Morning journal and courier., 1889-08-24
DISASTROUS WORK OF FIRE.

The Long wooden shop on River |
 Governor Rigelow Company Burned
 Two Alarms Sounded-A Hcavy
 LOss-One of the Most Disastrcus
 ConAagrations in Years-Pattefns of
 Priceless Value Destroyed-FuSie
 work of che Firemen.
 One of the largest and most disastrous con- flsprations which has been known in this city in several years was that which de- stroyed last evening the large old wooden structure on River street which has been oc- cupied by the Bigelow company, manufac- turers of steam boilers, tanks, and plate iron works and engines. The old building has been used by the company for upwards ot two decades. It adjoined the large brick ad- dition which In recent years was erected by the company. The factory consisted prac- tically of three divisions. These were the main building, having frontage of 15O feet on River street, with depth of 70 feet, and sort of wing in the rear. The dimensions of this last are nearly 75x75 feet. The old structure was three stories high. It bore venerable appearance and has been one of the landmarks of that portion of New Haven for a great many years.
 The company had no watchman about the shops, and 1t is supposed that all of the men employed there left the building at six o'clock last evening. It was In the nelgh- borhood of S:30 when two of the little chil- dren of John Hennessey, who lives by, saw smoke and flames coming from the rear DOT tion of the old wooden structure. Several men who were upon the street at the time ole hot ha hui afre and that the flames were rapidly shooting along the inside walls of the dingy old structure. Before an alarm had been sounded several streams of water were put upon the burning portions of the shop from small hose which was hastily pro- cured.
 By the time the firemen arrived 1t was evil dent to all that the fire was an immense one. Flames were shooting from the rear windows and the old walls, thin and dry as finder box, were cracking and being rapidly de- voured by the spreading flames.
 The first streams that were put on the quickly burning building by the firemen did not seem to have the least effect On rolled the fierce clouds of flame, and it was not many minutes before the whole interior of the immense barn-like structure seemed like fiery furnace.
 A second alarm was sounded soon after the first and all of the engines of the department soon had big streams of water flying and splashing against the burning pile
 As If to aid the fremen in their efforts, it
 began to rain in floods. Even this oppor tune downpour seemed futile. In spite of the floods of water which were continually falling upon the conhagration, the flames leaped higher and spread further over the doomed shop.
 For nearly two hours the gallant fremen battled the flames, and every moment the fire seemed to be gaining headway. The rear portion seemed to be the heart of the conflagration. The two upper stories looked like big pile of blazing embers. There were no clapboards upon this part and the
 son hs within. Huge wheels and machinery of all kinds were seen surrounded by floods of haue. The upper walls were burned to g crisp, and the heavy streams of water which were being thrown upon them burst them in like paper.
 The office of the company was also in the burning structure and suffered with the rest. Nothing was left of the big pile but smoking embers after two hours work by the flames. It was nearly midnight before Chief Hen- dricks was satisfied that he had conquered the big fire.
 The burned building was used principally for machine work. About 120 men were em- ployed there. A great number of these owned valuable sets of tools which were con- pletely destroyed. Many of the men will be thrown out of work for some time. Several of the men employed in this department es- timate their losses upon tools and other per- sonal property as high as $100 and $2OO each. A great amount of fine machinery was kept in the building. A great deal of this was on the second floor. As the floors burned through, the heavy iron and steel fell to the cellar with dull thud. The elevator was burned from it's fastenings upon the roof and also fell among the chsrred pile of debris. The damage to the machinery is | very great. It is, however, almost wholly covered by insurance.
 Perhaps one of the greatest losses and that which will be most keenly felt, is the de. | struction of the large number of valuable patterns which were kept in tbat portion of the shop which the flames so conn pletely gutted. These had been pre-. pared with much care and most of them | cannot possibly be replaced. One great req | son why the flames so long defied the efforts | of the firemen was that these patterns, most | of which were of kiln dry wood, caught fire | in tho early period of the confagration and could not be extinguished.
 When the fire burst in upon the office Of | the company, the flames spread about with vicious rapidity. The desk used by ex' | Governor Bigelow, who is now upon SO journ S1 the White mountains, seemed to bt | the objective point of the blazing tongues of | fire. Upon this desk was big pile oi pamphlets and papers which were awaiting | the ex governors perusal. These blazed uI | above all the rest of the flames. A stream | of water was thrown on them and two fire men standing upon ladder at the window tried to pull the burning desk to the window It fell from their grasp and dropped into thu
 burning mass beneath.
 Nothing definite could be learned as to th
 actual damage to the building and stock O. I to the insurance upon it. The building wa
 completely destroyed, and whatever it's valu
 was placed at is probably the figure of dam
 age to 1t. It yves heavily insured througl the company of Sperry x Kimberly. Ther will, in all liklihood, be no loss upon this | The machinery which was in the buildin was also insured to great extent, and ther | will probably be but little loss upon this. 1 is the general opinion of those employed b
 the company that the loss is very largely con fined to the large number ot plans and pat
 terms which were destroyed. No ono con
 nected with the company who knew any | thing definite about the loss or damage wa
 at the scene last night. They are all out o
 town.
 The ex-Governor is in the White Noun
 tains, and the secretary of the company | Colonel Frank l.. Btgelow, Is in New Yorl
 City. They were all telegraphed to and vii probably come to New Haven to-day.
 The old wooden structure which proved such an easy prey to the flames has an inter
 esting history. It has been occupied by th company ever since the war. One other bis fire nearly burned it to the ground in 1877 It was rebuilt and has since been one of thu principal portions of the shop. During wal time 1t was known the "Old Barracks. Soldiers were quartered there to the number of several hundred for quite long time. I, is a familiar old landmark to old resi-
 dents of the city and was one o
 the first buildings erected upon the point
 Years before the war it was the J. M. Wis. well carriage shop. It stood not far from the waters edge and the flames from iti | faring pile last evening could be seen ovel nearly as far as the shore of Long Island The reflection upon the sky was visible ir every part of the city. It is understood that another building, this one of brick, will soon
 be erected upon tine site of the charred old mass. One theory as to the origin of the | fire was that there had been larger fires thar l usual burning at the forges when the men quit work and that sparks from these firef may have caused the confagration. The total loss is estimated at from ,00C
 to $50,000.
 QuinniPIac Temperance Society.