The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1907-09-05

Just before eleven O'Clock last Mon
day evening fire was discovered in or
near the rear of Brakes Cigar Store,
which faces on Water street, and
during the next three hours the
flames destroyed the buildings on
Water street to and including Samp-
sons corner. and up Madison avenue
as far as Fairgrieves' block. On
Water street the fire spread into and
Quilted the building occupied by Miss
Withee's millinery store, and in Fair
grieves' building, the limit on Madi-
son avenue, the flames held high car
nival for time, but these two struc
lures practically marked the bound
airy of the destruction. 1t was long
looked for event, for as the belief has
been general for years that destruc
tive fire was certain to come one day
in this area bounded by Water and
Russell streets and Madison avenue,
and now that it has come it is found
to be less in extent than has often
been prophesied. Some conditions
were of the favoring kind, the rain
which had fallen since six O'Clock the
previous afternoon, the absence of
wind, and good pressure in the city
mains; the one untoward circum-
stance was the failure of the fire.
alarm system to respond. How much
this increased the damage over what
it would have otherwise been is not
easy to say but it is plain that from
five to fifteen minutes of delay result
ed from the failure of the big whistle
to blow as it ought to have done.
Geo. B. Fairgrieves seems to have
first sighted the flames and as they
were in the rear and in close proxi-
nifty to his restaurant block, he lost
no time in raising the alarm. Night
watch, Chas. Steward, heard Mr..
Fairgrieves cry Fire" and immedi-
ately made the attempt to ring in the
alarm from box 80 at the corner of
Elm and Madison streets. Finding
this box would not work he proceed
ed to the postoffice and tried No. "a,
but without result. In the meantime
Ed. c. Turner had commenced to
ring the bell at the Methodist Church
and the whistle at the Mitchell fac
tory had been set to blowing on mott
/ fication by telephone, this having
been brought about through the eff
forts of r. w. Haines. Mr.. Haines
was on the veranda of Hotel Coburn
and noted the smoke at just eleven
O'Clock. Two minutes later he heard
some one call out "Fire" farther
down Madison avenue. He says il
was just eight minutes past clever
when the whistle at the Mitchell fac
tory commenced to blow.
The buildings in which the fire
started and those adjoining were all
built in the days when there were no
cut offs, SO called, in the studding,
and the partitions were such that,
when the fire got into them, it had
an unobstructed avenue to the root
with the finest kind of a draft to help
it. All of the buildings had been re
paired and built over until their orig
inal form was lost, and, in some of
them, successive changes had left
! two and even three roofs, one above
another, with air spaces between.
The firemen knew what they had to
contend with, and when they found
the flames well started, on their ar
rival, in the partitions and roofs
above mentioned, they knew their
best efforts would be required to save
anything between the Ward Philbrick
block and Madison avenue. The
limit was quickly set at the Withee