Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1894-03-02
SUNDAY MORNINGS FIRE.

IL Burned IT. =. JOsselyn's New House
with the Mercury Mt ~ Degrees Below
Zero.
IL is pretty safe TO say that fire alarm
was never sounded in Brattleboro when
the mercury stood lower down in the col
umn than it did last Sunday morning, at
20 minutes past 4, when an alarm from
box 81. AZ the corner of Oak and Chaplin
sti eets, signified that II. S. Josselyn's par
TALLY completed house on Forest street,
south of the Thorn houses, was on fire.
When the alarm was given the flames were
already bursting out from the south side
of the house, and very soon after the whole
building was a mass of flames. w. Z.
Stone. one of the carpenters employed
on the house, was early on the scene, out
on attempting TO enter to save his tool
chest he found the smoke so dense that ne
dared not take the risk. The fire depart
ment responded promptly One OF the
hose companies attached line of hose TO
the hydrant near e. f. Brooks's house on
Oak street and carried it up TO the burning
house, but the pressure from the three-inch
main was so small, with the hose carried
back almost up to the reservoir, that only
the second story windows could be reached.
Steamer No. 4 was set at the reservoir
near Mr.. RandalPs, and soon had an effec-
tive stream at work, but the fire had made
such progress that to save any part of the
building was impossible, no matter how
much water was available, and the fire
practically took its course, consuming the
building. The mercury stood at the time
from 20o to 25o below zero, and the spec
tators we're very few, not exceeding 100.
We do not learn that there was any just
cause for criticism of the work of the depart
ment. The firemen certainly are not re-
sponsible for the small size of the Oak
street main. A story that the steamer
was disabled by freezing had no founda-
ton in fact. line of hose was laid from
the hydrant at the corner of Oak and
Chaplin streets to feed the reservoir where
the steamer was placed, and the fact that,
in spite of the pressure of the running
water, it gradually froze in the hose, where
the hose left the snow and crossed the
sidewalk, until the water supply was near
ly cut off by the accumulation of ice, shows
against what odds the department was
working.
The house had been closed in, the win
dows were in place, the plastering was
nearly completed, and there were fires in
three coal stoves to keep the plastering
from freezing. There had also been fire in
two fire-places during the day, but none
was left in them at night. The coal fires
had been attended TO and finally left at 8
o'clock in the evening. The fact that the
! fire when first seen appeared to be on the
south side of the house, opposite the part
where the stoves were, led TO theory that
the fire was of incendiary origin, but it
seems far more probable that the wood
work had caught from overheating or
from spark, and the fire had smoudered
for several hours, until it finally burst out.
The fire was seen by people living in
elevated parts of the village several minutes
before the alarm was sounded. AS far
away as A. F. Waite's, on the Putney road,
its glow was seen for what seemed long
time before there was any sound of the
alarm
Mr.. Josselyn had builders risk of $1,000
in the Continental Insurance company of
New York through Sherman & Jennes
agency. A Representative of the COM
pany, who was in town Wednesday, adj
Justed the loss as total. Mr.. Josselyu fig
ures the loss on the property at $780,
w. Z. Stone lost set of tools which he
valued at $500, f. G. Brown a set valued
at $50, and w. c. Joslin tools valued at
about $50. On these there was no insur-
ance.
ii. l.. Emerson, Ferris Vaughan and
Luke Ferriter performed part which the
firemen thoroughly appreciated under the
circumstances, by the distribution of hot
coffee, while Mrs. Emerson added dough-
nuts and other incidentals from her pantry
as her share of the entertainment
1t is Mr. Josselyn's intention to rebuild
the house in the spring.