Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1891-11-27
VERMONT NEWS.
MIDDLEBURY SWEPT BY FIRE.


Fourteen Buildings Destroyed - The
Total Loss SI25,OOO, with Good In-
surance.
The destruction of II buildings and to-
tai property loss of over S125, 900 is i'm brief
the story of the visit of the fire iend at
Middlebury last Sunday night. The fire
broke out at o'clock in the old pine build
ing on Main street known as the Rookery.
1t was all ablaze in a moment and almost
before the alarm was sounded j. l.. But
tolph's building on the opposite sideof the
street was on fire. These buildings were
situated at the end of the bridge on Main
street crossing Otter creek.
The new system of water works. upon
which work has been in progress all sum
mer, was not completed, The pipes were
all laid, the MIGRANTS in place and the pump
house built, but the pump and apparatus
were at Burlington at the factory of the
Lang Il Goodhue company the contract
ors. The contract called for completion of
the system August ID, and it is generally
believed that if streams could have been
thrown from the MIGRANTS the fire would
have been checked in few minutes As
it was the village was dependent upon the
work of the fire department, with one
steamer, hand engine and pump at the
| Sun grist mill. The steamer was not i'm
condition and II was half an hour before
any water was thrown upon the flames.
! The fire swept east on Main street and
was not stopped until it reached the large
l. brick building owned by Beckwith IL Co.
! This was practically fire proof but was on
fire several times under the tin roof, and
was saved only by constant work The
Kidder shop and the Baptist church were
also saved after hard struggle. If the
Beckwith building had not withstood the
! flames the loss would have been much
more severe. The men of the village and
the college boys worked with desperation
and many acts of heroism are related. Aid
was summoned from Burlington and Rut-
/ land and the fire departments from those
places responded. but did not arrive until
the fire was under control. The Burling-
ton companies, however, rendered good
service in watching and caring for the
ruins. 1t was 1880 when the fire was
controlled and 80 before the tiremen
ceased work
How the fire started is not known, but
there is some suspicion that it was Of in
cendiary origin.
Among some Of the most serious losses
sustained are tire following: E. l.. Park
hurst, grocer, $1,000: FamswOrth ~ Co.,
hardware, $4,000; Mrs. Buttolph, on
building, 5000; f. =. Cushman. dry
goods, $4,000: J. Battcll, building, 5000:
Rich d Buttolph, building, $1,000; W. II.
Sheldon, drugs, groceries, boots and Shoes
$4,000 to $4,000; Il. s. Benedict, gro
ceries, $1,000; p. A. Sheldon estate, on
store and sun grist mh, Sll 900; Sheldon,
lessees of the mill, $1,000; Mrs. ID. Stew
art, building, $500; G.. W. Fowle, cotton
mill, $1,000 The bridge over the creek
was badly damaged, but will be made pass
able in few days. 1t will probably be
replaced later by an iron structure. Nearly
all of the firms were well insured. In all
30 individuals or firms suffered losses and
five families had their homes destroyed.
There is much talk in Middlebury that
the Lang II Goodhue company will be re-
sponsible for the losses, not having COM
pleted the water works according to CON
tract.
The burned section comprises a triangl-
lar section in the business portion of the
town, bounded on the south and west by
the Otter creek and on the north by the
railroad. The business men are securing
quarters as best they can for the present.
Little rebuilding will be done this fall but
it is expected next year the burned section
will be covered with substantial modern
buildings, and that the result in the end
will be to greatly improve the appearance
of the village.
Orrin Smith was badly burned about the
back while fighting the flames at the Beck
with building. He has been taken to the
hospital at Burlington.