Norwich bulletin., 1912-08-29

night, and the loss in lumber, coal and | buildings will total well over S150,000. 1 An unidentified man, who it is thought may have been the cause of the blaze, lost his life in the flame, and his body,
 burned to a crisp, was pulled out bJ | hremen. The conhagration was spec l tacular in the extreme. the burned lumber sending up flames to a height of hundred feet. while vast showers of sparks rose up and were carried by good breeze from the west over the heart of the city. Fortunately, the I wind veered shortly before i o'clock and the dangerous sparks were carried | southward to the river
 Entire Yard cutted.
 1 The wind, however. famed tho 1 flames along to the end of the wharf and the Morgan & Sons buildings and lumber met the same fate as the Chap | pell property. There was serious dan ger of the fire spreading to the Daven- port building and it's neighbors across l the east branch of the Thames river. but the excellent protection given by l the Norwich fire department saved l them, as it did the stores and tene- ments on Main street north of the 1 Chappell yards. They caught several l times, but three streams were kept
 busy playing upon them.
 Discovered by Policeman. 1 The alarm was rung in at 12.15 o'clock by Officer Matthew J. Delaney, who was on his way along Main street to the police headquarters, when he looked around and saw a blaze in the small office of the Edward ChappeIl l HD TaV nv n ba b119I TIM ming the length of Central wharf. He immediately ran up to Washington square and pulled in the alarm from
 box 116. A general alarm quickly fol- lowed. He then ran back to the fire.
 made his way past the blaze, which by
 this time had gained a big start, to the stables of the ChapPell company and the John A. Morgan & Son com
 pany, just below eh the wharf, and
 started in to get the horses out in
 safety,
 Horses All Gotten Out.
 With the assistance of several other men whe had by this time been att
 tracted by the fire, Officer Delaney
 succeeded in getting all the horses in
 both of the stables, from 30 to 40 in number, safely cut and drove thern
 down to the extreme end of the wharf, where they were kept ready te be pushed overheard iRte the river when
 the flames should come tee near:
 Officer Delaney teek word to the
 steamer Block Island, which was an
 ehered at the Dawley dock for tn
 night and asked for assistance In re-
 moving the animals. The men en the
 steamer stated that there was no
 steam up and that therefore they could
 not lend any help in getting of the horses. The animals therefore had to
 be left on the end of the wharf. where
 the men in charge had orders to push
 them into the river if necessary and
 take chance of getting them te swim down stream to a landing place rathe.
 than leave them to die in the flames. Spread Rapidly.
 When officer Delaney first saw tht
 fire it was confined to one section of
 the Chappell companys central build ing, but in a few minutes 1t had spread
 with extraordinary speed and the cen. tral part of that building was one ] roaring, seething mass of flame. Tht ! wind at this time, about 1920, was | | 1 blowing to the eastward and thu ! showers of sparks were carried acrOs: l l to the roofs of the Davenport build ! ing, the Norwich Grain company anC , the nearby buildings and redhot spark! ! were dropping by hundreds in tn, 5 streets.
 , Lumber Piles Soon Caught. The big piles of lumber alongside O , the water were soon all ablaze ani ? then the Davenport building began l.
 catch in places. The heat here causet . the automatic sprinkler system to op f crate and the private alarm went off a | l2.25. On the other side the west lin e of buildings of the Chappell compan, - containing lumber storehouses and coa Il pockets soon caught and by the tim Il the fire department got there there wa s a blazing lane of flame a hundre t yards long, The heat was terrific fror
 the cracking mass of dry, well sea q soned lumber, while the old woode $ structures made the best kind of ma @ terial for a blaze.
 II Unable to Check sIaze.
 Immediate effort was made to chec s the flames from spreading te the cee n pockets In the east line of buildings
 for the central section was plainl
 doomed except for the brick portie
 next to Main street occupied by Stet
 son & Young But the streams ( if water that were played on the buildin
 seemed to have no effect and tn
 flames mounted higher and higher an o Laurel Hill and the surrounding place S were lit up brilliantly. The flame i rolled out of the central section tow ard either side and on the east gres piles of lumber caught and were see
 roaring and the wooden bulwark alon a the water on the Davenport side als ill started, and up on the cornice of tn n building there was a stubborn bit ( " place. Hose was run down from Wa ,a ter street between the Gallup an 
 s' on the sides of the Davenport built ing and Its neighbors. The privat . alarm of the Davenport building, whiC u is now occupied by the Storing an
 Housing company and lesser concern among them a demonstration plant 5S the American Thermos Bottle compan 74 again started changing at 12.40, bI suddenly the wind changed around ar the flames and the sparks were blow south toward the river instead of Ov' ss toward the city.
 ,n All of chappeII Buildings AbIaze. ys In the meantime, in spite of all e d forts of the fremen, the flames Ina le spread to the west section of Il t. Chappell company's buildings and we st devouring the wooden coal pockets al
 the adjoining section where finish' ed lumber was stored. The heat was il ve tense and no man was able to pen as trate down the blazing line and l- there was no way of preventing u
 spread of the flames down through u
 Chappell companys line of building
 to the Morgan & Son lumber yard sn Body of Man Found.
 n, Just about 1 o'clock, in the centr sit section, just about where the fire rs supposed to have originated, three TX the hosemen saw a blackened ob1e lg lying on the floor. and they succeed mt in bringing 1t out Into the open, rs, proved to be the eharFed body of Tt, man, burned beyond recognition, ] he it was stated that there was in WatehmaH in the Chappell company he buildings, it is preba ble that the m eh was someone who had gene in the as for a nights lodging and from t tn fact that he was found in the sP