The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-06-04
IN TRANSCRIPT STORE ROOM.
Hot Fire on Exchange Street at Midnigh
Extinguished Without Great Loss,

4 At midnight, last night, an alarm of
lire was sounded from box 45 at the
corner of Middle and Exchange streets for
hot blaze in the second story of block
the Thomas estate. The fire caught in
the store room of the Portland Transcript
and did considerable damage before it
was discovered and subdued.
1t was few minutes after twelve
O'Clock when William Moore and Sumner
Libby were walking up Exchange street
from Fore. When they got opposite the
block at AZ Exchange street they smelled
smoke and on investigating saw that
sparks were dropping through the ceiling
of the office of George E. Duncan, the
broker and William S. Denney the insur-
of the street and pulled in an alarm from
box 45. A quicker hitch was never made
by the chemical engine company at night
for they were out and tearing down Mar
ket street towards the fire before the
second round had commenced to ring. All
time to the spot and Chief Engineer El-
dredge and his assistants were on hand
almost as soon as was the department.
The door of the office of William S.
Denney and George F. Duncan was forced
open and cloud of thick black smoke
rolled out into the street. The fire had
evidently caught on the floor above and
had burned big hole in the floor,
through which the sparks were dropping
into the room below. A chemical stream
was soon playing away from below, but
the fire seemed to be gaining headway
and threatened to make hard nights
work for the fire laddies Between the
offices of Mr.. Denney and Mr.. Duncan
and the Portland Transcript, which is the
next door above, is stair case leading up
to the second story of the building. The
door at the foot of this stair case was
burst open and the fire men forced their
way up stairs. The heat was terrific and
the smoke was sitting. Driver Mike
O'Rourke of the chemical engine won the
praise of Chief Engineer Eldridge and the
admiration of the entire department by
facing the terrible heat and going into
the very heart of the fire. He located the
fire in the store room of the Transcript
Office which was right at the top of the
stairs. In few minutes stream of
water was turned on this room and in
less time than it would seem possible the
fire had been extinguished.
The cause of the fire is unknown, but
it is thought that it caught in a pile of
rubbish in the store room, probably from
spark from pipe or from rats trying to
masticate a stray match. At any rate it
was very hot fire, and had been burn
ing for some time before it was discovered
Had the fire got a little better start the
whole block must have been destroyed, as
over the place where the fire occurred is
the show case manufactory of Bailey &
Co., in which there is considerable in
fiammable material The Portland Tran
script company was damaged by smoke
and water about $4,000 worth and this is
fully covered by insurance. The offices
of Mr.. Denney and Mr.. Duncan just be-
low also suffered considerably from water,
but the damage cannot be great in this
part of the building. The building itself
was not damaged more than $1,000 and
last night it was impossible to find out
for how much the building was insured
Chief Eldridge and his fine department
did just the right thing and that too at
the right time, otherwise there must have
been a very serious confagration.