The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1911-05-04
BANGOR, Me-, HAS
s|0,000,000 FIRE
Practically All Of Business District
Is Wiped Out.
A HEAVY WIND FANS FLAMES
Many Public Buildings, Are Ruined
and Large Portion Of Residential
Section. Destroyed = Three
Lives Were Lost.

Bangor, Me-, May Fire, starting
on Broad street, near Union, close by
the junction of the Penobscot river
and the Kenduskeag stream. which
divides the city, swept northward,
famed by stiff southerly breeze,
wiped out practically all of the bust.
ness district and public buildings and
large portion Of the best residential
district on the northern side. The loss
is estimated at $10,000,000.
= Fire Fighters Inadequate.
The efforts of the fire department
from the time the fire started were
absolutely futile. The flames swept
north along Broad street from Union.
then Jumped the Kenduskeag streqm,
running along on the western bank
along Exchange street. ~
The Smith and Strickland blocks &.
the junction Of Hammond and Central
streets and the Kenduskeag stream
were dynamited, In a vain attempt to
keep the flames from leaping the
stream.
After the first rush of the fire to the
north, the back wind set up by the
fire itself famed the flames toward
the south. threatening that part of the
city that at first seemed safe.
Post Office ls Wiped Out.
Early in the advance OF the flames
the post office, on sort OF promon
tory, between branches of the Kendus,
keag stream, fell before the onslaught
of the flames. The Maine Central
railroad was obliged to vacate its de-
pot, the retreating office force and
crews seeing the building engulfed al
most before they were out Of danger
At the start all communication ex-
cept by the Postal Telegraph company
was cut of. The Western Union and
the telephone Office went early, the
operators narrowly escaping through
their devotion to duty In staying at
their posts until forced out by the
flames.
City Hall 10 Saved.
For long time the city hall, at the
foot of Main street, was saved by q
slight shift in the wind. The Haines-
Chalmers block, the Hodgkins block,
the Fiske building, the Fairbanks 4
Co. plant, the Morse Oliver block, the
offices Of the Bangor & Aroostook rail
road, the offices of the Bangor News,
the Windsor hotel and the public H.
brary we're destroyed with many 9TH
er less prominent buildings. -
In the residential district the people
started to move out early. fighting for
conveyances on which to pile their ef-
fects. The people were panic strick-
en-. Running wildly. carrying all sorts
Of useless articles, snatched up in
their frenzy, they poured out Of the
city toward Old Town.
The escape to Brewer, across the
Penobscot, was cut off early by the
burning Of the bridges The ferry
was nearly swamped, carrying across
crowds that waited too long to escape
through the streets and had been cut
off by the rapid advance Of the flames.
Three Lives Lost.
Three lives are known to have been
lost. A fireman was injured by a
falling wall and died on the way to
the hospital; an unidentified young
man was crushed to death when one
of the churches collapsed, and an ell.
derby man from Brewer, who had
crossed the river to watch the fire,
also was buried beneath falling de-
bris.
Neither of the city's newspapers
was burned and both published as
usual today.