The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1908-01-27
Portland Again Stricken By
the Fire Fiend
TODAY'S LOSS IS Sl,OOO,OOO
Firemen Tired Out by Fighting Million
dollar Fire in City Hall Friday Morn
ing, Were Assisted by Many
Other Departments.

Portland, Me, Jan. 27.-Fire whicl
broke out last night in the dry good
house of Milliken, Cousens & Co. an,
forced the exhausted firemen Of PortIan,
to summon aid from nine outside cite
was brought under control at daylight
after doing about 81 100000 damage. Il
is still blazing brisky, but is confined t
the block where it started.
The heaviest loss, about 5000 900. fall,
on Milliken, Cousens q CO.. whose es
tablishment was entirely DESTROYED. Al
/. Cox & Sons, shoe dealers. lost 5000.
GOO. Parker Thomas & Co.. had theif
dry goods stock damaged by smoke and
water to the extent Of 100000 Hall
dozen other concerns in the block slif
fered an aggregate loss Of 100000
Twice the fremen thought they had
the flames under control but the fire
broke out again and again. AL one
o'clock, when this first occurred. calls
for help went sent to Biddeford, Bath,
Lewiston, Saco, Augusta and Gardiner
in Maine, Dover and Portsmouth. n. III.
and Boston. Biddeford, Saco, Lewiston.
Dover and Portsmouth sent help. The
other calls were cancelled before the ap.
paratus started
The loss to the insurance companies
is heavy, most of the firms CARRYING pro.
lection of so TO 30 per cent.
Milhken, Couseus 4 Co. occupied a
fourrstory block at l84. l66 Middle street
and the fire started in the rear and the
back part OF the three upper stories
We're found to be on fire at 9:40 last
night Ten minutes afterwards, two
alarms were sounded. AT ten o'clock the
entire second story was enveloped In
flames, and the fire was breaking through
the roof on the front end
A five-foot wall divided the Consens
part Of the structure from the A. F. Cox
& Sons, but at lO.45 the fire had leaped
over this and the Cox store was ablaze.
while the Cousens part was a blazing
furnace and was completely Quilted.
It was Thought that the fire was under
control, but about midnight firemen
went into the Cox side Of the building
and reported that the other half was Oh
fire again Before additional lines could
be run up, The entire roof was ablaze,
and at las it was evident that the
building was doomed completely. By
this time. the entire wholesale district |
was threatened, in spite Of the light rain
that was falling,
The building occupied by the dry goods |
and the shoe dealers was owned BY Seth |
Milliken Of New York and the Deering
heirs. II was valued at 100000
Milliken, Cousens & Co. is the Maine /
branch Of Deering Aiilliken q 60. OF I
New York. who carry on an extensive [
wholesale dry goods business throughout I
the country Since the first Of January
the Maine store, which sells throughout
New England, stocked up with about
100000 worth Of goods, as is usual at
this season Of the year. when heavier
stocks are carried than az anv other
time, with the exception probably OF
July. Over third of this stock, it il
believed, was in The store. the rest being
kept in storage in another building.
About 100 hands were employed by the
company.
The Hayes truck damaged in the city
hall fire, was dragged to the front Of the
Court square block, a four-storv office
bnilding, in which the city officials have
taken quarters, and the iremen took
ines Of hose to the roof to wet down the
.op Of the F. O. Bailey building, which
les between the Court square block and
he fire.
III the absence Of Chief Engineer Mel
lille M Eldridge, who received 4 dislo- ]
-ated shoulder in the city hall fire and /
; at home in bed. Thomas Payne, first
engineer, handled the fire. /