Daily Kennebec journal., 1901-05-18
A Score Of Buildings Ab|aze at
| One Time.
Several Destroyed and Total Loss
WiilrReach About $4,000.
Help Sent from Watcrsiie. P,iisfiCld and Ban
SOs-Smaii Insurance

]
= \ little crailI from an engine dIopped
: On the roof of the freight shed, this
afternoon, where probably hun1rc ia
, of Others have fallen befC.e. TLia p.r-
/ ticular spark, however, had cx.ep
! tional opportunities. and before very
| long il was the cause of two rpecial
fire trains, one from Watcrvillc ana
one from Bangor II looked FOR d
| time as il TIE whole town was
doomed, but 70, tanatcly t,e nle wa4
under control il had 4 chance To
/; spread a great deal.
| TIE freight shed where the fire
| started is just south of the PASSENGER
station. In the 1odr OF this and sep
arated from it by only one track waa
! the Grist mill of Judkina & Gilman
ana the Wnoi-vut king shop Of Pearson
x MCFaddcn. These buildings were
practically undcr one roof. South of
| these again was the condensed milk
factory.
| The fire soon spread from the freight
shed To the grist mill and from there
to the woodworking shop. The shed
went like n pile Of tar barrels ana it
| The two mills We're also very infam-
| mable. so they too went very quickly.
1t was found impossible to control the
fire in these buildings. The wind was
driving the sparks into one of the
| most thickly settled parts of the town
| \ peculiar fact is that although the
mills which We're totally destroyed
| We're surrounded by dwellings. all of
these escaped damage and the fire
| skipped up over the hill about 4 quar-
ter of Il mile and fixed on the Metho-
dist church. or what had been used
| as 4 Methodist church. This had just
| been purchased by the local lodge of
| knights of Pythias and the trade had
been closed not much over an hour be
fore the fire started. This building
| was also destroyed.
| Meanwhile the sparks were being
driven onto the dry roofs Of the houses
and little fires, famed by the strong
wind. We're breaking out in all dirac
tons. 1t was at this time that things
looked serious. 1t seemed as if
large part of the town must 20. Their"
was not help enough to attend to all
Of the fires. Houses were catching on
every hand and a large number Of the
men were kept busy moving the
household goods out of danger. These
We're removed from many houses and
piled up in the yards in all dir"o tions
| Miss Florence GreonWay discovered
the fire on the roof of the church when
it was but little blaze. but there was
so much work to do down at the mills
that it could not be attended to in
time.
| II was when the houses We're catch
ling fire on every band and at least six
were burning that the calls for help
were sent out 4 call was sent to Ban
cor and to Waterville. In the latter
CITY the steamer call sounded at
O'Clock and the engine with Hose was
hustled up to the station and loaded
onto n special train. This followed No
10 up and some record breaking time
was made on the trip. A special train
was also run down from Bangor with
| the fire engine in charge Of First AS
sistant Engineer John Woodman. The
Watervillc engine and men We're In
charge of Chief G. F. Davies.
When the special trains arrived tho
| fire was under control. All that was
| then left of the two mills and the
! church was the smoking ruins. All the
fires among the houses had been ex-
| tingIlished without much damage. or
| the houses. that of Mr.. Cookson. which
was a small one. suffered the most. but
| even there the damage was small.
on the way up the Waterville special
stopped at Pittsfield and took on the
hand tub of that place. The only ap-
| paratus used. however, was the Bangor
engine. which pumped water onto the
ruins of the two mills. The remainder
of the apparatus brought by the spec
| ials was not unloaded.
Although the milk factory was very
| near the mills burned the fire had no
| chance at it on account of its being Oh
| brick and rooted with slate.
The grist mi of Judkins & Gilman did
a general grinding. wholesale and retai'
business. The building was renovated III
| January and put in firstclass condition
for the business. The loss on the struc-
| ture itself is estimated at $1,000. There
was a large amount of stock on hand ara
considerable lumber. The loss on this Is
estimated at s3Oc0. There was no ins"r-
Iance on either.
| The shop of Pearson & McFa 1den "as
known locally as the spring bed factory
1t was fitted up with machinery Tor u
general wood d-working business. Inc 10
4 tal loss on this is estimated at S22'o ana
some insurance was carried.
The price paid by the Knights of fyth-
ias for the church was 800. The socie''
is manning to build new meeting house.
so had sold the old house to the louaV
II for a hall There was no insurance on
/ this a.. there had not been time to m;ihe
out any policy.
The loss on the freight shed Will pe
| comparatively small. as the building w'S
an old one, ana will probably be less th'''
$1,000.
Beside these principal Losses there a., a..
many smaller ones in tAr shape 81 oin, oi
ared roofs. broken furniture. etc. SO - "a
| the total loss of the fire Will prohaoi,y,
1 he in the neighborhood cf Sl2,Wo' oii''
n,rtially covered by insurance. ~
The citizens o. the town. however, 'o"
slider il very fortunate that they escdpt
as well as they did. Newp' rt Is Jtist ~
| tinc. onto its feet, so to sreak, anu ~.
II loss of its principal indu tries a. w, mo
time would be well nigh fatal. ne & !" 'f
principal ones escaped so that the 10 eo %