Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1893-11-23
OVER HALF A MILLION
Is the Loss of Money by
Springfield Fire.
A DISMAL APPEARANCE.
The Glendower Hotel Will Be Replaced
byaS75, 900 Hostelry.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass, Nov. 90 - The
heavy rain W all that saved Springfield
from the most disastrous fire in the his
tory Of western Ma,sach usetts. As it was,
no such co fipgration has swept over the
city since the IN 'morable Sunday In May.
1875, when nearly the entire heart OF the
business section was eaten out Luckily
no lives arr re eDorte lost, and il is hardly
possible that here are bodies in the ruins.
The loss Is estimated at from $500, 900 to
$4,000
1t was dismal but still thrilling pic
ture thai the cold light of daybreak re-
vealed to the spectators who TODD con-
tentedly in the driZzling rain on all sides
Of the bur ed areI. The flames no longer
leaped fiercely skyward, hut had been
tanned down TO comparative mildne ,s, a. d
the smoke was much less dense la G .antity
and color.
or the home and store Of j. w. Webber
aud the fur blocks adj iuing, only piled
up and smoulderinS heaps of brick, iron
and timber remained. OF the Gleudower
hotel all that was left was the ominous
looking fragment OF the clrner facing the
postofiice building on Wori hington sire t..
PORTION Of he party wall, AID towards
the east aud south portions OF the rear aud
side walls. All else was a smokit & heap
of debris.
A steady and disagreeable drizzle of rain
was falling, and torrents Of water poured
down the st irways Of the Wight build
ings. Ii was mud and water everywhere
in the vicinity OF the rufus. Main street
from Worthiugton almost TO Bridge street
was a sorry spectacle. The pavement and
a. IL InaN ..at.rh 3 IL.
a mass of brick, stone, charred and
splintered woodwork and fragments OF
what had been once plate-glass windows
Tangled lengths Of electric light and troll
ley wires were coiled among the debris
like serpents.
A Confused Mass.
Worthingtou street was In even worse
condition. From one side to the other 1t
was AN almost impossible mass OF debris,
and where the fall n fragments OF build
ings had left a pace stood pools of water.
The thousands OF spectators on the post
Office steps aud every point of vantage,
kept In check by the police lines, formed
an interesting background, and over all
hung like n pail leaden-hurd clouds.
No time was lost in setting Main street
partly to rights. As soon AS daylight
uttut WOl ONslDit ~ lhTkc lOICt VI mcu
were set at work clearing away the debris
and the street raj way company gathered
up its tangled and broken trolley wires.
Sire, I car traffic w s 4 complete stand
still at first, but after while the company
sent IA numb-r of cars To the rescue.
The corner towering aloft in melancholy
grandeur ali that was left of the front Of
the Glendower attract ID a considerable
share of the attention of the spect ators, ex-
pecting to s., e il fail. But its liability to
totter and crash down at any moment
made IL dan erous, AID the firemcn de-
cided that IL must comr down.
So the aerial ladder was swung against
It, touching a. a point II few feet below its
top, and two firemen mounted the ladder
and threw a rope around the fragment.
This done, the men on the ground pu led
with n will and the column crashed, rails
ing cloui OF dust in tue debris below.
James Il. Able will begin to rebuild at
once. TIL rulas Of the Gl ndower hotel
will be rep acei by a $4,000 block, also for
hotel purposes.