The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-10-24
STRICKEN BY FIRE.
The Three Jordan Brothers Suffer In
One Night.
Two Brothers Return Home From The
First fire to Find Their own Property
Destroyed-Suspicion of Incendlarism
Long List of Fires on the Cape TINS
Summer.

Destroyed-Suspicion of IncendlarIsm
Long List of Fires on the Cape This
| Summer.
| After Charles f. Jordan's barns had
burned, Monday evening and the house had
been saved, his brother, Pomroy W. Jordan,
| who lives in Spurwink, close to the Grange
| hall, took him home wit him to pass the
night, as he was still in a very disturbed
| and excited condition.
| A third brother. A. Scott Jordan, lived
| in house just across the street from Pom
roy. He was left at the scene of the fire TO
! help guard the place through the night
| Pomroy and Charles It. went to bed in
| the formers house at about 1000 o'clock,
| but the latterscouldn't sleep. In A. SCOTS
| house across The road was his wife and five
| small children. AT about Il. 80 Mrs. Jordan
was.awakened by the roar Of flames and
looked out to see the great barn lnass OF
| fire. She had scarcely more than time to
| gel. out of the house and rush across the
street with her five little ones in their night
| clothes. Pomroy was awakened. and aur-
ried out as soon AS possible. Charles F. who
had not.sslept at all because of his own fire
was nearly frantic at this new calamity. as
the flames had followed him from his own
home.
! Pomroy saw Immediately that there was
noshelp even for the horses and stoek,which
| he thought of frst;. the barn was too we'll
under. way. A wagon stood near the barn,
and he attempted to draw it away, but the
tights labors and excitement at the fire at.
| his brothers. place and this new terror and
| dismay, with a prospect of his own house
| being destroyed were too much for him.
/ His strength seemed to leave him and he
| was forced to leave the wagon to burn.
| While the house was burning at about one
| O'Clock, its owner, A. Scott, was on his way
| home, there .Deing plenty of the near
neighbo1s to guard Charles F.'s property.
| He was walking but was picked up by
Walter Doughty. and arrived in time to find
| his entire set of farm buildings destroyed.
| There were very lew of the neighbors who
| could arrive in time to do anything and
only few of the household effects were
| saved.
| The house was built about rs years ago, by
| the grandfather of these three brothers,
| Capt. Clement Jordan, who died ten years
| ago, at the age of nine ty years. The father
of the three brothers, the late Clement Jor-
I
| in which Pomroy lives. Up to six years ago.
| Pomroy and A. Scott lived i'll this house
| together and operated the farm of 200 acres.
| But when Pomroy got married they divided
| the farm and ~. Scott repaired the old
| house, which had been unused for nearly
| twenty years, though the barn in the rear
was used by both brothers. The shingles Oh
| the house were the original split pine
shingles, put on by Captain Clement, nearly
| seventy years before.
| Pomfoy has no barn, and all his hay and
farming tools were in the one that burned.
| Two OF the three horses that were burned
were his and SO were tie three cows that
were burned. His loss is at least $1,000. He
| had S4G0 insurance on the hay and imple-
ments. A. SCOTS two COWS were in the
| field. He was just about to drive them to
| the barn for the night, when called away
| suddenly by the fire at Charles f. house.
A. Scotts loss was about $4,000, and there
| was only $1,000 insurance. At one time there
| was great danger that Pomroy's house
would burn, and also the Grange hall, about
which the sparks flew in an alarming man
| ner.
| The carriage that Pomroy and Charles F.,
| drove over in was burned in the barr. In
| the shed were twelve or fifteen tons of fine
| Hubbard squashes. Most of the potatoes
| were saved by y.r-ue of the large old
| fashioned chimney. that the flames were
utterly powerless to damage in the least.
| Its base occupies space of 15x10 feet in the
front cellar. 1t is a huge block of brick,
| through which are TWO large arches. In one
arch were fifty bushels of potatoes, and only
| a few of those on top were roasted. The
most of them are as sound as ever.
| Above the cellar there are really two
| chimneys rising from the sides of the
foundation. comingstogether above the first
| floor and affording chance for four fire
| places in as many rooms on the first floor.
| 1t was a story and half house. A man
| who sto cd by yesterday morning said that
| there were at least $4,000 of brick in the
| entire chimney.
| For several years previous to his death
| the old captain had resided with his four
sons who live in Fairfield, Iowa. and had
come on to his old homestead in the sum-
mer. These four brothers out West are
uncles of the three brothers who were SO
sorely afflicted by fire Monday night.
| Of course these two fires have created a
great deal of excitement and talk on the
Cape. 1t seems that Charles F.'s barn was
not ignited by the upsetting of lantern by
a dog. This story was denied yesterday by
| the hired man. Nobody had been in the
ba1n to the knowledge of the family after
| O'Clock, and the fire broke out at about
seven. How it caught is unknown, as is
| also the cause of the fire that started in A.
| Soott's barn.
| People on the Cape think that the situa-
ton looks suspicious. and though of course
| these two similar fiji es might be a coinci-
dence, it is hardly probable. There are not
! acking many people who think and say
| that the fires were incendiary, though no
| one knows OF any enemy to the three
| brothers or why there should be any. They
are universally liked and respected.
| The epidemic of fires on the Cape this
! summer is alarming. Besides these too, last
| Monday night there have been in the past
| six months the burning of the Hobbs farm,
| the Ingersoll store and the Albert f. Han
naford house at Bowery Beach, and also the
| Ocean house stable and Cape Cottage.
| If there is some fire. bug on the Cape
| he has certainly made good record, and