The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1882-08-05

BURNING OF PROVIDENCE MILLS.
Sixty Thousand Dollars Worth ui PFC
perry Destroyed.

, Sixty Thousand Dollars Womb ui PFC
perry Destroyed.
! Ah"ut six o'clock yesterday norninL
,J,>eph Carter, one of the blracIters employ
ed at Providence Mills, owned bv William
| NJ Sngerly, Esq, ard where ;he paIer
used by the Philadelphia Eero,d is manu-
featured, located on the Little Elk Creek
| seven miles north OF thi; town, nuticei the
presence Of smoke in the room in which Ee
| WAS engaged, on the second story Of The
mills, in the portion known as the 'sOld
| Miil.' Upon Investigating il and following
mp the direction in which it came, Mr. Car
ter discovered that the " chipper - room, in
the vicinity Of the machinery known as the
"chlpper, where the wood is reduced to
! >plinters, was enveioped in tlames There
| We're about a dozen men at work in the in
mediate vicinity. the main day force not
having come on. These responded prompt
! ~ to his alarm, and in Il minute or two
| after the discovery was made, water was
turned nron the fire from an inch and a
half nozzle fed Ivy a powerful steam pump
TIL" fire had, however. gained 50 much
| healwav, and the situation was SO favora-
! bic ;or It's progress, that il was found i'm
| possible to eNtinguiSh il. This portion ii
| the mill "'as therefore abandoned to the
| flames, and the efforts Of the men, who haG
10y this time arrived to the nuinhcr Of a
| least seventy-iive, We're directed towards
saving the portions of the mill yet untouch-
! ed Ivy the flames and some Of the property
/ in the burning portion. Near the chipping
| machine, where the fire originated, ar" 10
! Gated
THE ii.. F+sTITt: PITS.
and over these were thrro large .,irs con-
/ municlting with the outer air through the
roof, and used for carrying of vapor5. These
| We're covered and lined with boards The
heads of the wood boilers near by were also
Sheathed wi;h wood, which Of course was
/ in Il dry and conui.s!ii,ie condition. which
in addition to the wood s,osL upon tie
premises (Which was smali) offered ample
food for the flames. The fire as stated is
supposed to have originated at or near the
Chippes, nI,l 10 have been caused by the
| friction Of the " iiSute.at' Of the betting,
which drove the machine, ana famed by
the strong drauoht of the liueS cammuui-
Gated tirst to the stock about the machine,
then tn tine easing Of the boilers, and from
thence it communicated 10 ,hA, s5ana work
of the tines, and from linor to floor until il
reached the Shiuglc roof above. 1t was
practically beyond control in five minutes
;;tier il originated as it had by that time
reache.! the dry i,lai.k covering of the boil
ers, and it is Thought tina. 34s, at,o..t that
length Of time had elapsed when it was dis
covered Had Nj. Carter discovered the
fire two miniita. u.lrier. ur before it had
caught to the boler easing, i il thopgist it
, could have been eXtinguiShei. Ihe Clipper
ronFn i!eater room, .ilkali House and Wet
ting rooms, Ao..i,,tj>n4i within what was
known as the, old mill" ana s;iua,ed
about in the centre of the miti proper, a
three story building of stone, with all the
machinery, ahatting and stock therein was
destroyed, nothing biii the bare walls being
left Standing at Mig O'CLOCK Yesterday morn !
ing. This portion of the mill which was
81 ,-s, &. .,ora wings formed Il the whole !
:. building st
ABOUT ,1Ai25 FEET
in dimensions ana three stories high much |
Of the machinery in this building WAS new |
and Of Il valuable character, all of which /
WAS so much damaged by the heat as to
render it useless, save for old metal In |
from Of the portion destroyed aud con-
ne@tea with Il IS t..2 eyar1,aitn., ,.liil, Il .
stone strrctgr2 about 7GN Joe feet, one story
high, also continuing !aiiabe machinery. /
This not LitiiasH.i III The slightest IN .
front OF this mill and separated from it by
a roadway stand the machine shops, Il
stone structure of about the same dimen
Sions. This also escaped damage. To the
rear of the buried mill and connected with
it a'e located the pape. machine room CT
.-liit a siale structure :fJo4.t i4'NI-s fcrr,
containing al TIE newest aa most i'm
proved and costly paper making niarhin-
erv. This fortunately aor.li2.i l.Hl Is ,.iiiu-
iureG. by the Site Of the paper mill is the
engine room, ais" Of stone and nearly il not
quite as large as the paper mill. Here are
located all the steam boilers and also two
large and handsome engines, which drive
the shafting and machinery of al the mills.
by dint of hard fighting tho ta:a2% were
KEEP, o,s, o. ltt,S aeEa.1.1eni also, a4ld moth
ing therein WIS injured. engagements
had been 14a'te to rei.iu&e tue S,ingie roof
trcIs! tbs Oil mill AID rai.!;... IL .,i,h an
IRON one next week, aud also 10 Reader the
ilues spoken of and other adjacent parts
tireproof by metallic sheathing. There was
little or no stock comparatively speaking,
in the portion of the mill burned, So that
the loss in this regard is small Neither
can the origin Of ting Ere 10 a,Jiltuted 10
the woGd stock Ihe.e seems to be but lit
lie doubt ti!at its origin WAS as above stated
SCENES AFTER THY: FIRE.
The paper stock in the paper mill at the
time Of the outbreak at thu IRE vas all
promptly t&n.IAAa, a,+u a. tlt tii..e our re-
porter .lsltrsl the s4eGe ni"n were busy at
work returning HE Aa@e rolls fr0m where {
they had been crnporarily deposited 10 ;
their usual places of storage in the mills.
At this time, which was about 10 \. NJ, ali
combnstible material of the burnt mill ,
was destroyed or reduced to Il Smouideripu
mass Of ruins. the hare hlarlo-a,l stone !
wan s.9,.g slati>!lha. 4,As !5li4,s ire stu !
atrd in y ~aleY aNt! Il tiensa SMOKE still ell c
veloped its surroundings ana arose In n {
volume from the ruins. \ force of men :
were still hnsily engaged directin. several :,
heavy streams of water from the pumps +
upon the ruins Of the burnt portion and the il
steam arising from this added to the nr,ral a
oplng rapo.. INSIDE tue walls was one o
mass of charred timbers, fallen stacks, and =
columns of stone and machinery and shaft :,
Ing med md twisted m =. a. a".e.a1en,y
ineXtricable inass. While our raportar n
looked upon the scene of destruction. one IL
of the heavy gable walls, three stories and b
an attic high, fell with q crash, burvinr all
beneath it, and sending up a dense shower :"
of cin1ers and SHARKS. Fortunately the G.
wall ie, .nW4las. llau - dpul o.ueryise c;
it wouii have caught benaatl ii a s,ors RI, W
men who were engaged ut its base directin, u
the streams of water within III
TIE LOSS.
The loss as roughly estimated will ra,.h
lift" a"d nerh"pS sixty thousand do|,,-s
ana val t"nnire ~ 'e'st S.<ly .,a,s 10 re-
piaGn tIlnLs III fn'innG urar. Tie loss j.;
fully covered ly usuranc. in Phil.,.,n,i, ia
New York and Eastern companies At 81
this early hour it. is mro> lille Ia nall, ~, II
m i'm, '