The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-03-29
Priceless Records and Docu- ments, Many of Which Can Never be Replaced, and 100000 Volumes of His- t0TiC State Papers, Des- troyed in the Seeth.ng Furnace
Defective Electric Wiring Said to Have Caused the Fire No Insurance Whatever on the Massive StTuctuTe--En- tire Fire Department Kept Busy For Hours in Subdu- A ing the Flames
Special from United Press,

(SpecIal rom On1CeO FreSS.) Albany, March 29-A loss Of SC, 6,000,0 ,0ot and of records and documents almost pricesless in value, and a suspension of state business, is the net result o1 a fire which started in the Assembly
 Library of the Capitol Building, early
 today, and spread through the western
 portion of the building, destroying ev- erytting in it's path from the third
 floor upwards.
 The State Library, containing 400 o,00t volumes was entirely destroyed az we'll as a number of offices surround ing it. The other portions of the building, including the Senate and As sembly chamber, are waterlogged. It is thought that one life has been lost. Samuel Abbott. nightwatch-
 man is missing, and 1t is feared he succumbed to the flames.
 The fire, at 10 o'clock, was still
 smouldering and several streams Of
 water were playing on the ruins. The disaster, however, will not in- terfere with the voting for the United States Senator, it being planned to
 have sessions in the city hall until the Assembly and Senate chambers can be made presentable.
 The fire completely destroyed the State Library, the administration of fees of the State Department of Edu-
 cation, the State Court of Claims
 Chamber, the Court Clerks office, the
 Senate Finance Committee room, the office of the House Finance Committee the office of the president pro tenn of the Senate, the Assembly Library, the Assembly Document room.
 Other portions of the buildings are also covered with several inches o1 k-f, ce-< was blackened with smoke and the oak medieval ceiling crumbled away ir several places.
 State Commissioner of Education Draper said that the property destroy ed in the State Library alone would amount to $2,0oo.ooO in addition to doc uments that cannot be replaced. Governor Dix summoned Chief o1
 Police Hyatt and the fire chief to the executive chamber of conference and it was finally decided to leave the
 matter caring for the building to the
 State architect who at once began an | inspection. The flames, fed by inflammable rec ords and documents, spread rapidly and the library was a seething fur mace when the firemen arrived. short ly after 2 a. m. The ornate hangings and rich carved mahogany furnishings of the library, which is also used as the committee room of the Assembly Judiciary Committee, fed the flames, and the firemen at once realized that they were in for a hard battle, If they were to save the massive building. Fire lines were quickly drawn and fire fighting apparatus of the capitol was also impressed into service.
 The firemen were badly hampered n their early operations and at 3 o'clock found that the flames had eaten out
 into the corridor and along it to the
 entry room of the Assembly chamber.
 Owing to the proximity of the State Library, the f1remen broke through an
 airshaft and flooded it. The flames
 staircase at the west end of the cap itol, considered one of the finest ex-
 amples of mural art in the world.
 The s1,000,O00 ceiling of the west
 ern staircase early fell prey to the flames which then continued their
 Senate chamber. When the fire
 reached the elevators near the state
 library and began to sweep up the shafts, the fremen were being assist
 ed by every enploye of the capitol who could be mustered into service. The newspapermen, who were among the first on the scene, also joined in the fight.
 When, at 3:25 o'clock, the flames leaped across the elevator shaft to-
 ward the state library, Fire Chiefs Bridgeford and Walsh had three lines
 of hose trained on it from the cor
 riders. Falling stones from the cell ings and flying chips from the marble
 pillars and walls greatly endangered
 the firemen and interfered with their work.
 The fire quickly gutted the Assem-
 bly Library, destroying all bills. docu-
 ments and papers, some of them dat
 ing as far back as 1776 These are
 irreplacable. The library also con
 tained all the works, documents and
 codes of the judiciary committee of
 the present session, including the
 woman's suffrage bills. These were
 all destroyed. At 3:30, the fire en-
 tered the document room and it was
 quickly known to be doomed. Tine
 flames ate up to the roof and swept