Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1903-05-28
FIRE AT READFiELD.
Continued from page -

paratus waiting and anxious two miles
away. When the line did clear a little
so they could get in word or two be-
tween whites no one at the Corner
seemed to. know just what to DO. 1t
was plain enough that some one was
| excited. There was good reason for 1t
to be sure, but the Waterville firemen
would have felt a. good deal better do
| ing something than waiting for some
one to get over their INDIGESTION.
Meanwhile the four-horSe team that
had been in waiting to haul the engine
disappeared, no one knew where, and
there wasn't another horse in sight of
| the depot. Then word came that the
| apparatus had better come the last
two miles. But then there was no team
to haul it and everything was up in the
air again. Although but two miles
away all sorts of stories We're told about
! the fire. Some said three buildings had
burned and the fourth was burning
| The wind was right to sweep the place
and so on until the firemen We're all
prmed for a good old fashioned fight
against their old enemy.
| A man on a bicycle was pressed into
| service at last and sent post haste in
search of horses to pull the engine and
| succeeded in overtaking the missing
| four halfway to the Corner. They
turned about and came back at their
best speed for another try. But before
the negine could be unloaded onto the
ground and the horses hooked on an
other message was sent Stating that the
apparatus perhaps would not be need
ed after all. Better wait a few min
utes longer anyhow. Waterville fire
men do not like this way of fighting a
fire. as they would rather be on top
than two miles away. But there seem
cd TO be no way of determining now bad
the fire was or whether they would be
needed or not.
Chief Dow and Assistant Chief Berry
succeeded in getting a team somewhere
and started out to spy out the land
When the reached the Corner they
found-'not fire enough to light a
cigar WITH as Chief Dow expressed it.
The ruins We're smoking a little, but
there was really no danger of any
spread. if properly watched. So word
was sent to load-the engine had been
moved from the car to the platform
and get ready to return.
But it is easy to see how all this con-
fusion and delay We're caused. With
q brisk fire burning under present con-
ditions, even in a small village, no one
can tell what may happen. The town
had had a narrow escape just the day
before and had been given a bad scare
by the one of Wednesday. With no one
with authority to take charge, it was
hard to determine what was best to do,
and even with the backing and filling,
what was at last done proved to be the
best course as the road between the
station and the Corner is rocky and
hilly. and it would have been pretty
hard haul with the engine 1t was
found also that the chances were that
a good water supply could not have
been easily reached, thing not always
considered when help is needed.
So it was all a bit of a holiday for
Waterville's fire laddies. who managed
to get away with the special, and some
one else will pay the bills. A short
stop was made at Belgrade on the re-
turn trip, but good time was made, the
train pulling in here little before 5
o'clock.
known that the men in the Maine Cen
trad yard here are not responsible for
the delay in starting the fire train out
| fC' Readfield, Wednesday. The first
| they knew that train would be need
| ed was when Chief Dow tclephoned in
| at ~ -. The chief and everyone else
suppos ID that RAadfield had notified
| the Maine Central when it asked Wa
| terVille for help but such was evident
| ly not the case. But, anyhow. the first
word received at the station was at
T. 40, and at La the train was ready
| to leave the yard.
In this time an engine had been talk
| on from the round house, turned on
| the turn table, Watered up, cars picked
| out for a train, some little shifting
| done to get at the platform where the
| FIRE engine was, and engineer and fire
| man, conductor and two brakemen
| hunted up and ordered out on the
| train. This was done in just about %
| minutes, probably Il little less, and was
as quick work as anyone could ask for.
The fire department knew of the fire
| about Il half hour before the railroad
| men and this is where the delay came
| in. 1t was good work all around when
you como to figure it out and if anyone
| wants to do better he had better try
| it some day.