The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-02-04
INCENDIAkY FIRE IN
WATERBURY,, Conn.
Four Acres Of Business Sec
tion Destroyed.
WIND TANNED FLAMES
Firemen Fought Desperately and
at Last Stayed Fire Demon.
PROPERTY LOSS $4,000, 900
Big Hotel Burned, Driving Guests Into the
Street in Their Night Ciothing--The
Second Alarm Threw the
inhabitants into Panic.
Story of the
Firemen Fought Desperately and
at Last Stayed Fire Demon.
PROPERTY LOSS s3,ooo,ooo
(By Associated Press.)

(By Associated Press.)
WATERBURY,, CONN, Feb. 5-Thc
sun rose this morning a blackencd
/ the. main business cction of the city.
| There is a very strong suspicion that tle =,
| fire Which completely destroyed the SEQ
| vile House to-day, burning thousands OF
dollars worth of furniture, appointments
aud personal effects and imperiiing many
! lives, was the work of an ncendary
The fire originated in the pool and bill
| lard room in the basement of the house
on the further side from the burned dis
/ trict The room was locked and no one
was supposed TO be there. No fire was
kept in the room, all heat being supplied
from a boiler in another part OF the
building.
/ Manager Truman said at the Police
Station, while the fire was still raging
that he had not the slightest doubt it
was of incendiary origin. No one could
be found to explain its origin, and the
authorities have been quietly iuvcstigat
B! ing
Ns'J>SS
the big confia grafton that tic thousands
of Spectators WHO witnessed it were
thrown into more complete panic than
the original fire caused.
The fire had ouly begun to die out
along Banlz, Grand aud South Main
Streets at o'clock, when flames lcaped
upward, as BY magic. and people feared
| ~,
The call was rung in promptly and inc
engines that hurried to the scene turned
their attention mainly to preventing the
spread of the flames. 1t was evident that
the hotel was doomed, and if the fire had
reached tie adjacent buildings there
would have been very little hope OF saving
the center Of the city The fire burned
far into the day and was not extin-
guished until evening. The loss on the
hotel will reach s15o.oOo
THREE MILLION LOSS.
For ten hours last night and this morn
ing, flames, famed by Il high wind, held
sway over the business portion of this
city. causing a loss that will exceed
s3,tGoo0o. The best business portion of the
city, fc-1ning triangle. bounded on the
north by Exchange Place, on the west
by Bank street, on the south by Grand
Street, and on the east by South Main
Street, was almost wiped out.
The first fire, which started in the big
: store Of Reid and Hughes Dry Goods
Company, on Bank Street. was not con-
sidered under control until about SS,V0O,CIJ
$ worth of property had been destroyed
About the time the tiremen supposed they
had the flames under control. second
fire broke out in the Scovile House, the
! city,s leading hotel, remodeled by the late
: Judge L. c. Lewis d few years ago at an
c expense of about $1,000, and the estab-
lishment was completely wrecked. TT
occupants of the hotel were forced to seek
the street in their night clothing.
THROWN INTO PANIC.
4 With the ringing of a second alarm the
entire city was thrown into a TanIc.
There was Il fierce gale blowing, and
n sharks from the burning hotel were driE-
o en- in turn in showers over d; great
c area The occupants of buildings located
in the path of the wind prepared to leave.
Although the Waterbury Fire Department
t. was reinforced from nearby cities it was
d for a time impossible to stay the progress
Of the flames The fire, in its entirety,
: burned over four acres of the citys best
II business section.
e Among the prominent buildings totally
! destroyed are the block occupied by the
Reid & Hughes IOrV Goods COmDauy: TIE
plant of the Waterbury American; the
i Masonic Temple, the Scoville and the
= Franklin House. the. w. L. Douglas Shoe
company: the Johnson Block; the Saliva
$ ton Army, Workingmen's Homo, and
. scores, OF other buildings. In ALL about
: one hundred prominent business houses
A. are wiped out. Rarely have firernen
lc been Obliged to contend against worse
: conditions than those which prevailed
from first to last in this disastrous con-
fracration. With the wind blowing a
gale. and the cold intense it seemed at
!. one time as if every structure in the hear,
of the city would be destroyed
- In some instances the work OF the fire.
r men proved of avail. The Waterbury
q Z. Bank building, at the corner of Bank and
$ Grand Streets, was saved, although the
ie e. New England Engineering Company's
d. $40, 900 building. but a few feet away, and
81 the Masonic Temple on the north side OF
20 tho bank building, were wiped out of eX-
o. istence.
MILITARY CALLED OUT.
- During the nisht the Mayor was in com