Norwich bulletin., 1909-02-09
Shannon Building
 Gutted By Fierce Fire
Several People Taken Out Half Hour After Fire was Discovered = No Liv es \ Lost-Firemen Could Not Cope with Flames.

One of the worst fires the depart ment here has been called out to was discovered in the shannon building, corner of Main and Shetucket streets, at 2.20 o'clock this morning by William Pearson and Daniel Troland, who were on their way to the Driscoll lunch cart. They saw the stairway on the second floor i nfiames and at once yelled fire and rang in an alarm from box 4. The fire department at once responded, but the blaze was shotting through the roof and was probably beyond control be- fore 1t was discovered.
 The upper floors were a mass of flames and the street was filled with burning embers and broken glass, mix ed with electric wires, which made a bad combination for the firemen to work with until the electric road cur rent was shut off.
 The work of rescuing the people who liven in the building was at once start ed. Prof Lowrth was taken out of the window from his room in the third floor. Dr. Harris and family escaped without harm. Thinking all were out, a search revealed Dr. Louise Miner to be in her room asleep. She was awak- ened, and by the use of the aerial truck she was taken out and down the lad der into the street, where she tainted, and was taken to the Wauregan house. Miss Addles had been taken out and it was found that all were out of the building. A cloud of smoke and sparks were going skyward, but the streams of water were doing no good, as they could not reach above the third floor. The fourth and fifth floors were a mass of flames, and the roof hal fallen. Gradually the flames crept around from the Shetucket to the Main street side of the building, and from the windows fell the broken glass and red hot steel plates from the ceilings.
 There was not pressure enough un- der the low condition of the reservoir to do any good, and soon the bank building on the south and the Reid & Hughes building on the east were in flames on the roof. Luckily the wind was from the north and blew the fire into the building and across the river rather than through an adjoining building
 At o'clock 1t was hoped to check the fire and keep it in the Shannon building by means of the fire walls Nn each side, but it looked to be an im- possibility.
 Besides the offices which occupied the floors above the street there were on the ground floor Reid & Hughes, H. J. Steiner. druggist, Lewis newsstand, Boston Candy kitchen and J. c. Me Pherson.
 The stairway from the Shetucket street side fell before o'clock and flames shot out from the office of J. A. Cloran on the fourth floor first, after going through the roof. and from there crept around on both floors.
 The shannon building, a fve-story building, owned by James B. Shannon, and erected in 1892, stood at the corner of Main and Shetucket streets on foundation of solid rock The approxi- mate cost of construction was $150,- 900, and it's five stories, 90 feet high, had a floor space of 5O,0OO square feet It contained five stores upon the ground floor and the upper floors were occupied by offices and apartments, there being about forty of these.
 On the Shetucket street front on the ground floor was a part of the Boston store, containing also postal sub station of the United States postofice. The corner store was occupied by Hen ry j. Steiner as a drug store, and on the Main street front were the news and cigar store of Charles F. Lewis, the Boston Candy kitchen, owned by John M. Mascott, and the gentlemen's furnishing store of James C. McPher- son.