Morning journal and courier., 1886-06-17
ON STOCK, ETC.

The origin of the fire is unknown and cannot be accounted for. It originated in the storehouse, not in the smoke house as current report said, and MT. Sperry said there had been no fire there and he was ut terly at loss to account for it. In the building at the time of it's discovery were three men, John Torsley, the watchman, Frank Mansfield, the night engineer, and George Rowland, one of the drivers. The
 two last were busy loading up a delivery wagon. The watchman and Rowland both
 say that they looked into the smoke house
 and the room adjoining but a moment be- fore they discovered the flames. The room adjoining the smoke house is used for stor- ing empty tieIces and here, according to
 these men, the fire started, but how neither they nor anyone else can explain.
 One of the large buildings near the ice house was the building where lard and bacon were stored, and this made hot fire and a difficult one to fight. After the fire was
 they were mostly burned out internally little else but the walls remaining. Here were visible piles of bacon and ham looking, as bystander remarked, baked or cooked just right for eating. This
 reminded the bystander of Charles Lambs ever wondrous tale about the indi-
 vidual, who set their pig shanties afire with piggy inside in order to eat roast pig, an ac- cident of thatkind in the first place having vealed to their knowledge the unsurpassable
 delight of eating roasted pig
 The destruction of stock was enormous.
 Mr. Sperry said: "We are killing here from 750 to 800 hogs day, and it takes sixty days to cure the meats ready for shipment. Hence we are required to have an immense amount of stock to keep orders supplied. You see the large building here, he continued" :"
 f'It was filled with stock of which you see the debris and remains. So with the other
 buildings. We had two thousand hogs dressed and hanging up ready to cut up;
 these we saved. We had also seven hundred
 live hogs, which we saved by making them
 go down the inclined plane which you see
 over there. We shipped them to Boston to- day, where they will be made use of"
 "How long will your business be inter ruptedp tI think it will be longer than three months" answered MT. Sperry, looking ruefully at the devastated buildings and great piles and masses of machinery, which looked as if in an inextricable tangle; 'I think it will be considerably longer"
 "How will you supply your orders through other frms?" t'No; we will wait until we rebuild. But we may find way to partially continue our business. Everything is now in such huIly-burly state that I don't know" Here MT. Sperry's attention was called by Chief Hendrick to the con stantly increasing lake of water in the rear yard, which was being swollen by the deluge of water the firemen were pouring into and had poured into four story building. Mir Sperry, with the activity of a young man, showed the iremen where there was sewer outlet for the water, which was stopped up by debris. This was cleared and the flood began to subside. Chief Hendrick and Assistants Kennedy and pisbrow sat on barrels surrounding the scene, look ing as if they didn't care for another fire inn rRed1ately. The hremen were also well