The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1899-10-03

as they wers shadowed on the black mess
Of the night beyond the burning build
Ing. Ihe tlrelnen with their useless line
OF hose. stood just beyond the circle of
the territlc firo zone and watched the
flames go mounting skywari, while be-
hind them were gathered the people
who seemed to have come from all points
OF the compass to witness the most start
ling spectacle Portland people have seen
In ysara
Quickly the covering Of the central
part OF the mill seemed to have been de-
voured BY the flames and the skeleton
framework, each beam standing out dis
tinct from the others, stood alone. The
other sections Of the mill on ench side
were yet blazing flsrceiy when at G3
O'Clock the entire centre Of the structure
collarseo, serding high into the air
myriad OF sparks. The falling timbers
broke a steam pipe In the ruins beneath
and instantly the spectators we're startled
by the roaring Of the steam from the
ogerheatsd boilers. This falling Of the
roof Of tho bar mill, as that part Of the
building was cnlled, IN no ways di'nin-
ished the intensity of the fine, which con
tnued TO burn more ferceIy than ever In
the othsr parts of the structure
The people in L'gonla ard the employees
at this eli refinery where thousands Of
harrel u kafoesne are stored, we're hav-
ins very lively time. The ilazlna freg-
nonts OF the burning u III we're carried
away t1wards tie houses in aad about the
oil rraneT1 ead threatened TO sat fire to ths |
baildinga Of ths latter pant Ihe watch
nran there atsr oxtinRaishing several
embryo fires ali ~ himseii baonne alarmed |
at their frequency, acd sss the wnisto Of
the plant TO footing 10 sammte - This |
was ftrthoomlng almost imiul lately and |
The volunteers had enough to OCCUPY |
their 4ttentlen until the big rolling mill. |
isy 10 snioldering astes anu tne change i
Of the wind carried the blRzibg fra ments
far down the harbor Near the OIL reaa- i
cry were several vess. Is whose crews
found occupation in eAtinguIshing the
spnrks which fell upon their dsuks or
caught in their rigging.
higbt in the path OF the rolling smoke |
and dropping sparks were many large |
ire and IN the branches of r. esq tae IRE
starred again and again, while soue ol I
{ em had seir uppsr branches wall near |
burned eff hy the thousseds of not |
clnders which landed on them There |
were three large oHtbuiIdings right in
the path of this Storm of oindsrs and so
close TO the burning mills that 1t was
In possible for the firemen TO stand any
where near them for any lsnzth Of time
These three buildings the oil store house,
the carp inter- and machine shep where
thousands of dollars worth Of vaIuAtIe
patterns were tored, were saved by the
Efforts of Chief Kldridgs and his men.
They caught tire hundfeds of times, tut
the water which wa paufsu on their roole
and sides kept them from being very
much damaged.
When the tire started thera were four
big freight cars on siding in the COM
pany's yard. These cars were, some Of |
them. loaded with the finished prod uct
and some Of them were there to be load
ed. crowd of boys. hraving the terrific |
heat Of the fire managed 20 pull two Of |
these cars beyond the danger point but
the two otners which were too heavy to
move, re,aained withiD tho fire zona
The flremen kept these cars well soaked |
with water, but one OF them. Dele ware
and LacE wanna car, was nearly de-
sIroyed while the others was onIy slightly |
damaged.
Thousands of people had gathered on
the Western Promenade to witness the
grand sight. D3wey e eyes may have seen |
"A mora heaut fol exhibit of pyFoteoh MICS |
in New YorK when that city went Graz |
over his return home, but Portland pso-
pie certainly never witnessed finer dis |
play than this was. Fore river seemed |
a stream of blood, viewed from the We
tern Promenade. livery portion OF tur
bridge over .t stood ous IN tina bIaekness |
OF the night hey nd As IL 1t were bnil5 Of |
gold. faces wste easily to tie disting. /
duished on the Western Promenade by |
the light OF the fire hen it was at its |
height, ana In fact, the shore Of the Fore |
river fer many Thousand yards locked |
as Ii 1t were itself on fire.
Suddenly tners was a loud report at /
the burning mill ne rest the bridge and |
a Itllar OF red lire lfaped skyvard for |
hundreds of feet, while the spectators be-
yond the fire on the LiRonia shore invoi-
UNFAIRLY rushed back over the plain for |
safety. IL must have been the sxplos ion |
of an oil barrel, for In this scot the Hre
bu-ned more tiercely than ever for a short |
blInc anu tn6n uleu AWAY 1nen one |
section OF ths big roof after another fell |
with crash TO the ground until there
at last remained only five tall stacks like
the fingers OF human hani extending |
htavenward. but the fire was not vet |
over, An outhouse in which was stored |
scrap iron of which there was q large
amount on haud, took fire and though the |
nrsmen did their beat TO extingulsh the
flames 1t was destroyed. The stot ahouses /
near at hand in uhich the finished pro-
duct was stored ware saved b. very hard |
work by the local tIremen aided by the |
Portland fremen, five buildings in closs |
proximity to the mills alone stand of the |
en- tire plant, excepting OF course the
and the buildings further re-
moved from the scene of the tire
HISTORY OF THE MILLS.
The Portland Rolling Mills has long
been one of the most profitable and sue
cesstul industries of Portland. The mills
were built In 1865, shortly after the close
Of the war. The land on which they stand