Norwich bulletin., 1913-01-28


 of Guests, MeanIy Robbed-Biaze Was Discovered by Joseph Burton. The Chickering hotel was complete l Iy gutted and its furnishings ruined beyond hope of ever using them again, l before the blaze which started just before two o'clock Monday morning, was extinguished. As one fireman put enough water in there to float the 1 building" and this taken with the 1 damage from smoke and fire means
 the ruin of the interior and it's equip I ment.
 The roof is off the building over the l grea ter part of it's area and the man. ner in which the fire ran along between the partitions and the way they had l to be torn open to get at the blaze, 1 which showed first in one place and then in another, means that it will | be necessary to almost entirely rebuild i the main part of the hotel.
 l Ransom H. Bradley, owner of the i building, said Monday afternoon that l it is difficult for him to estimate his loss, but it will not be less than $5,000. i Until later he will not be able to de- eide just what course he will take to- l ward restoring the structure. The building is insured.
 I John T. Mcclellan, proprietor of the l hotel is the heaviest loser. His in
 surance amounts to only s5,000 but 1 he is loser far beyond that amount. He has expended more than $2, 900 in 1 alterations and improvements to the l interior since he took possession last 1 June and the furnishings of the hotel l are practically a total loss. MT. Me 1 Lellan's, investment was close to $14.- 1 GOO. The salvage will be small except 1 ing on the liquors. Whether he will
 be able to so arrange his affairs as | to continue the business he was unable 1 to say Monday.
 1 MT. Mcclellan is a big loser, but l good one. He was as nervy as man 1 could be Monday after the toughest l -7liv 1 because a bank roll of $500, all ready l for deposit had disappeared from his ! room, with his gold watch. EIk's charm l and other personal property of $500 additional value, while the fire was in ] progress.
 1 He was also the hero of the fire i Five times he went back into the hotel 1 to rescue guests, the last time to col l lapse on the second floor as he was de- i scending after a final trip of inspec- 1 tion of the guest rooms to make cer- l tain that all had gotten out of the 1 burning structure. whiff of fresh 1 air from an open window sufficiently l revived him so that he was able to
 crawl on his hands and knees to the 1 lower floor and to the street. | In room No. 9 was a guest whose name MT. Mcclellan could not recall 1 Monday afternoon. but he did remeE1- 1 Der that the gentleman was so fright 1 ened when the proprietor entered and awakened him to the grave danger that 1 he hit MT. Mcclellan a punch in the face. He was hurried to the street. R. M. Johnson, formerly proprietor 1 of the City hotel but staying for the past few weeks as a guest at the l Chickering was carried out by MT. Mcclellan, as were three women em- pIoyes who had been occupying rooms on the third floor.
 Guests Registered. Four of the guests were men con- nected with the Boston American, here l on business. The water soaked hotel register shows the following to have been in the house as guests: MT. and Mrs. Charles H. Davidson, Boston; c. L. Gary, Worcester: J. T. McNamee, Woonsocket; J. $. Chanf1er, Worces- ter; J. H. Hadley. Boston; J. H. Me Carthy, Boston; Frederick Snow, Jo- l Whalen, MT. and Mrs. Joseph Wood, Boston; Peter Daily. New York; Harry 1 Segal, Boston; A. l.. Kempf. Messrs.
 Hadley, Mccarthy, Neill and Sega1 were the Boston men referred to- McCar- thy lost a roll of s175 in the fire. All of the guests lost more or less of their property.
 Another man asleep in the hotel was T. H. Farley of Providence. All of
 these got out without being injured, most of them being led to the street through smoke filled halls.
 How the fire originated was as much
 of a mystery Monday evening as at i the time it started. The only thing certain is that it started in the boiler room The fire had probably been burning a considerable length of time before it was discovered.
 Sealed Goods Stolen. Among the things missing from the hotel after the excitement subsided was about $500 worth of that class of liquors known as sealed goods. Who got away with these was and is un- certain, but it was only one of several indications that advantage had been taken of the opportunity to loot the building.
 No firm excepting J. H. Geason, who has a market on the Front street side of the hotel building. and George A. Rawley. who has the next store to MT. Geason, were doing business in the block Monday Miror,s barber shop was wrecked and water soaked and the Putnam News company people had es tablished temporary headquarters un- der the store occupied by the Putnam Light and Power company on Main
 Thought Only of Guests. Much sympathy was expressed Mon day for MT Mcclellan. He came here less than year ago as total and immediately started to repair and improve. Gradually he gained in sue l cess and more rapidly won host or friends who have always found him an absolutely Straigh tforward, hoSest and up- date business man. He was on the road to 8 fine success when
 the fire of Monday blighted his pros poets.
 The line character of the man was shown when in the first excitement of the discovery of the fire he repeatedly risked his life that his guests might get out without injury and he worked 1 on leading and carrying them out un- 1 til extraordinarily powerful man that he is, he collapsed. His own losses did not seem to strike him at all until l everybody was safe.
 At this time the Chiekering hotel is little more than a shell. Mir. Bradley.