Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1908-04-17
HALF THE CITY GONE
Flames RelentleSsIy Wipe Out
Homes and Business Blocks
SAD SUNDAY FOR CHELSEA

Ten Thousand People Homeless, and
All the Banks, Most of the Churches,
and Nearly All the Schoohouses
Burned--F fifteen Hundred Soldiers
Supplied With Ball Cartridges and
CITY Placed Under Martial Law
a northwest gale famed small.
insignificant fire into IL vast cOntiag ra-
ton at Chelsea, Mass, SUNDAY, com
pletely celebrating fully one-half the
city. destroying five hundred dwelling
! houses and public buildings, drove
fifteen hundred families from their
habitations and rendered ten thousand
people homeless
The fire area, which was in the form
of an elipse. extended for a mile and
a half and was only ended when the
water was reached at Chelsea creek.
Starting from backing factory at the
northwestern end of the city at about
1890 a. M. it marched relentlesslN
through the business section and de-
stroyed tenement houses Oh either side
by the hundreds.
Assistance from all the nearby cities
was called i'll, but the great battery of
, fire apparatus was unable to stop the
flames until dark In the meantime
the fleeing inhabitants were met by
vast crowd of spectators, so that it
was necessary To call for troops. and
the United States government ard the
state militia were drawn upon to main
tain order and keep the fire lines clear
for the lighting.
All the banks, more than three-quar-
tiers of the churches. fully half of the
business section and nearly all the
schoohOuSes were wiped out.
In the turmoil many of the sick and
infirm found difficulty in obtaining as
Sistance and several were forgotten. SO
that the number of known dead is four.
Three of these had been burned TO
death and one woman committed suicide
as her house caught fire.
The greater number of buildings de-
stroyed were of wood. 1t was easy.
therefore. for the fire to jump over Il
block and start afresh beyond the
reach of the engines which happened
to be stationed at the last point of at
tack. A great many instances were
noted of buildings five and six hundred
feet away from the flames bursting out
into a fierce blaze. so that the fight
against the progress of the fire for five
or ciV a nnnSt bnnaIass
Rescue work during the exciting pc
RODS of the fire was one of the features
Many persons refused to leave their
homes until dragged out by the police
and militia. while at the Frost hos
pital, which was directly in the path
of the flames. patients We're removed
with great difficulty, and twenty babies
taken out of the day nursery by patrol
men only few minutes before the
buildings caught fire
City Under Martial Law
Sunday night the city was placed I'M
der martial law, and all the military
forces. numbering about 1900 men
guarding the burned district and places
where goods were stored were organ
ILtu uINtI AulUtllt
General Brigham of the state militia.
With the first signs of looting orders
were issued to supply the soldiers with
ball cartridges and they were EN-
powered to shoot anyone found pilfer-
Ing. The artillerymen We're assigned to
cover the actual burned district and
the members of the infantry companies
We're stationed i'm small groups around
the piles of household goods which
We're scattered through those sections
Of the city not reached by the flames.
= Late Tuesday night Adjutant General
Brigham issued orders Withdrawing
Colonel Nutter and twenty companies
from duty in the burned area. and but
one battalion was left on guard for the
night. 1t was reinforced today by two
companies from Lynn which were or
dered on duty.
, Efforts to Save Household Goods
Over Chelsea bridge into East Boston
= streamed long line of fire refugee,
Juggling what few household effects
they were able to save. Vehicles of all
descriptions. automobiles. pushcarts
drayS, carriages and even baby car
riages We're piled high with furniture
and bedding. Hundreds of people car.
ried only huge bundles tied up in sheets
These were mostly grey-headed women
of the foreign class
Among these poor people there did
not seem to be any panic, There was
no crying or wringing of hands. All
seemed too stunned 10y the disaster that
had wiped out their homes. These peo-
pie seemed mostly of the poorer class.