Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1911-12-01

on fire and telephoned Driver Corbett
at the engine house.
| The occupants of the block on the
lground floor are Worthing & Parmen-
tier, grocers, Hilton Hewey, druggist
| and Orren L. Choate, variety store.
| Mr. Choate's only damage will be from
smoke and but little of that. The up
stairs tenements were occupied by
Mrs Caspera Hedemark, who, besides
! the members of her own family, has
| as roomers Edwin F. Ever and his lit
tie sister, Julia Ever, Wallace p. Ber-
ry and Daniel McCurdy. The Hede-
marks were the first to see the flame
| from the drug store as it shot up by
| the outside window and all of the oc-
cupants of that tenement, except Mrs
Hcdemark, who was overcome by the
lsInoke, rushed down stairs and out of
doors. clad in the few scanty articles
IGf clothing that they could grasp.
| The Bennett block is owned by the
Augusta Real Estate Association, be-
Eiae one OF the buildings recently TAX
len over by them from the Vickery
Realty Co 1t is probably worth about
$4,000 and $4,000 worth of insurance
lis carried in the agencies of c. E.
Downing and Macomber, Farr &
| Written. The damage to the build
ling is probably about $4,000 and is
fmostly in the part occupied by the
drug store, which was Quilted with the
flames. Druggist Hewey values his
stock at between $4,000 and $500. It
is probably a total loss and he has
Iscme insurance, although how much
he was unable to state, Thursday
might. Mrs. Hedemark has her furni
tGre insured in the Downing Agency
land Mr.. Berry also carries some in
isurance, although in what agency
could not be learned. The McCurdys
| have no insurance. II is not thought
thai the furniture in the upstairs ten
ements is damaged to any great ex-
itent.
| The firemen made quick run to
the fire and played upon it with
streams from both the front and rear
lit looked like serious fire that would
take the whole block at one time, but
| the department did splendid work in
getting it under control and the recall
sounded at 1903.
| 1UIeI JODn "A. SuGklty Oi Ilit 4Au-
gusta fire department and man.
| whose name he does not know, when
| the fire was at its height, rushed
| through the building, pounding on the
doors and arousing the occupants of
| the tenements that had not been
| awakened. The act was piucky one.
which came in for a big share Of
| praise
| Another one of the women living in
| the upstairs tenementS was partially
| bewildered as was Mrs Hedemark, and
| she was lugged down stairs by Chief
| Buckley. The fire from the drug store
| worked upstairs into the rooms direct
| " overhead occupied by Mr. Berry,
| SO that it was necessary to use a
chemical II extinguish a fire that had
started to burn along the kitchen floor.
While Mr.. Hewey is positive, in his
| statement to a Journal reporter, that il
| was his candle that set the oil on fire,
Chief Buckley is confident that the fire
| which ignited the parafine worked up
from the basement of the drug store.
Before the chief engineer left the drug
store he lifted up small trap door and
descended into the basement, where he
found near the door a barrel and a box
burned as we'll as the floor timbers di-
rectiy overhead of them. He stated t
a Journal reporter, on his return from
the fire, that il was contrary TO his ex
perience for a fire to work downward
in such a manner as would have beer
necessary to consume the box and barrel
and that while he believes Mr. Hewey
to have been perfectly sincere in his
statement that it caught from the can
die. it was really from underneath that
the fire first caught
The upstairs tenements were not SC
badly smoked up as to prevent all of the
occupants from returning to them aftes
the fire was extinguished.