Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1911-05-04
BANGOR, NE, BURNS;
Loss SIX MILLION
oAE-THiRD OF LITTLE MAINE
CITY IN AsHEs-THousANps
ARE HOMELESS.
SWEEPS PATH TWO MILES LONG

ohurches, Business Blocks and Public
suildinss eurned.-use of Dyna-
mite unasaiIing to Stop
Bangor, Me-, May 1.-One-third OF
the city OF Bangor is in ruins, thou
sands OF persons are homeless and a
property loss estimated at $6.OO0,O 600
Was sustained as the result of night
conhagration which ragged for hours
etartlng IN hay shed on Broad street
S9e ire swept along Broad and Elk.
change streets through the heart Of
the city, leaving residences, churches
SCHOOLS, business blocks and all the
leonc buildings with the exception of
ne city hall, mass Of smoking ashes
For many hours the f1remen of Ban
Tor, assisted by men and apparatus
nom other Maine cities, battled
against the blaze before they con
ausfsd it Dynamite proved of little
Avail. Buildings were blown up, but
lns flames easily leaped the chasms
nus made and II was not until the
~nd, which had been blowing almost
gale during the night, shifted and
light rain fell, that there was any
Indication that the iremen would win.
Cheered by the help from this IN
expected quarter the fire fighting
Sefces were concentrated nearly two
niles from the start of the blaze and
there the spread of flames was check
ID at midnight.
But while the rain and the shifting
q the wind to the east saved the rest
OF the city from destruction, it only
added to the discontinue of thousands
who had seen their homes go up in
names and who were huddled together
In the streets.
Three Lives Lost.
Three lives are known to have been
lost although the names of none of
the victims are known. A fireman
was injured by falling wall and died
on the way to the hospital, an I'M
known young man was crushed to
death when one of the churches col
lapsed, and an elderly man from
Brewer who had crossed the river to
watch the fire was also buried beneath
falling debris.
The problem of housing and feeding
the destitute will be serious one, for
churches and public buildings, the usu-
al places Of refuge in such disasters,
are in ruins. and there is hardly an
eating house, bakery or other store
where food can be secured, left stand
Ing. Already offers of help have been
received by Mayor Mullen, but the
profered aid cannot be expected to
arrive in time to prevent suffering.
The burned area follows the Ken
duskeag stream for nearly two miles
north of the starting point and spreads
out to a width varying from one
eighth to quarter of mile a differ
ent points.
Worst Since 1866.
The fire is considered by insurance
people the worst that Maine has
known since the Portland fire in 1866
when large part of the business sec
ton of that city was destroyed with
loss of $1O,O0O,OOO. Bangor has a
population of nearly 5000 BY the 1910
census and the latest figures show a
real estate valuation Of $16,S9S,967.
Most of the best residential section
of the city was swept away when the
Ore left the business section. It
spread out like huge fan with its
widest part among the homes of the
people. Just outside the fire zone the
furniture is stacked along the curb
and guarded by the stricken house
holders.
The telegraph companies Offices
were both burned early in the confla-
grafton but later were established out
side the zone and communication was
resumed in the temporary Offices.
Telephone and telegraph operators
stuck to their posts and sent out in
formation and calls for help. The
Associated Press operator, in the
Postal Telegraph Office, sat at his key
sending and receiving messages while
the fire ragged hardly SO feet away
from him in the postofice building.
sopwith to Fly Here.
New York, May Thomas sopwith
ono of tho host of tho English hirdman