The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-10-21
DISASTROUS FIRE
IN BUSINESS DISTRICT

Ess
Blaze in Block at Church Street ana
Salem Avenue Causes Damage OF
Several Thousand Dollars-Clark'
Drug Store Stock Water Soaked.
Family Apartments of Mrs. Carrie
Walter Ruined
The most costly fire In CarbondaIe
.inre ihe destruction of the First
Methodist church. II year ago aho t"'
most disastrous in the business portion
of the town in several years, occurred
during the supper hour last evening.
4 blaze that started in the uttic oi
the business and tenement block. salem
avenue and church street, Went on III
fine spirit of destruction until the up
pnr story was burned out. and the low
or floors were flooded with water Thc
damage will probably reach four ,hous-
and dollars. There is Insurance cover
ing this. it is believed.
H. T.. Clark the druggist, who occu-
pied the ground floor. carries stock and
fixtures amounting To $4,000 on TINS
there is an insurance of $l.5OO carried
in the Couch, Williams x Likely ana
, H. G., Baker agencies.
The fire did not reach here. but the
store was fairly deluged by water. The
loss will very likely represent the iull
amount of insurance. 81 800
Mrs. Carrie Walter. who kept Il
boarding house in the tenement pur-
tion of the building. in the attic OF
which the blaze started. carried an
insurance of $500 on her household
goods. These were about ruined. some
by fire. but principally by water.
The building is owned by Dr. T.. II.
Jenkins. a former resident of Carbon
dale but now II surgeon in the United
States army a Il post in Alabama The
roof and the top floor were hurnsd
aWay. The building was flooded
throughout with water damaging CELL
ings and walls. The cost of repairing
will likely be !, thousand dollars. The
insurance is ample in this case.
The origin of the blaze can only he
placed in a defect III the ilu". 1t
started in the attic. through which Il
stove pipe and chimney pass ihe
first intmatiun Mrs. Walter had of
danger was when some person Knocked
at the door and warned her OF the ire
overhead. The flames by this time
We're bursting through the attic WIN
fiows. No one occupied the attic, ana
the last time any person was ON TINS
floor was on Thursday last Mrs. Wal
ter explained last night, when an er-
rand brought her there. This circum-
stance. coupled with the absence of the
other hazard of fire. electrical wiring.
leads to the belief of the chimney or
the stove pipe.
The alarm was turned IN from ooN
81. Main and Salem avenues. about I
o'clock. When the Columbia ana
Mitchell companies arrived tn" blaze
had broken through the roof and was
making menacing Roadway. The Woe
full lack of hool; ana ladder assistance.
which has been too often felt in recent
fires in Carbondale. greatly handicapped
the iiremen. Almost fruitless efforts to
reach the blaze continued until the top
floor was consumed. Then the four
streams became effective and the iir"
was drowned out.
The Walter apartments We're flooded.
aud then the water poured onto the
stock in C'ark's drug store. until the
floor was covered 10 the depth Of sew
eral inches. Fortunately heavy can
vass coverings were procured from
Stansbury's clothing store nearby. and
by means OF these considerable of the
stock was protected from the waters s
downpour.
The Walter family We're rendered
homeless. but We're cared for by neigh
bors.
The efforts of the iremen. who We're
driven hard, We're effective in conlininS
the blaze and saving the closely tilt
structures on either side.