The Portland daily press., 1898-01-17


1t stands the one stored building Of
Bangs and Stowen occupied by them as a
confectionery store. This building now
commenced to smoke and its walls be-
came so hot that they burned a hand
DIaced upon them, The firemen turned
their attention to this structure and were
able to save 1t.
Wien the flames had reached the tower
of the Casino and were leaping high in
the air above the fated building the sight
was msgnificent one. The walls OF the
building had melted away before the
flames as if they had been made of paper,
and for q time the heavy timbers forming
the skeleton of the building glowed and
blazed alone. Then the smaller timbers
OF the tower began to crumble away and
finally crashed downward, sending
myriads of sparks whirling skyward. In
a trice the framework Of the Casino fell
and the magnificent building which has
been the pleasure resort of 80 many Port
land people was in ruins.
Shortly after the fire w0s discovered Mr..
A. P Morrill,, the engineer of the Casino,
who lives in Willard, hurried down to the
building the upper stories of which were
at that time blazing like a furnace and
dashed into the boiler room. Here was
located tbs costly heating plant of the
Casino, and Mr.. Morrill, turned the water
into the boilers and thereby saved them
from being very badly damaged. He also
had time to release his dog which was
ocked up in the boiler room.
Mr. Morrill, was the last person, SO far
as is known who was in the Casino. AT
five o'cloclz after the crowd of the after
noon had gone Mr.. Morrill, made a
thorough inspection Of the building. AS
has always been bis custom he entered
every room 10 see. that all were secure and
the last rooms he visitediwere the dress
ing and smoking rooms on the second
floor. He discovered nothing out of the
ordinary and locking the Casino up went
to his home. Two hours later fire broke
out in thege very rooms, but how it
started, is not known. 1t is believed that
some Of the visitors of the afternoon may
have carelessly thrown cigar or
cigarette butt into q corner where it
ignited G scrap of paper and this may
have been the origin Of the disastrous
blaze. In the Casino was an orchestrioD
which was valued at $1,000. It was the
only one in the city and has furnished the
. music for many fine concerts and dances.
This was of course destroyed with the
building, but the loss is figured in with
the grand total which Mr.. Harry r.
Mcleod the general manager of the Cape
read places at s5l, 900. The Casino was
insured at s25, 600, and the loss was $751;
000 The insurance was placed through
the agencies of Prentiss Loring, who has
$40, OeO of the amount, and the agency of
Dow Sc Pinkhnm which has the balance.
Mr.. C. j. Willard who owned the
pavilion and restaurant estimates his loss
at $4,000 with an insurance Of $1,000 This
insurance was equally divided in the
agencies of Adams, Anderson & Co.,
Prentiss Loring, Maine Mutual and e.
c. Jones. By the good work of the fire
laddies from Willard and South Portland
the motor house and some other small
buildings in the rear of the restaurant
and pavilion were saved. A small build
ing owned by Charles Chase of Portland
I'd used by him in the summer season as
:. pop corn stand was also destroyed. The
loss was about 500, and is partially
covered by insurance.
The Willard Casino was first proposed
by Mr. Thomas S. Krutz, vice president
and managing director of the Portland
and Cape Elizabeth Railroad in the fall
of 1896 AT that time Portland had no
amusement ground of the kind, unless
those at the islands be reckoned, and Mr..
Krutz's idea was to give the people of
this city something which they had long
needed and which cities of smaller size
had long enjoyed.
The Casino was designed by Mr.. |
William &. Goodwin of Boston and |
erected under the supervision Of William
Goodwin, ESD, of Portland. The con- !
tractor was Spencer Rogers of Portland. |
The Casino itself cost about $4,000, while |
the fittings, furnishings and other Access
series made the total cost of the amuse- |
ment place amount to about s31 900. The |
building was 10 feet long, Is feet wide
and about 100 feet in height. 1t was sur
rounded by broad piazZas from which
one might look across the ship channel
to the green islands of the bay and in the
other direction see the white sails many
miles out at sea. The Casino was of a
very handsome design and was well con-
structed and arranged. In the basement
were the Boiler, toilet and bicycle rooms,
and offices Of the building. There were
also about IS well equipped bath rooms in
the basement, and on deys when business
was rushing these were all in demand
On the floor above was o coinmodious
hall, two stories in height extending up
wards TO the trusees of the roof. At one
end OF the hall was stage with dressing
rooms, etc. The hall was surrounded by
broa galleries in one of which thu or
cnestrlcn was placed. All of the work on
the building was first class. The framing
was OF spruce and Georgia pine, the floors
and galleries. of maple and the roof and