Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-08-03
$1O0,00o FIRE IN TWISTED.
Odd Fellows and Manchester Blocks
 Burned Yesterday.


 Burned Yesterday.
 Winsted, Aug 3.-One of the most disastrous fires in northwestern Con- necticut and by far the worst this place has ever suffered occurred at an early hour yesterday morning, completely destroying the block and armory owned by Winsted lodges of Odd Fellows, the four story brick block of E. Manchester & Sons, ad- joining on the west, the barn owned by s. A. Herman on the east and partly destroying two other nearby buildings. That the fire was not attended by loss of life is little short of wonderful. Six of Winsted's lead ing business houses were completely wiped out and the various lodges of societies that used the hall, the Win sted Wheel club. Company NJ, First Infantry, c. N. G., were left home less and some of the families who were tenants practically destitute.
 The loss is variously estimated at from $80,000 to $100,000.
 It is generally believed that the fire was of incendiary origin. Since the first of the year there have been upwards of sixteen burglaries com mitted here and the theory is ad vanced by many that the fire was set by robbers to hide a burglary.
 The fire was discovered shortly be- fore 3:30 o'clock by William Bren- nan, who lives on the fourth floor of the Manchester building. He was awakened by the barking of his dog. and, smelling smoke. he proceeded to arouse the other tenants. In the meantime Policeman Spencer Wood worth had discovered the fire on the first floor of the Odd Fellows block and rang in an alarm. It was evil dent that a serious fire was inevita- ble and a second alarm was immedi- ately sounded, calling out the entire apparatus.
 During the fire 5000 rounds of ammunition in the rooms of Company M exploded, but nobody was injured. William Bracken,, a member. of hose company No was overcome by the smoke and was carried from the building unconscious, and Thomas McMahon of hose company No 8, had two fingers cut on by the glass.
 The individual losses are estimated as follows: Odd Fellows, $40, in- surance. s25,000; H. o. Atkins, can dy manufacturer and retailer, S1,500, no insurance: Winsted Beef Co, s1,000, no insurance; George Rich ards & Son, electrical supplies, s1,- 800, fully insured; H. g. Townsend, ieweler. s4.00O to s5.000, insurance $500; F. & N. Plumb, cigar manufae- turers and retailers, s1,500. no in- surance; Winsted Wheel club, $500, insurance, s200; Company NJ. $500, insurance $500; Henry Cady, s1,200, insurance s200; Joseph Tonguay, s750, insurance $400; Fred Schultz, $500, partially insured. Captain J. L. Carroll of Company NJ estimates the state loss at sS.000. covered by blanket insurance. Clifton lodge, I. O. O. F., Bidwell encampment, I. o. o. F., Crystal Rebecca lodge, I. O. O. F., Winchester council. Knights of Columbus, Winsted lodge. A. o. U. w.. Ladies of the Maccabees and daughters of Isabella lost all of their regalia and paraphernalia, upon which there is known to be some in- surance. Highland lodge, N. E. I. F.. of which Mrs Henry Cady was serving her fourteenth term as secre- tary, lost ell its records.
 The above losses were of occupants of the Odd Fellows building. which was four-story brick building, with a one-story armory in the rear. Busi- ness places occupied the first floor, the wheel club and Company Nj the second, tenants the third for dwell- ings and on the fourth was hall. Tn the Manchester block the losses were as follows: F.. Manchester & Son, ;4 5000. fully insured: William Bren- nan, s1.000. no insurance: Mrs Lucy Eaton, s1.200. insurance $500: AL bert Beautton. $500, no insurance. The Manchester building was four stories high. occupied for store. office and dwelling purposes. In addition 10 the losses In these two blocks John Moore had a loss of less than s200 with no insurance and g. A. Herman