Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1891-11-27

North of the Sheldon store and the grist
mill, facing the east and extending l4O
odd feet to the west, stood the old cotton
factory, stone building of great anti
guilty, of many stories in its western end
and three stories high on the street. 1t
was not used, except to limited extent
for storage. The roof was in bad shape,
the floors had fallen down in places and
generally the structure was in a ruinous
condition. 1t was last occupied by the
Cutter Marble Co. as a marble saving and
working shop, and a portion of the old
machinery remained. G., w. Fowle, a
Boston man, bought the Cutter property
five or six years ago and assumed that
company's lease of the factory, which he
finally purchased of the owners, "A syndi-
cate of ten Mddlebury men. He has
been trying to sell it lately and President
Fisher of The Green Mountain Pulp Co.
has talked of buying it. Had he done so
he would have built paper mill in the
rear of the lot and block tf stores in
building and on the street line was stohe
office, where the Commercial Union ree-
graph Co. had an office.
North of the cotton mill office wing and
! perhaps 20 feet away was "A wooden,
]
property of Mr.. Fowle. Thomas Bissette
and family lived in it. Next to this on
the north and touching it was the three
story brick and marble general store of
Beckwith e Co., probably the finest
structure of the sort in the State. 1t has
! a plate-glass front and was built through
out in the most substantial manner.
Next beyond the Beckwith block is the
wooden Chapman store, in which Chap
man q Co., clothiers; b. B. Hope, furni-
ture dealer, and Mrs. Campbell, dress
maker, do business. Then comes the
railroad. Back of the Chapman block
is the old "gas house." stone, three
story building that once formed part of
the cotton-mill property and was recently
purchased by Beckwith q Co. for use as
Il stOrehOuse.
THE STORY OF THE FIRE.
At about 6 40 o'clock an alarm of fire
was given through the village, and soon
after the bell in the tower of the town
hall began to tell the same story, that
there was really fire. y good many
people were on their way to church from
one side of the bridge to the other, and
the reverse, at that hour, and when the
flames shortly burst forth from the front
]
goers stopped to see what the result
would be and how much would be burned
down. AS a result, all of the churches
had scanty congregations at the evening
service-Or, at least, all that attempted
to hold any evening service.
Some ten minutes after the alarm
flames burst forth from the front of the
Danyew barber shop. The door and the
windows had been broken in. giving Il
draft to the fire, which evidently came up
from below. When the flames first broke
through the front of Mr.. Danyew's shop
there was no light from fire or lamp in
the store of Mr.. Parkhurst. At about a
quarter before seven the people of the
village had begun to realize that there
was "A fire, and by seven or little after
they had assembled in large numbers
and were satisfied that the blaze would
/ be no small one.
As soon as could be after the first
alarm the tiremen got the steamer out
and down to the river bank near the
bakery. The old hand-engine was got
across the creek and was placed so that
it could throw the water from the reser-
voir near q. ;. Wainwright's. Steam
was got up in the village pump at the
bakery as soon as boiler filled with
cold water would permit, and hose was
attached to the pump at the "Sun" grst
mill. Although everything was put in
readiness without unnecessary, or at
least unforeseen, delay, it was some min
utes after the flames broke out before IA
stream of water struck the fire. That
came from the steamer, II minutes after
the alarm was sounded, and then, a few
minutes later, came stream from the
hose attached to the Sun mill pump.
although the trunk carrying water from
the tlume to the pump was partly blow n
out when the water was first started in.
Had there been no accident there and
then. it Is altogether probable that the
fire would never have got across the
street from the building it started in.
But the delay in getting the pump into
order was fatal to the chances of making
1t only one-building fire.
BY this time the whole of the interior
of the Smith & Sheldon building was in
flames and it was beyond the possibility
of being saved. The flames were then
shooting across the street, impeled by a
staunch south wind. which never di-
minished during the night, and it soon
became certain that DR.. Sheldon's store
and the Cobb block were doomed. The
firemen were then making all possible
efforts to save the two latter blocks, or
at least not to let the fire go further and
beyond them. In the meantime the
Buttolph block had caught from the
Smith & Sheldon block, almost stimuli
taneously with the breaking out of the
fire in that block, and from there in spite
of the adverse wind the flames worked
their way to the east as far as the rail
road bridge, devouring the Buttolph
block, the Battell block. with the store
house in the rear of the former, and the
Buttolph & Rich building near the
bridge, which itself was badly scorched
and had the ratings burned off at both
ends.
From these buildings the fire spread
to the Allen block, and by this time the
Sheldon store and the Cobb block, as
we'll as the old cotton factory, were all
in flames, and the Sun grist mill was also
on fire. Next came the turn of the
brick house just north of the cotton
factory, and by o'clock or little after
all of the buildings consumed We're on
fire at once. The store of Beckwth &
Co. caught fire on the cornice more than
once hut bV strenuous efforts it was