The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-04-14

Co-Operative Bank, the Crefsea Trust | Company. Chelsea Postofice. Hotel ! Savoy. Chelsea Y. NJ. c. A., Metropol- itan Sewerage Pumping station, New England Telephone and Telegraph building. Rudges Lumber plant and the W. A. Snow Structural Iron Plant. Mayor Beck has already received of- fers of financial aid from many cities and preparations for immediate relief for the homeless were begun while the fire was still burning
 This morning the citizens relief | committee which was organized tenn porarily last night, VIII have an ad- 1ourned meeting at which details for systematic relief work will be form ed
 Over half hundred people were in- jured and many were taken to the hos pitais suffering severely, all injured ones were reported to be doing we'll. although several still remained on the dangerous list.
 Concerted efforts towards providing rations for the thousand of sufferers were fairly started today. Acting Governor Draper Issued a call for an early morning meeting of prominent business men at the state house to make plans for raising funds for the temporary care of the homeless and at about the same hour the citizens relief committee also held a meeting Ill tHG CIty OI bOiHGEVIiIe, MaYOT Grimmons issued call for a mass meeting to consider means of govern ment aid to the Ire sufferers. Simi- liar action was taken by the executive heads of other cities.
 It is sad that the legislature would also be ssked during the day to take measures for the relief of the strick- en city.
 Homes for Sufferers. Charitable organizations found places for many of the sufferers school houses and other public buildings in Boston and other places near the stricken city were thrown open to pro- vide temporary lodgings. Acting Gov erinor Draper early last evening au- thorized the city of Chelsea. to procure provisions for emergency use up to any reasonable amount at the expense of the State. and dairy and bakery companies generously contributed large supplies of their product which found their way to the sufferers.
 But not withstanding the efforts on all sides to render aid, there were thousands of homeless ones who pass ed the night wandering the streets, or shiyering in the parks and squares. Many of the unfortunates applied at the police headquarters for shelter and were cared for temporarily in the court house. Early this morning. how ever. tents had been pitched in open lots in Chelsea and the neighboring city of Everett. and all applicants were sent to these temporary camps. While prompt measures were taken to aid the homeless, scores or physicians. nurses and volunteer workers were att tending to the injured.
 The Chelsea police station was turn ed Into temporary hospital and many sufferers were brought there and treated temporarily. Later they were sent to the naval hospital and the ma rine hospital both of which were packed to the limit of their capacity
 During the afternoon and evening. more than fifty unidentified babies who had been picked up by the Police, Ftremen were taken to the police stations. They ranged in age from two months to five years, A boy brought in baby less than. six months old that he had picked up in the gut ter. A woman brought a pair Of boy twins not more than a year old. She said that a frantic, mother had thrust the babies into her arms as she stood on the street saying: Here. hold these. I've got to get the others What became of the mother had not been ascertained st an early hour to- day. Some of the derelict infants were taken away during the night by relatices but others remained still un-
 
 taken to hospitaIs>in ambulances were two who became mothers after the fire started.
 Bodies Unidentiaed.
 The bodies of two women and the man who were found burned to death on the street last night remained un- identified at the North Grove street morgue this morning.
 The total taxable property of the city amounted to about SPA, 4,000,0 900 and according to estimates by members of the board of assessors tke property in the district rovered by the fire was worth at least ss.0o0. 900. The burned district included a large number or manufacturing concerns, stores and business houses, many costly resi- dences and tenement blocks, churches and public buildings.
 The liquor licenses in East Boston and that part of Charlestown adjoining Chelsea, were suspended today by an order of Peace Commissioner O'Mara as an aid to the militia and police In their efforts to bring about a condition of order and safety. The work of clearing away the debris was begun at an early hour this worning under the greatest difficulty, as the workmen were in constant danger from falling walls. The work of searching the ruins of the residential section of the nre swept district was also taken up and 1t was the opinion of the authorIt- les that more bodies would be found.
 A chilling wind and a light fall of snow. which later turned into cold rain. added to the misery of the homeless ones who shivered in the shelter camps in the public square and play grounds. During the course of the fire yester- day seven babies were born in as many different houses and in each in- stance mother and child had to be re- moved to places of refuge ss their houses were directly in the path of the flames and later destroyed. The moth CTS and children were all reported to- day in satisfactory condition.
 Careful inquiry today failed to dis close that more than three persons lost their lives in the fire.
 At the hospitals today there were only two patients whose, condition was critical. One was a man who had been burned severely. while another was critically i'll with pneumonia, his con- dition having been aggravated by his from his burning home.
 With nightfall all search sn the ruins ceased. Electric lights, telephones and the territory and the blackened waste lay in darkness.
 While the official list of the dead still remains at three, it is believed that | there must be more bodies somewhere | among the blackened timbers and | stones. Today fully one hundred per | sons were reported missing. The work | of reducing this list necessarily pro | ceeded slowly. because families are | scattered in widely separated places of | refuge.