The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1907-08-16
TWO LOST At FIRE
OLD ORCHARD BLAZE WAS
QUITE DISASTROUS.
Several Hotels Destroyed by the Flames
That Swept Over Fifty A~cres-Clergy-
man Among the Injured.

OLD ORCHARD, Me-, Aug. 1.-two
lives were lost and five persons were
injured, three seriously, as a result OF
the fire which swept through this sea-
shore resort. last night, causing a loss
from half to three-quarters of a mil
lion dollars.
The dead are: Philip Partridge, of
Pittsburg, Pa, killed by locomotive
while crossing track on way to fire;
unidentified man, killed by explosion
of soda water tank.
The injured are: The Rev. Rufus H.
Jones, pastor of Trinity Church, Saco,
seriously hurt by explosion of soda
tank; Melvin T. Morrill,, Salem, Mass,
Boston and Maine Railroad engineer,
seriously hurt by same explosion;
Samuel Emerson, father of proprietor
of Hotel Emerson, hurt by same ex-
plosion; unidentified man, probably
fatally inquired by same explosion. Miss
Minard, of Pittsburg. badly bruised
by being thrown from carriage In
which she was riding with Partridge.
The injured are being treated at hos
pitfalls in Biddeford.
Seventeen summer hotels, sixty cot
tages and a score of buildings occu-
pied by stores, were destroyed. The
explosion, which caused so many in
juries, occurred in Horgan's drug store
on Old Orchard ven 1t is believed
that the fire started from an over
turned lamp in the annex Of the Hotel
Olympia. The total insurance on the
burned property, 1t is understood, will
not exceed $4,000
The blaze was started by the upset
ting of a kerosene lamp in the annex
Of the Olympia Hotel. The Old Or
chard firemen, with only one engine
and a hose wagon at their disposal,
were unable to make the least impress
sion on the fire. Famed by a westerly
wind, the fire Don attacked various
buildings, including many large hotels.
for an area of nearly fifty acres to the
eastward of its origin. Aid was sum-
moned from all the surrounding cities,
Portland, Biddeford and Saco, but by
the time these departments were at
work the flames had absolute control
of every building to the east.
AT IL O'Clock, three hours after the
start of the fire, among the buildings
destroyed were the Emerson House,
lOi llltIlX Liz IlOlCl FClNStJ thC tANtS
Fiske, the Hotel Alberta, the Lawrence
House, the Aldine House, the Seashore
House and half a dozen smaller hotels,
with more than half a hundred cottages
and scores of small stores and booths.
The hotels mentioned are large struc-
lures and were overcroWded with
guests. While every one had ample
time to get out of the hotels, many
people Were so anxious to save their
personal effects that they rushed back
into the peril they had escaped from,
and there were many narrow escapes.
AS a result of he fire the season at
Old Orchard is brought to an abrupt
close, as only one large hotel, the Ola
orchard, remains. All trains, including
several extras, were packed today with
persons leaving the shore.
The people who were driven from the
hotels were compelled to spend the night
on the beach. A, stiff breeze blew in from
the sea and brush wood fires were KEEP
going all night, around which the refu-
gees sat in shivering groups waiting for
the lawn and the warmth of the sunlight