Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1893-05-26
]. w. PRoUTY's HOUSE BURNED
And the Families OF John DuntOn and
Leroy Corbets Made Homeless


Leroy Corbets Made Homeless.
Bratteboro had its first fire in 1898 last
Saturday, when j. W. Proutys house on
Washington street was burned early in the
afternoon. The total loss will not exceed
$500. Mr.. PrOuty had $1,000 insurance
on his house and 500 on his goods stored
there, through the agency of Cudworth &
Childs. Neither of the two tenants, John
DuntOn, the upholsterer with Emerson
& Son, and Leroy Corbett, was insured.
A large part of Mr.. Duntons household
goods were saved. but Mr.. Corbett lost al
most all of his possessions. The fire started
from an oil stove in Mr.. Dunton's tene-
ment. The blaze was not large when dis
covered by Mrs. Dunton. but the fire soon
reached a barrel of kerosene, some ten feet
away. This ignited with flash, and the
flames spread very rapidly. The barrel of
kerosene was bought only the day before,
and Mr. Dunton, who was very busy, had
neglected to take II down cellar. Mrs.
Dunton had the presence of mind to shut
the doors, and was therefore able to re-
move the household effects. One of Mrs.
/ Corbett's children was frightened so as to
require the mothers attention, and the
doors being open the smoke soon filled the
/ Corbett tenement, and the goods could not
/ be removed.
/ Young Hopkinson rushed to the fire
alarm box at the corner of Central and
/ Washington streets, but he could not UNI
/ lock the box and the alarm was pulled in
/ by 7. Barrabay. The gong sounded cor
/ rectly but there were only five strokes on
the bell at the Baptist church, and the peo-
pie in the vicinity of Main street were puz-
zled to know the location of the fire. The
] HaH httf fs ha
distance to the fire and the Roadway it had
gained, we're not able to save the house,
only the charred front part being left stand
ing.
One hose cart is kept on Prospect hill,
in Mr.. Harris's barn, only few rods from
the scene of the fire. The hose from this
cart was first laid, but it was found that it
had been wound wrong end to- when
used in filling cisterns. After the hose
had been changed the water refused TO run,
owing to the work of mischievous boys,
who had pushed stones into the hydrant.
The stones went through the hose to the
nozzle, where they acted as a valve to shut
off the water. A delay of ten minutes re-
suited from these two causes. Several of
the firemen were drenched by the water
while endeavoring TO do effective work, and
Will Perry had one hand cut by falling
slate stone.
Soon after the first water was thrown
streams were being played from the ny
drants by the three hose companies, and
from Steamer No. 3. The pressure from
the hydrants was so light, however, that
the Elliot hose company soon retired. The
roof of Mrs. Shumway's house was on fire
at one time but Will Shumway and Herbert
Elmer extinguished the flames with pals
of water.
The people on Prospect hill have shown
their sympathy for Mr.. and Mrs. Corbetr
/. in substantial way. The women have
held sewing meetings, and purse of over
So has been raised. Mr.. Corbett's family
are at his brothers, Jerome Corbett's, fol
the present and Mr.. Dunton's family al
! Mrs. Beamans.
1t is understood that Mr.. Prouty doe;
not intend to rebuild.