The Portland daily press., 1897-01-20
MATCH FACTORY ON FIRE.
Portland Fire Department Works Well
i'm Zero Weather.

in Zero Weather.
Portland Star Match Factory the Scene of
the Biaze-Fire Was Confined to
Building Used as a Dry Room Which
Was Completely Gutted-Other Build
ings Were Not Damaged-Loss Only
$500 With No Insurance.
Zero weather always brings work for
the fire department. and last night was
no exception to the rule. At $40 o'clock
an alarm was sounded from box 81 for a
fire in the Portland Star Match COM
pany's factory on Vest Commercial street.
The loss was about $500 with no insur-
ance.
At five o'clock yesterday afternoon the
workmen in that part of the factory used
as dry room, dis covered small blaze
on the top floor lof the building, and ex-
tinguished 1t themselves. The building
in which this fire occurred is of brick,
four stories high and has wooden roof.
II is connected with the other brick
buildings of the factory andEtowers above
them by two stories. In the basement OF
this dry-room is situated the engine room
which is partly below the surface of the
ground and extends beyond the dry-room
towards the north for about 90 feet or
more. Or course the dry room was filled
with partially dried stock and this was
very infiammatle material. AZ has been
said the first blaze was extinguished and
the one which was discovered an hour
later and which called out the depart
ment may have been started by sparks
from the first fire or, as WAS suggested by
the superintendent of the match factory,
may have been caused by an over-heated
bearing on the roof of the dry house.
It WAS about half past six o'clock and
all of the employees of the factory had left
the building excepting two men named
Mason and Nelson. These men were en-
gagged in packing matches, and were IN
the two storied brick building seme
distance toward the north from the dry
room. One of them had occasion to look
out of the building and saw bright
light in the dry room. Thoy at once
knew that this building was on fire again
and so rang in an alarm from the
auxiliary attachment to box 81.
When the engines which respond to
this box arrived on the scene the dry
room was all ablaze from top to bottom.
The fire had spread rapidly by means Of
the elevator shaft and even the engine
room in the basement was on fire. Chief
Engineer Eldridge was OH deck almost as
soon as the engines He decided that
with the addition of another engine he
could handle the fire all right, and so
engine one was telephoned for. This ex-
cellent Judgment on the part OF Chief
Eldridee left the rest of the CITY well pro-
teeted but it wouldn't have been had a
second alarm been rung in. The fire was
handled in excellent shape and if ever de-
partment did good work it was last
night. Five streams of water were soon
pouring into the burning structure, and
after an hour and half Of desperate
fighting the blaze was extinguished. Tt
was 80 cold that many of the fremen
were severely frost bitten, atd all of
them after few minutes work looked
like ice men. They were covered with
ice from head to foot, ana it was about
"a hard for them to move around as it
would have been had their clothing been
made of iron. There were few spectators
on hand and the fremen bad the whole
field to themselves.
Deputy Marshal Sterling WIS present
with five police officers to preserve order,
Inf their services were not much In de-
mand.
The fire was confined wholly to the
ry-house and that building, even with
| a fierce fire blazing within, was soon
enoased in ice several inches in thickness.
The water that fell to the ground frozen
almost as soon as it struck, and the Bos-
ton and Maine freight tracks bshind the
match factory were almost hidden from
sight by ice. Tie fire in the engine
room was extinguished after hard
battle. but not until enough water had
heen noured into it to be almost waist
deem. At one time it looked as if the
| whole plant must be destroyed, but Chief
Eldridge and his plucky men dia such
excellent work that the adjoining build
inrs were not damaged in the least
4 G. Jordan, the principal owner oil
the match factory, told PRESS reporter
| that his loss was only $1,000, although it
seemed as il it must be more than this.
Mr. .Jor,ian said that ne had little or no
insurance. TWO hundred and fifty people
are employed at satisfactory, 70 Of them
being women. and it is very likely that
they will be thrown Gus OF work for q
| few days. The most OF inc water in the
angina room was pumped out by an en-.