The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-10-23
ANOTHER GREAT FIRE.
Cape Elizabsth's Skies Aflame
Again.
BARNS OF THE JOHN s. HANNA
FORD PLACE.


Eph. Dyer-Bad Work of the Furniture
Smashers-Loss Heavy But Well In
sured.
At about seven o'clock la st evening the
cloudy sky was brightly illuminated in the
direction of Knightviile, showing that a fire
of large proportions was in progress. Ap-
parently it was but just across the bridge,
but once outside the city grandly beauti-
full column OF smoke and sparks ose to the
clouds in southeast direction and several
miles distant. 1t was like the paintings of a
,olcanic eruption.
From Portland bridge the procession of
teams and bicycles and the pedestrians,
stretched out across Cape Elizabeth. Groups
of people in the road were continually
dodging the swift and silent wheelmen and
they we,s dodging the teams. 1t was a
wonder that somebody wasn't hurt. The
road was never worse. /: In fact it couldn't t
| be any thing different, but better. and ap-
parently all the people on the Cape and
all the wheemen in Portland were journey
| ing over it in the gloom.
After three miles and half out, on
the Hannaford road, the scene of the fire
was reached. A large crowd of people were
surrounding the fine large white mansion,
with the cupola, known as the John s..
Hannaford place. and the great barn in the
rear, and the adjoining sta BILE were sheet
of flames.
A long shed reaches out almost to the
barn, aud as its end was already flaming, it
seemed as if the house must go.
Consequently the usual crowd of furniture
smashers began to get in their wcrk. Crazy
| men threw valuable and worthless articles
| out of the windows and smashed them on
| the ground. One lunatic in the attic win
dow. forty feet high, yelled look OUT" and
| down came box of something and smashed
| to pieces. ssThes ground was covered with
broken glass and crockery, and the road
| was full of broken furniture and house
utensils of every description.
| Finally when they began to take out the
| widow sashes, one sensible and exasperated
man yelled to them to stop. Then he rushed
around to where the boys were throy ing
squashes out of the shed chamber for fun,
| and stopped that nonsense.
The work of rescue concentrated at the
| end of the she'd Of course there was no
/ water supply. The pump over the only wall
was close to the burning harm, where
nothing human could live. The nearest
| water was at the next eighbors. nearly a
quarter of a mile away. 1t was brought in
| barrels in a cart. Had there heen the least
wind in its direction, nothing could have
saved the house, but fortunately the very
slight wind was away from the house.
| What little water there was kept the root
of the shed wet, but the end continued tc
flame and nobody seemed to want to go out
there on the ridgepole and throw water on
it. BY the time the barn and adjoining
stable were nearly burned up, and all the
furniture had been hurled out of the hand
some rooms of the fine old house. it became
manifest that something must be done to
put out that pertinacious blaze on the end
| of the shed.
About this time Driver O'Rouke. of the
Chemical, who drove out with friend, took
| a hand and directed the fore es to such good
purpose that soon hook and rope were at.
tached to the timbers and the end of the
shed began to come down. After the entire
walls for twenty feet had been pulled out
Mr.. O'Rouke walked out on the upper t1ool
of the bending structure and fastened the
| rope and long line of men pulled an6
pulled. The long roof swayed back and
forth and the flame was famed still
bright But at last the rid ge pole broke
| and down came the whole thing, and the
house was safe.
| The fire caught from an overturned
lantern. The hired man W ent into the barr
to tie up new dog that he had. and the
animal frisked about and knocked over the
lantern. Two cows were burned, but the
rest of the stock was saved. There wa,
plenty of time to get out the horses anC
carriages in the stable. There were abou
twenty-five or thirty tons of hay in thu
| barn.
| 1t WAS a time of great excitement. Mr.
Charles f. Jordan, the present owner of thu
place, was SO excited that he was not him
self. and had to be kept away from the fire
by his neighbors. 1t was. impossible to learI
| anything from him. Nobody seemed to know
definitely, but there was abundant Nassur
ance that everything was fully insured.
Considering that fact, it was very unfor
tunate that somebody couldn't have locked
up the house and kept the furn ture
smashers out.
The house was built a few years before
the war by the late John S. Hannaford,
very successful farmer. The present owner
Charles F. Jordan, married Mr.. .Hannaford'
daughter, Hattie. The place was willed t.
her when her father died, and at her death
i four or i've years ago, she willed it to hel
husband. They had no children and he nov
lives there with his bousekeeper and hel
little son.
1t was reported that two watches ani
some valuable papers were missing from the
house. n fine set of crookerv that had beer
in the family tor years was saved.
Great credit is due not only to Driver
O'Rourkesfor his intelligent and courageou,
effort, but especially to Ephraim Dyer, who
/ worked all the time and to good purpose
and to J. S. Hannaford, another Cha1le.
Jordan mot the owner) and DR.. @. A. King
of Portland, who happened to be driving Dy
and to many others.
Considering the lack of water and the
proximity of the shed to the great barn
(only sixteen feet) the saving of the hous;
was indeed fortunate, and the loss on the
barn and stable is Coversd by insurance
hut the damage to cherished household
goods that cannot be replaced, just as
nortrait that was spoiled, is irreparable.
Condition Improved.