Morning journal and courier., 1883-09-17
A Disastrous Fire.

The Packing Establishment of F. 8.
 Andrew Totally Destroyed - That of
 s. E. MerVvIn & Son Seriously Dam-
 aRed-An Extremely Hot FYre-Quanti-
 ties of Pork, Lard and Hams De-
 stroyed-LOss Sa5, 5000 Mostly Covered
 by Insurance.
 About 1880 o'clock yesterday afternoon an alarm of fire was sounded from box CT, To- cated at the corner of Gofe and Sperry streets It being Sunday and the day being pleasant there were great many people on the street and they naturally turned their steps in the direction indicated by the alarm. The first thought was that it was the Brock ett & Futile compsny's carriage factory on Gofe street, or the car trimming factory ad- joining. On reaching this point it was evil dent that the fire was 8 considerable distance beyond, as clouds of black smoke could be seen rolling skyward in the vicinity of the Beaver ponds. The unanimous opinion of pedestrians as they hurried along was that the fire was at the pork packing establishment of either s. E. Mer- win & Son or F. s. Andrew & Co.,, or both, and these suggestions proved to be correct. When the firemen reached the scene the fire was raging in the vicinity of the smoke house connected with Andrew & Go s establishment, in which it was under stood there was large number of hams in process of curing. It was very evident that this was where the fire started. The sawdust used for smoking the meat had become over heated and taken fire, and connecting with the adjoining wooden buildings spread with great rapidity, the buildings being of 8 com bustibIe ch aracter and containing much ma terial calculated to feed the flames When the firemen arrived and attached their hose to the hydrants it was plainly apparent that there was scarcity of water, and the best that could be done was to try and save the buildings of s. E. Merwin & Son. To this end the firemen bent all their energies, and notwithstanding the meagre supply of water they were enabled to save large amount of property.
 The fire in Andrew & Co.'S establishment ragged with great fury, and the residences of parties on Crescent street were seriously threatened with destruction by the large cinders that kept constantly alighting on the roofs of the adjacent houses. The first house on Crescent street nearest the fire, which is one story house, was occupied by Edward J. Harrington, and in anticipation of being burned out the furniture was quickly removed across the street and into the woods The house next was where Henry Weber lived and from here the furniture was quickly taken out and removed from danger of fire. The next house was occupied by Gilbert Clark and the last one in close prox- imity to the fire by William Miles. On the roofs of all of these houses were stationed r<1f,, T5ikh rf water to put out any indications of fire that arose from flying cinders that occasionally lodged on the roofs of their dwellings,. In the rear of Andrew $ Co.'s packing house was large storehouse which at the outbreak of the fire it seemed impossible to save. The firemen, however, gave it thorough wetting on their arrival, and by careful watching saved it from destruction.
 To the course of the wind, which was blowing from southwest to northwest, may be attributed the ultimate safety of S. E. Merwin < Sons buildings. As it was they were seriously damaged. The building used for Q slaughter was almost completely destroyed; the chilling" room, with all it's machinery, was gutted, and other serious damage done to the roof of the main build ing. When the fire was first discovered, and it was found creeping toward the Merwin building, teams were brought into requisi- ton and several hundred dressed hogs were ] removed with other stock and were taken to Sperry & Barnes warehouse on Long Wharf, for temporrry storing, MT. Sperry kindly of- fering all his facilities for this purpose. The fire continued to rage with unabated fury until the entire premises occupied by Andrew & Co.,, excepting the storehouse and a barn across the street, were entirely de- stroyed.
 When the fire first broke out Henry Schmidt, who worked for Andrew & Co.,, while endeavoring to save property for his employees, was quite seriously hurt. In at- tempting to remove large platform scale, 1t tumbled onto him, cutting a serious gash in his scalp and bruising the shoulder blade. Dr. c. S. White, who was in the vicinity, was called, but found no bones broken. He dressed the wounds and left the injured man comfortable
 Elisha Miller, member of Hook and Lad der No. 1, received severe gash in his hand from nail in piece of lumber, ana on hls return to the engine house he went to Dr. George filings drug store and had his wound dressed.
 When the fire broke out Mr. F. s. Andrew, senior member of the firm of the company, was at Stony Creek spending Sunday with Joel F. Gilbert. He was informed of the fire by telephone and drove to the city with Mir. Gilbert, arriving in time to find his once prosperous business establishmentin ruins. AL though it was 8 severe blow toMr. Andrew yet he bore up under it with great fortitude especially so when it is known that his fall and winter trade is about opening and in a few weeks will be at it's height. Even at this season of the year he was carrying 8 large stock and the amount saved from the burning building is very small. He estimates his loss at about $50, 900 and insurance $a5,- GOO. His insurance was principally placed in the agencies of Charles Wilson, Sperry $ Kimberly, Michael Herrity and Pond Broth i TzLL nEa divided equally between the Shoe and Leather company and the Fire Insurance association. The insurance on the stock of s. E. Aer- win $ Son was $19, 800, divided among agen- cies as follows: With J. G. North $ Son, $5, ,OOO, divided between Phoenix of Hartford and Htna. In Sperry $ Kimberly's agency: British American, $2,O0O; Imperial Fire, of London, $3,O0O; Tradesman's, of New York, $1,5OO; Commercial of New York, $1 ,5OO. In c. B. Bowers agency: London Assurance, $1,5O0; Guardian, of London, $1 800; Peoples, New York, $1, In Charles Wilson's agency, Newark, N. J., $1 ,000; North German, $1,000. Total, $19, 800.
 On buildings and machinery, with Frisbie, Chase & Co.,, London and Lancashire $1,- $50 on building, $25O on machinery Northern, of London, $1, 1,25O on building, $250 on machinery; Manufacturers and Builders $S33 B on building, $166.67 on machinery With Charles Wilson's agency, Firemen's of Newark, $833 B on building, $166 CT on machinery New Hampshire, $S33. B on building, $1s6.- 67 on machinery. The total insurance on building was $5,OOO, and on machinery $1, ,000. General Mervin estimated his loss at between $4,oOO and 5000 on building and $1, ,O0O on machinery. The loss on stock is not large.
 While the fire was raging General Merwin sent to Downs City Hall restaurant and had an abundance of hot coffee and sandwiches sent out to the scene of the fire for the ben eft of the hard working fremen, and his kindness was duly appreciated by them, as most of them were about sitting down to their Sunday dinner when the alarm was given, and this under the circumstances they were obliged to sacrifice After the fire was under control General Merwin sent. the following letter to Chief Hendrick, which explains itself:
 NEW HAVEN, Sept. 16, 1883. A.C Hendriok, Chief Engineer New Haven
 Fire Department:
 Dear Sir--Most fully appreciating the heroic exertions of the fire department in saving our property from destruction this afternoon, and wishing to testify in manner more substan- tial than words, accept for the benefit of the Firemsn's Benevolent association the en- closed check for one hundred dollars.
 Very truly yours,
 s. B. MERwN & SoN.
 Chief Hendrick promptly responded to MaPuiuSa Iakker raturnincr thanks nm