Daily Kennebec journal., 1898-09-05
Al 5000 FIRE.
Mil Of Cushnoc Paper CO. Damaged,
Sunday Morning.


A isre In the paper min Of the Cush
noe Paper Co. caused loss OF abou'
$500. early Sunday morning.
1t was case where I preventative
Of Z flre caused one that for tiaiis
threatened to be bad one, and woult
~ It was but for the prompt work o
the city fire department. assisted b,
the department OF the mial.
It was nearly Las A. NJ. when tht
fire was discovered by the men wht
were at work there. crew having
been employed there nights for q weel
or more. The direct cause OF the firf
was friction, that set on fire q belt
This belt was the main belt that runs
from the machinery about the water
wheel, and 1t runs horizontally along
the first floor Of the mill running nea,
the upright belt that conveys power
to the top Of the building.
The manner in which the fire started
is something novel. 1t seems that a
sprinkler head Of the sprinkler system
to guard against fire that Is In tbs
mill. in, some way blew of. letting
water upon the belt.
This caused the belt to be slippery
and it merely slipped about on the
pulley. The friction set the belt afire,
and this belt quickly communicated
the fire to the belt which runs to the
top floor Thus 1t was that fire was
started on all three floors almost i'm
mediately.
There was some delay in ringing in
the alarm so that It did not arouse the
firemen until 1.55. In the meanwhile
the fire pump Of the mill was set in
motion. and the excellent fire system
Of the min was soon playing havoc
with the flames. This system is sup
piled with four lines Of hose. and the
pump forces the water through at the
rate of 1000 cations each minute.
The whistle on the mill assisted in
waking the people, and 1t was not long
before the two house wagons and the
Pettingill's Corner Hose team was up-
on the scene, and FIVE more streams Of
water was playing upon the flames
In addition to these streams, the sin
gle line of hose of the Light Company
where 1t started. and succeeded in do
ing good work holding the flames in
check until the city department as
So, a.. Il 6ttl~ - t'tttft
SISTED theH. .sfrod gifs tj.Ils
The fire was in a place where the
lights of the city were at stake. the
fire starting within few feet Of the
machinery that furnishes the power
to generate the electricity.
The sprinkler system was all the
while doing good work. and the situ-
alton of the mill makes 1t convenient
to fight a fire OF this sort so that after
fight Of little over an hour the "all
out" was rung.
F. s. Lyman. the superintendent of
the mill. says the damage which is
mostly the result Of the smoke and
water. will amount to about $4,000.
1t IS fully covered by Insurance He
finds that the building has not been
injured to any great extent. though
some Of the timters are charred. The
machinery is not injured more than
badly wet down. The greater part Of
the damage is to the paper which was
stored in, the top OF the building. In
many cases the wrappings to the rolls
are burned of. and the paper not
otherwise injured.
Mr.. Lyman telephoned to a dealer
in belts in Boston. Sunday. and or
dered belts to take the place OF those
burned which cannot be purchased
here. It was promised that the belts
would be shipped by express so that
they would be received in time to be
in use Monday morning. and II they
arrive. work will be resumed as usual.