Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1911-02-06

Net in the history of the city has In
| business section been stricken by such
| a diSa Struus fire as tine one which gut
| ted the Darrah and Stewart blocks
| so-ca,led. On the west side Of Main
| street late saturday night Tie Two
wooden buildings with tn. stores and
upper Office apartments were practical
ly Quilted carrying loss Of about So
000
The fire vas one of Tire ficrcest that
the local department has had To cope
with for many years as the peculiar
construction ef thc wooden frctraps
mace i; extrcmolt difficult to conceu-
tiate tie work af extinguisHing the fir
although !" lines OF bose were used. Ii
WAS not Until nearly eight hours "a
fighting that the firem, n relinquishcJ
their duties and went home
The fire W%s discovered about S.l5
o clock by G. j. ClukeN. who. with Mr
Darrah. VS. walking up Main street.
When first sCen there was very littIr
fire and had the department been able
tn reach tn" direct spot there is ~"
question that the fire would haS ben
a matter Of only a few minutes work
An alarm was turned in from Box -
nearby. ceiling Hose Cos. and ard
Hook and Ladder Co. No |.
The fire when discovered WAS in the
basement OF the Darrah building abnut
middle way Of the building. APPARENT.
near the furnace Lines Of hOsr were
laid AZ the front and rear of the build
ing. The iiremen realizing that the
We're unable 10 strike the blaze trola
Of i'm
ran hose in from the rear \ quantity
Of fireworks in the Darrah basement
aided materially in spreading the
flames ana in Il very few minutes he
smoke was pouring from every floor
OF the building. The flames spread
rapidly through windy in thu eel
Lar {" the Stewart part and soon fire
was braaking on: in all portions.
Tie fiji - broke out while Il dane WaS
in progress ON the third floor Of tie
D9rfah building and several women
tainted and We're overcome by II.
smoke 'vhile coming down stairs M
lampahie material in til" two wooden
buildings gave the flames rapid pro-
:,rcse and all the hose obtainahle was
laid and extra men secured to assist.
chic Berry realizing that the fire
could rot he fought from thu basement.
ordered ladders to be raised to tn"
bricl building Oh each side Of the two
wooden ones and a large quantity Of
Wqter was poured into the flames
Operating on all sides the lirymeu
wer" able 20 prevent the flames from
spreading to the adjoining blocks, al
though the water and smoke played
great havoc. The many wires and in
conyeni"nccs at the rear of the build
irgs made it almost impossible tn
qlench the flames and hour after hour
The hremen played their lines into the
burning buildings The roofs on both
buildings collapsed and the tlremen
were unable to enter the buildings as
the floor had cavcd in and stairWays
We're burned away.
Tile building in which the DarCdh
and Frank Blanchard stores are in IL
owned ny Lester Gilman OF New orE
and was valued about $500. Frank
Blanchard. til. music dealer. lost Soy
cral Valuable uidnos and other muSi-
cal instruments His loss * about 5000
with n'arlv &1oeo insurance. Tnr less
t. Mr. Dagrau WAS total. meaning
about 5000. 1t was not fully insured.
Upstairs in thu Darrah building on
the second floor We're the offices 81 IN,
\. Bisson and the Kcnneb"c journal.
The entire floor was @utted. The ioSN
to pr. BissOn is about $lGH0, which Is
about one-half covered With INSURANCE"
In the Stewart building, y hich is
owned by Charles HaNiland Of New
York, w. ID. Stewart, baker and T.. H..
Emery. tailor occupied the ground
floor. Mr. Stewards loss is about
$1,000, with partial insurance. Mr..
Emery has been in that store but a
few months and his loss will be con-
siderable. About $1,000 will be his loss
with about one-half. insured. ON the
second IGOR one suite of Offices We're
occupied by the T. A. Strout Farm
agency. W. Fl. lockwood manager. His
surance. The loss of the building will
mean about $5900
The clothing store owned bv II. X.
Durham was damaged somewhat by
smoke and water the water going
chiefly in the basement. The exact
damage is not known but will reach
up the thousands. This was also
true of the l.. II. Sopcr department
store. which adjoincd the Darrah
building.
Mr.. Durham during the early hours
OF the morning provided coffee and
sandwiches for the iiremen, something
that Was greatly appreciated by the
boys.
The fire attracted II large crowd of
people even at the late hour of the
night and the crowd remained until
morning watching the work of the
firemen. \ large number were on hand
all day Sunday looking over the ruins.
In the minds of the older members OF
the department the fire was one of the
worst ever experienced in this city.
SUNDAYS BLAZE.