The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1908-03-20
DAMAGE Of $4,000
IN HAWKS BLOCK
THIS MORNING
Caught in Barrel Of Waste Pa
per on Second Floor
EXPLOSION GIVES ALARM
Necessary to Drenoh Portion OF Build.
Ing and Contents Before Fire
Could Be Subdued.
EXPLOSION GIVES ALARM

w udt nave Uttu OhC vi tiS
most destructive fires In the history
of Bennington occurred this forenoon
on the upper floor of the Hawks block
on Main street. A few minutes after
s o'clock Il. s. Gokay, the photograph
er, who occupies portion of the upper
floor heard an explosion of consider
able volume but did not pay any par
ticular attention as he was busy at
the time retouching a negative at the
south window of his reception room,
A moment later his attention was at
tracted by cracking noise in the OPP
Grating room nearer the center of the
building and opening the door saw
smoke pouring through the transome
from the small hallway at the east end
of the building. He gathered an arm
full Of small articles and rushed down
stairs. He called to one of the tailors
employed by G. w. Petersen on the
second floor to turn in an alarm from
the Putnam house box and hurried to
his home on Union street.
The alarm for some reason was not
so distinct as usual and the members
of the department did not assemble
In as large numbers as usual but 1t
did not take long to lay line Of hose
up the stairs and along the hallway to
the corner where the fire was well un-
der Roadway. The fire had forced its
way into the partitions and was rap
idly gaining foothold In the space
between the ceiling and the roof For
this reason it was necessary TO use
larger amount of water than would
otherwise have been necessary and
the greater loss was occasioned by the
soaking of walls and personal proper
ty.
The fire undoubtedly started in a
barrel of waste paper and other refuse
that stood at the end of the hallway
How 1t originated will probably never
be known and the explosion which
was heard by Mr. Gokay and by others
in the building will always be mys
terry. II hardly seems possible that
the fire could have been smoulderlng
| in the barrel during the night and not
have been observed by people in the
| building
Mr.. Gokay and those who assisted
him we're able to care for most of his
effects and the valuable portion of hi.
outfit was saved without damage. His
operating room was thoroughly wreck
ed, the skylight was broken in man!
places and the walls were thorough!
| soaked
The fire did not find its way into thu
nsin room Of Foresters' hall no
reach the parlor but the door and cas-
ing leading into the pool room wer,
burned and the walls were so blacken
ed by smoke that they will have to b,
reiinished.
On the second floor the only dam
age done was in the rooms of Benning
ton lodge of Elks. The water cam
through the ceiling in torrents and TIL
plastering and the walls are nearl
ruined. Whether or not the plaster
ing will all need to be replaced cal
not yet be determined The Elk
were on hand in good numbers an
their effects did not sustain much In
jury.
The water did not reach the groun
floor save in the store occupied by n
Noveck, The goods in the center o
his store were thoroughly soaked be
fore they could be moved to anothe
part of the store.
"A few drops of water came into tn
rear room of the Bennington sho
store.
Had the fire started in the night tn
whole upper portion of the building a
least would have been burned an
every occupant OF the block woul
have sustained heavy il not total los!
es.
Il. A. Booth, who carries the insu
ance on the building and on the stock
and furnishings of several of the occ
pants stated this noon that he woul
estimate the loss on the block at abou
$1,000.
Mr.. Gokay stated that the actu;
damage to his property which wa
largely confined to furniture and bac
grounds would be covered by 5000.
The damage to the rooms Of the Elk
is mostly included in the estimat
for the building.
An investigation this forenoon I
vealed the fact that the heaviest
dividual loser other than the ownt
of the building was N. Noveck. TIL
dry goods on his central counter wei
thoroughly soaked. Mr.. Noveck S,
ted that his loss would be in the vici
ity of $1,000 covered by insurance. III
wetting down of his stock has mac
considerable extra work but Mr.. Nc
eek stated that it would not neces
tate the closing of his store.