Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1903-02-06
FIRE SWEPT.
Business Section of Mid
dlebury Destroyed

BY the Great Fire that started Tuesday
morning in the basement of Union
Block. Every business block south
of the bridge, except one is gone, to-
gether with the Planning Mill, and
several other buildings. Loss from
$4,000 to 100000. Small Insur-
ance. Plans for building, etc.
Middlebury has been tried by fire
again, and the heaps of smoking embers
south Of the stone bridge represent
total loss of property approximating
100000. Only once in its history has
the town been visited by a worse con-
flagration, the great fire of 1892. Since
1892 it has not suffered much from
fire.
What caused this holocaust will doubt
less never be known definitely, although
1t is supposed to have started from an
overheated furnace in the basement of
the drug store in the Union block, owned
and occupied by DR.. Arthur Trudel,
which was opened by him only few
weeks since
Chief of police G. N. Dickinson, while
on his rounds, passed the Union block
twenty minutes before the alarm was
given and saw nothing that would indi-
cate anything wrong, or that such
terrible calamity was to befall this vii
10 xrfir at IL.
business section.
1t lacked five minutes Of two O'Clock,
Tuesday morning, as Mr.. Dickinson
came down Main street toward the
bridge, when he detected smoke in the
atmosphere, and hurrying toward the
point from which 1t seemed to emanate
he saw glow in front of the Trudel
drug store, and the next moment heard
the alarm of fire raised by Robert Man
ney, who is employed by Ira Taylor,
and roomed in the rear of Taylor's res
,aurant. Mr.. Dickinson at once rang
the fire bell at the town hall, the fire
alarm system being out of working order
for some unaccountable reason.
Owing to considerable difficulty being
experienced in sending in the alarm the
blaze had gained considerable headway
before work was begun on it. In less
than an hour after it was first discovered
in the basement Of the Trudel drug store
the whole building, $50 feet long, was a
mass of glowing embers. The building
hxr II
crockery and groceries, the Western
Union Telegraph office, Ira Taylor's
restaurant, NJ. Wheaton, tailor, C. f. ,
Rich, newsdealer, B. F. Wales, optician. |
DR.. Arthur Trudels drug store, and
Bond Brothers grocery and shoe store.
In less than an hour after the fire was
discovered the blaze crossed the street. |
the first building to go being that occu-
pied by Harry Covert's barber shop.
The Dyer building followed. This build
ing contained the Odd Fellows hall and |
the apartments of the Rebekas on the |
second floor, the first floor being occu-
pied by the millinery store of Miss
Goodrich, and the fancy goods store of
Mrs. +, f. lockwood, and Pipers meat |
market.
Inside of thirty minutes after the Dyer
block took fire the four story wooden |
tenement structure in the rear of that
building on Bakery lane was ablaze and /
doomed and the occupants, JEFF Risco,
Edward Goulett, Edward Barton and !
Ann Wilson, had no time to save their
personal effects, being obliged to seek
safety by the lane to the east.
Hundreds of citizens had gathered by
this time, but 1t was plainly evident that
human efforts were unavailng to check
Continued on page 2.)