Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1899-03-07
FIRE Az PARIS Hlll.
BUILDINGS OF GEORGE N. ATWOOD
coNrLErRLN DESTROYED, AND
BARN OF W. II. CUMMINGS DAMAGED.
SPREAD OF rHE FIRE PREVENTED
ONLY BY HARD WORK.


ONLY BY HARD WORK.
Paris Hill was yisited by fire las
Thursday, which completely destroyer
the house, ell, stable and carriage hous
Of George NJ. Atwood on Lincoln Street
with a portion of their conteuts, ant
damaged the big barn OF w. II. Cum
mings. That the fire did not spread ant
destroy property up the street to an In
definite extent. Il due TO the hard ant
lively work OF the men, women. ant
children of Paris Hill. and the Souti
Paris fire department, all OF whom re
sponded promptly and some Of whom
worked about to the limit Of thell
strength.
On that morning when Mr.. Atwood
went into his stable he found the from,
door unfsstened, although he distinctly
remembered fastening It the night be-
fore. Going into the house he inquired
OF several members Of the household u
they had unfsstened II, but they had
not. He then gave his horse feed OF
grain. but being called to breakfast did
not stop to feed her hay and did not &c
into the hay loft or discover anything
wrong except the unfastened door.
While the family were at breakfast
some Of them noticed q smell OF smoke,
and the chimneys of that and neighbor-
ing houses were looked at TO see II they
were burning out, but nothing Of the
sort appeared and the subject was dis
missed.
After breakfast Mr.. Atwood took some
letters To the post Office. distance OF
only few rods, snd coming back i'm
mediately, as he came around the front
of his house he discovered fire breaking
through the roof OF his stable. Run
ming TO the stable, he got his horse out,
none too soon. He led her q short dis
lance on the street, then gave her 10
charge of some one he met, and went
back with another msu after his sleigh.
Although they knew just where IL stood,
only short distance from the door, they
were unable 10 get 10 il. Some OF the
first 10 arrive ran out the carriages from
the carriage house, but two bicycles, a
sleigh. pair of double harnesses and
two single harnesses, and various other
small articles, were lost.
Some of the first arrivals on the scene
ran for ladders and axes. 10 tear down
the ell with view to saving the house,
but this WAS soon seen 10 be entirely use
less. The set OF buildings, which were
all connected. were doomed from the
start.
Such being the case, the people who
were there-the larger part OF whom Mt
that time were women-set To work 10
clear the house, In which undertaking
they were remarkably successful. The
most Of two chamber sets, quite guam
tity OF clothing, lot of kitchen furnish
Ings, all the contents of the attic and
cellar, and some other things, were lost
but the larger part OF the things In the
house were saved, and In pretty good
condition.
Meanwhile, up the other WAY plucky
A ght to save the street was being made.
Joining Atvood's lot on the back side Is
he lot Of W. III Cummings, and his big
barn stood with It's southeast corner only
about twelve feet from Atwood's build
ngs, and that end OF the barn solid full
u hay. IL that had once got well on
ire, how far up the street the flames
would have gone is 4 question.
Well. IL WAS stopped, although, until
he engine arrived from South Paris, the
,nly facilities for lighting were pals OF
water and three or four little garden
'orce pumps. For two hours or more
hat corner OF the barn smoked, and for
about an hour there WAS almost con-
SANITY blaze somewhere on the out
'ide OF IL.
Fortunately the barn has cupols
with stairs leading up To II, so that water
,ould be- taken up-until the smoke got
90 thick--to keep the root wet. Another
'upply OF water Was passed over the
lsy NOV. and hundreds OF psilfuls were
ised TO keep the wall and hay wet, on
he exposed corner. The barn smoked
ike furnace, but the blaze was kept
ioWu.
Another supply of water was being
! sed on the outside OF the barn, and that
Sxs where the hottest work came In.
How some stood IL TO work between the
as they did, Is puzzle TO At
east one newspaper reporter, who tried
{ and promptly got out.
The water used At first came from the
own pump. aud from the cellsr under
Cummings house, which, having about
foot of water In IL, with convenient
made valuable reservoir at
critical time. Later several other wells
we're drawn upon. Pals and tubs came
rom all quarters. and men, women and
boys pumped, and dipped, and lugged.
lt wasn't very well organized force.
but IL WAS lively one. There were no
spectators at that stage Of the proceed
ngs.
When the fire In the Atwood house
got the hottest, the barn of Mrs. Snow
began 70 smoke, and in several places
he fire started on the jet Of the east end.
Men upon the roof took care OF this,
though II WAS so hot they could stay on
hat end OF the roof only as long rs was
absolutely necessary.
News OF the fire had been at once
90 South Paris, and the de-
psriment there promptly responded,
coming up with the hand engine, two
hose pgngs, and a good force OF men.
There MSS some quick time made on the
road that day, they say.
The first South Paris men, who were
some distance shesd of the engine,
Joined the bucket brigade with a will.
Then, when the engine arrived, work
was begun with IL at once. First
well was pumped out. Then
the engine was put up beside w. II.
well, near the northeast
corner of the barn on which they were
II work, and there II stood for the rest
Of the time. Two other wells were
euptied into that one. the wster from one
being carried in pals, and from the
other. higher up the slope, run down in
y hose.
AT the time the engine got to work,
AtwOod's buildings were fist and the
heat of the fire was past. The danger
10 Mrs. Shows buildings was past and
there was no blsze on the outside OF
barn. But the blaze which
had hung so persistently on the barn
for sn hour or more had eaten through.
aud the hay NOW was full OF shoulder
ing fire. When a hole WAS opened In il.
a cloud Of binding smoke poured out.
The hose was put in through a window
and used inside for n while. Finally It
was decided that large part OF the hay
would have TO be pitched out. So the
wall of about half the east end OF the
barn was torn out. and several tons OF
hay were pitched out.
IL sounds remarkable 10 tell OF hay
NOV on fire being put out; bat that Is
what Was actually done In this case.
While the hay was being pitched over,
the firemen would frequently get
.'wsrm,' and working carefully, would
fluid a shoulder which blszed as soon as
the air reached it, until the stream OF
water squelehed it. Finally, after an