The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1909-08-13
BIG FIRE in MONTICELLO
BUSINESS SECTION TOTALLY
DESTROYED.
Opera House, Hotels, Two Newspa-
per Offices, Stores, Light and
Power Plant, Among the Losses.

Oh JHe electric llSnC company. at
Monticello. The fire bell gave the
alarm and the department was quick
ly on hand, but despite it's efforts,
with calls for relief until the op-
orators were forced to leave the Of
fees. When the fire reached those
buildings, Monticello was cut off
from communication and it was
only by the bright reflection that
could be seen for miles that any
one outside could tell how matters
were progressing
Fire companies from Port Jervis,
Liberty and Middletown were ap-
pealed to, and responded as soon as
possible, but it was not until mid
night that the flames were con-
trolled. An area of nearly a half
mile square of what was the best
business property of Monticello was
was in ruins and the tall, gaunt
chimneys, the charred naples, the
black walls that kept tumbling every
minute, and furniture and store
goods scattered all over combined to
make a spectacle of misery and dis
pair.
Despite the severe strain put on
the water system, it worked fairly
we'll. The water is supplied from
Kiamesha Lake and is pumped into
a stand pipe and the fears that the
pump might cease to operate were
quieted
Several Monticello firemen were
injured. Among them were William
Brown, who has a sprained wrist
as a result of a fall from a ladder,
and Duane Carr and a young man
named Caveney, who fell from roof
and received painful bruises.
While the fire was in progress, a
considerable quantity of dynamite
near the new court house in process
of construction was blown up. That
no loss of life is reported is miracul-
Gus.
The loss is anywhere from $780,
900 to S1,000,000.
The following properties are COM
pletely destroyed: Power house of
Monticello Electric Lighting Com
papy, where fire originated; Pala-
tine Hotel and Palatine theatre own
ed by P. c. Murray; the Bolsum
House, a three story hotel owned by
Mrs. Hugh NJ. Bolsum; the Old
Homestead Cafe conducted by Geo.
Hindley; the Strong Block occupied
by Strong and Company's book store;
T. II. Doughertys harness making
c1, c. HrN
goods store, John D. Lyons law
office; a brick building occupied by
Mrs. A. LoderhoSe's bakery and Of
fee and fiat of DR.. a. Machan; the
the flames gained rapidly and COM
municated to the Palatine theatre
which was a shell-like frame struc-
ture and burned like tinder. 1t ac-
commodated from eight hundred to
a thousand people and it was very
fortunate that the fire did not occur
the night before for there was a
large audience in the theatre enjoy
ing a play by local talent. The
Palatine hotel went next and the
flames aided by strong wind spread
out east and west resisting all ef-
forts to control them. From the
Bolsum House, the fire leaped across
the roadway and ignited the Waller
Block and with new fury it again
spread east and west and toward
the rear. Many occupants of busi-
ness places and dwellings were un-
able to recover any of their portable
property and those who did were
compelled to move it from place to
place at each fresh outbreak of the
flames. 1t was very evident early
in the conflagration that the Month
cello firemen, brave as they were,
needed relief and the telegraph and
telephone wires to Port Jervis, Mid
dletown and Liberty were kept busy
Burns and Taylor Block IN which
were situated Burns and Taylor's
department store, Hammond and
Cooks department store, George
Cooks law office, the living apart
ments of George ID. Pelton and fam
lily, and the rooms of John j.
Burns; Thornton and Miller's drug
store; Henry A, Nolan's tailoring;
the Norton Block utilized for the
cafe of Gallery Bros, the barber shop
of Charles Diestel, the Western
Union Telegraph Office, Kelley's
candy and ice cream store, DR.. S. g.
Osborne's dental parlors, John T.
Heath's book store; Kelley's Hail.
which is now being used for a court
room while the new court house is
in process of construction; The Ma
tional Union Bank, the building oc-
cupied by Surrogate and County
Judge Roosa; the temple of Month
cello Lodge No. 532 Free and Ac-
cepted Masons in which building
also were the plant of the Monticello
Watchman, and the temporary Of
fee of Sheriff Elmer Winner and
County Treasurer A. A. Calkin, the
offices of Real Estate Agents John
M. Watson and Watson and Horn
beck and the law offices OF ]. M