Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1899-12-23
poMrREr HOMESTEAD BURNED
E. Y. DANA's HOUSE DEsrRoYE D
BY FIRE SUNDAY.

E. Y. DANA's HOUSE DEsTROYE I
! BY FIRE SUNDAY.
E. Y. Dana's house was burne ed
to the ground little after FIVE
o'clock Sunday afternoon. The,
farm lies about mile and hal
easterly from Pomtret Center, and
is about the same distance from
North Pomfret. The house was an
old one, understood to have been
built a century ago or more by Mr..
Dana's grandfather, Isaac c. Dana,
who was the original settler on the
place.
The road runs north and south
and the house was on the east side,
while the barns are just across the
west side of it. The family had
eaten supper and Mr.. Dana had
gone to the barn to milk when a
swapping sound was heard from the
direction of the chamber which was,
thought to be the scratching of ca
anxious to have the door opened.
The scratching sound continued,
and at last Mr.. Dana's little boy was
told to open the door and let the cat
down. The child opened the door
and it was found that the house was
on fire, with the chamber all in
blaze. The little boy was told to
run to the barn and tell his father,
while Mrs. Dana and her mother,
Mrs. Alonzo Thatcher, who is u
member of the family, did what they
could to save property. MIR. Dana
ran to the house, but already the fire
had been seen from distance and
he found that help had already ar
rived. Dana Burbank, who. lives
half a mile to the north, and
Nelson, a man at work for Mr..
Dana, who boards with Mr.. Bur.
bank, had seen the flame break
through the roof and promptly ran
to the place and arrived ahead of
Mr.. Dana himself.
1t was about ''chore time" all
through the da,rying region, and the
alarm was readily responded to. fl.
w. Vail lives in plain sight of the
Dana place, over two miles away,
and MIR. Vail happened to start out
of his house for the barn just as the
fire could be seen. He at first
thought it lantern, but soon saw
what it really was and asked Mrs.
Vail to give an alarm by telephone
while he went to the barn and got
his hired man and started for the
fire. The local telephone connects
with Pomfret and North Pomfret
post offices and with many houses
in the region, and Mrs. Vail inme-
diately notified every station on the
line from which help could possibly
come.
The result of the good for.
tune as to time of day and ready
action appears in the remark Of one
of the later corners that he found
one hundred men at the place, with
the road full OF teams for mile be-
fore he got there, some of the
horses hitched and some loose. F.
l.. Davis was one of the early ar
rivals. He ran his horse toward the
place so hard that the animal gave
out before arriving, upon which Mr.
Davis abandoned the team and him.
self ran the rest of the way. Mr..
Brownell from the same neighbor.
hood went on horseback at about the
same time and had similar expe-
rience.
The wind was southerly, SO than
the danger to the barns was relative
ly little, and men with ladders and
buckets of water extinguished what
threatening sparks appeared and the
bans were saved unhurt. The
house was wholly destroyed, and
withit everything in the chambers,
including the most of the family
The bulk of the furniture
and other articles on the lower floor
were saved, with some things in the
cellar.
Mr.. Nelson, who has great phys.
ical strength and showed cool
head, especially distinguished him
self. lie took the cloth from the
dining table, which was still set for
supper, up by the corners with the
dishes in it and carried the whole
out and laid it down carefully with
out breaking so much as salt Gel
lar. A whole barrel of flour did
not require such careful handling,
and this no rescued by pitching it
bodily through window. A cream
vat, with enough cream to make 100
pounds of butter, could not possibly
be moved with its contents, and the
cream was thrown out and then the
vat was saved. All the dairy ma
chinery was saved, including the
power. Stoves were carried out,
and almost every portable article.
There were in the cellar about 900
bushels of potatoes. which are of
course badly injured. 1t is under
stood that there was 5000 insurance
on the house and $500 on the con-
!ents.
An old shed building back of the
house escaped, and Mr.. Dana in !
l. A. .l,.,.~.> kl,ox | I