Putnam patriot., 1914-03-27
ELEVEN HORSES BURN
Keith's Livery Stable Totally Destroyed
Not Known How Fire Started. firemen
 Complimeuted


 The stable of Luther M. Keith, South Main street, was totally destroyed by fire between ii.S0 Tuesday night and ? o'clock Wednesday morning. Eleven horses were burned to death in their stalls in the basement and everything on the premises was destroyed. The origin of the fire is unknown. There was no human being about the prem- ises so far as known nor was there any fire. The building, two and a half story wooden structure, was owned by F. D. Seuthwiek. Mir. Keith owned the contents and was doing business Wednesday morning. He will con- tinue as heretofore. The estimated loss is Sl0,000, MT. keith's loss being between Ss, ,000 and s4,000 only partly covered by insurance.
 The alarm was rung in from Box l5 at the corner of South Main and Grove streets by (. Dwight Sharoe, superin- tendent of the city water works. Mir. Sharpe was going to bed about Ills and had nearly all of hls ,clothing re- moved when he looked out of the win- dow and saw light in the rear of keith's stable. He got into his trous- CTS and started on the run to pull in the alarm. The first alarm was short- ly followed by second bringing out the entire department.
 MT. Sharpe and others first at the scene thought first of the horses but within few seconds Of the time the fire was discovered the building was fiery furnace and nothing could be done to get the animals out. There was over two tons of hay to feed the flames and the building itself was an old one and burned quickly
 The work of the fire department In saving property, especially other near hy buildings, has been loudly praised They received material aid by the fact that there was an excellent water pres- sure to work with. The large stable owned by II. H. Davenport of Pom- fret, on the north side, only ten or fif- teen feet away, caught fire several times.
 The Hoyle block adjoining the stable on the south also caught fire on the l roof time after time. This building was considerably damaged with smoke water and fire and an addition in which there Is bowling alley was des- troyed. Bremen on the roof of this building had a narrow escape and jumped to another nearby roof just as the roof on which they were standing fell in. That the entire Hoyle block was not destroyed seems almost unbe- lievable The liremen worked in many dangerous positions and time and again the crowd called to them to look out as parts of the roof fell in. The entire surroundings Is covered with wooden buildings and a harder place to put out fire could not be imagined. For lunately there was no wind or even i the heroic work of the department could not have saved a much larger conflagration.
 | 1Nob oiC VI thC VtVFSh hASsoSS Ass ss&~ building could be taken out and all died in their stalls. MT. Keith had one horse at his home and one that hc bought Monday had not been deliver ed. Thoughtful and kind-hearted citi- zens volunteered to let Mir. Keith have horses and wagons tecporarily and he felt corresp pondingty grateful for their thoughtfulness
 We have now had three fires, the
 Bradley building, the Morse house and Tuesday nights fire, and the supersti- cious, who look for fires to run in threes, are saying, "I told you so' and hope that there will not be any more in the near future, and in the last hope we all share.
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