joining the hotel on the east, In which
Chief Justice CsRegys has his law Of |
ncs. Il Is owned Dy bis sister, Mrs.
Henry NJ. Rldgelsy, but no one was oc.
cupysng IL ~ the tune. The Chief Jus.
ics's Law library was quickly removed |
u place of safety. Fortunately the
tnieG Halls Of the hotel proved sufficient
restrain the names, and Mrs. Ridge
ley's house was saved. The other build. |
Jugs on tbis side of The square are NJ ..
Deans boarding house, ana the Todo
building, occupied By The law Offices of
j. l.. Wolcott aud j. A. Fulton, Esos.,
aud James Kirk aud Sons printing ot |
dee. In these buildings active prepare.
lions were made for speedy removal In
.sse of necessity, but fortunately all
.nger was sverted.
by seven O'Clock tho Ars was practi.
cally controlled bstwees the walls oil
he hotel, hough the wood work was
still blazlng freely and sending forth
showers Of sparks. During the height
of the fire telegrams we're sent To Will
,aington, asking tor aid.
REMOVING THE CONTENTS.
As soOn as the inmates of the hotel |
were fairly aroused, the work OF remov-
ing the coutents began. Transient
guests and permanent boarders, looked |
after their personal fleets, and the town |
people turnet oat the hotel furniture
until forced to desist by the fire. The
furniture thus removed was mainly de- |
posted upon "the green" Some of the |
more valuable articles we're carried into
The National bank across the street.
Most OF tho dining room furniture was |
removed, and the pool aud billiard |
tables were also taken ont. or course
much injury was inflicted upon nearl,
verVthing subjected 10 this summary
removal.
LOSS AND INSURANCE.
The h,tel property 10 owned by Thorn
mas O'CulibreaLb, OF Dover and for the
at Ian vaaFA I Hilh lha axean,Inn nf