The Portland daily press., 1895-07-22
A HOT FIRE.
Tenants of the Waldo Block Suffer
A Heavy Loss.

The Occupants Had Little Time to Escape
Many Lose Personal Effects-A Lack
of Water Pressure-TotaI Loss About
$4,000.
About TO- 80 O'Clock Saturday morning,
when Congress streeet was packed solid
full of people on the sidewalks witnessing
the great Wild West Show para de and a
portion of the street was open to admit
the laying of the telephone conduits, an
alarm was pulled in from box four, for a
fire in the Waldo block, No. 105 Middle
street., opposite the head of Chatham
street. This block is brick, three storied
with a Mansard kroof. The first
| floor is occupied by the electrotyping
foundry of Southworth Brothers, their
machine shop, and the office of the Uni
versal Laundry; the second floor by the
office and manufactury of Jones, Cart
| land & Co., shoe manufacturers, and the
work and drying rooms of the Universal
Laundry the third floor by the shoe
bottoming room, and the fourth by the
stitching room. The Sterling & Allen
shoe factory. and Six Town Times office,
with Fred Fl. Harding, hose supporter
maker, were in the eastern part of the
block.
1t appears that one of the girls en-
ployed in the Universal Laundry stepped
into the drying room where the centri-
fugals were at work and saw cloud of
smoke. At the same time Officer
Sklillngs saw the smoke pouring from
the drying room windows. The depart
ment was quick to respond to the alarm
but the fire had got a good start, and
there seemed to be a lack of water pres
sure. Hydrant streams were of no use.
They had no force. The engines, however,
as quick as they got to work poured
splendid streams on the blaze Engines
two and five were on Franklin and New
bury streets and got three lines of hose
in the alley in the rear of the block.
Engine number seven, the fire boat, got
up to Franklin wharf and ran a line of
hose waysup to the fire, and put good
stream into the blaze The other engines
were located on Middle street, and there
seemed to be some six or eight good
streams applied from that point. The
Siamese water tower was on hand, but
not used. In fact as soon as the engines
got to work, as there was little or no
wind, and as the block is divided into
two parts, separated by brick wall, and
heavy iron doors, the fire was kept in the
western portion, which was thoroughly
Quilted. The old two and half story
dwelling-known Eas the Plummer house,
stands just west of the Waldo block, and
the occupants moved out their goods but
the building only suffered little scorch-
ing 1t was fearfully hot fire, and the
flames, when they burst out of the upper
windows, before tho water quenched
them, blistered the faces of people on the
other sidessof the street. And an ~enor-
nous crowd of spectators it was too,
for strangers who had seen the parade
rushed to thessire to see that to.
So rapid was the course of the flames
that the girls in the laundry room, and
the people in the bottoming room of the
factory had all they could do to get out
| leaving their effects behind them. There
was d story going the rounds that one
young woman was burned to death, that
grew out of the fact that Miss burlington
tainted away. She was employed in the
stitching room, and the employees had
hard work to get through the iron door
way into.the other part of the building
before their retreat should be cut off
Many of the girls lost 3 small sums of
money in their pocket books, which were
hanging in the outside wraps, and which
were lost in the fire.
The occupants of the Wolff, or Plum
mer building, as it is more generally
called, got out their furniture. They
were Herman Davis, Mrs.. Christopher,
George Mccoy and Maurice Sheehan, the
barber. The removal of the furniture was
attended with considerable damage to the
property.
This is the list of the Insurance.
Southworth Bros, $1,000 on stock, with
W. E. Little; $4,000 on building, 5000 on
stock, and S1400 on machinery with
Loring & Son; $1,000 with the Home In
surance Co., on plant; $500 on building
with Dow & Pinkham; $1,000 with the In
surance Co. of the State of Pennsylvania
$1,000 with the Firemen's Fund. Total,
S11, ZOO.
Jones, Garland & Co.-s30oo on stock
and machinery with W. f. Littlet; $14,
600 on stock and machinery with Dow &
Pinkham. Total, ST, 600
r. d. Libby, Universal Laundry-$1000
on machinery with William Allen, Jr 4;
$1,000 on machinery with Dow & Pink
ham. Total, $4,000.
Sterling & Allen-s10O0 with Man
chester Fire Insurance Co.. $1,000 with
American of New York, placed with j.
II. Harmon Total, $4,000.
Libby & Smith-$1100 with Dow &
Pinkham.
Joseph Wolff-s50Oo on building with
Dow & Pinkham. Loss about $1,000.
The total insurance on the building and
stock was S33, 900.
The Jones, Garland place is valued at
SIS, 900, and the stock is injured. Mr..
Libby of the laundry puts his loss at
$500O Southworth cannot estimate his
loss, nor the others.
NOTES.
Last week the fire inspectors examined
the building and ordered iron doors to be
placed at the entrances. 1t was done and
saved the fire from getting into the other