The Somerset reporter., 1909-01-07
Skowhegan's Greatest Conflagration
Continued from first page.
down and smoked out in every part
but was finally saved.

Continued rom nrst page.
down and smoked out in every part
but was finally saved.
Houses Dynamited.
Before the arrival of aid from
Waterville, while the fire was en-
veloping one small wooden building
after another, on the river bank, dy-
Mantle was resorted TO to demolish
some of them with the hope of get
ting the fire more readily under con-
troll. Horace E. Reed had charge of
this work and, !. under caution not to
use too much of this dangerous ma
terial, he put but II lbs in the first
building, a dwelling owned by For
rest Goodwin, in the rear of the Fair
brother block. The house was shat
tered but it's inflammable qualities
were reduced very little, if any by the
attempt. When Mr.. Reed got his
preparation made for the next build
ing, a house owned by Edward N.
Merrill, So lbs, was in the bunch and
the building was absolutely cleaned
from its foundations by the explo-
sion. 1t is safe to say that no one
saw the house 60, for no ewes could
remain open in the face of such de-
tonation, but when faces were again
turned in that direction, the structure
was gone. The force of the blast was
such that people who remained too
near were thrown to the ground, and
crash of falling glass, on Water
street and in other localities, told the
story of many windows yielding to
the impact. Windows on Russell
street were broken and as far down
Water street az the Fletcher block.
The Methodist church, OH the island,
suffered in this respect and many of
the windows in the factories of the
American Wooden Company were
shattered. The explosion of the
heavier charge shook the ground like
an earthquake, and made itself felt
and heard as far as Bigelow Hill and
for distances of five miles in the
country in various directions.
Injured by Falling Wall
About the time the fire was burning
its fiercest within the walls of the OK
ford, occurred the most serious acct
dent connected with this catastrophe.
A detachment of firemen had been
sent to the roof of one story annex,
which projected from the rear of the
Buchanan drug store, and from this
vantage point were directing streams
h.a nrtt nf
ford. The men at work here were II. l..
Jackson of the Hook & Ladder Com
pany, Chas. Griffin, Norris Clough and
Abner Mitchell of Union Hose No. 3
and Henry Mitchell, not member of
the fire department, but the father of
Abner Mitchell just mentioned, who
had gone to the roof to render what
assistance he could. Bricks from the
wall twenty feet above, dis
lodged by falling chimney, came
down upon them, striking down
Messrs Henry Mitchell and Harry
Jackson, and breaking through the
roof on which they were standing.
Chas. Griffin was hit by one or two of
the bricPs and somewhat bruised and
the rest escaped by leaping to the
outer edge of the roof as the wall fell.
1t was at first thought that Messrs
Mitchell and Jackson were fatally in
jured but they have both rallied from
the first shock of the injury and seem
likely to recover.
Mr.. Mitchell's injury consisted of a
broken shoulder blade and severe
bruises. HIS condition has improved
since the accident and he seems i'll a
fair way to make a satisfactory re-
covery. Mr.. Jackson was the more
seriously injured. One blow upon the
head fractured the scull and de-
pressed an area of some inches in
diameter. On the second day after
the injury the operation known as
trephining was performed, raising the
depressed portion of the scull and re
lieving the pressure on the brain. fHe
has since been conscious and fairly
comfortable and "A recovery is looked
for, although in view of the nature of
the injury, it may hardly be said that
he is out of danger.
Cause of Fire Understandable.
There is always IA desire, after such
conhagration, to know just how it
started, but it seems i'll this in
stance, as with the two preceding
fires which have approached it in mag
nitude, that the exact cause will never
be known. The last person to visit
the basement of the Hotel Oxford
block, so far as known, was Eugene
Keen, who has, for some time, had
the care of the plant furnishing heat
for the entire building. On last
Thursday evening, Mr., Keen did the
work about the heater, preparing it
for the night, about eight thirty, and
noted nothing wrong He had come
out of the basement and had only
reached the Island, on his way over
the river, when the alarm blew.
He is, of course, confident that
nothing about the furnace room could
have started the blaze. The heater
itself extended through the partition
into the Delano basement. 1t seems
to be the general impression, al
though there are varying opinions,
that the fire originated in the base
ment under the DeIano store, but
near the partition dividing that
portion of the cellar from the Wildes
Judkins basement and the furnace
room. There seems to be no cause
assignable for fire at the point
named but it now seems that nothing
further will ever be known about it.
Some Observations.