The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1914-01-14
STOVE EXPLODED,
PIPES BEING FROZEN
Fire Department Was Called but There
Was More Need for the Plumber and
Glazier at a West Street House.

| A fresh lot OF 42 weather found its
way into the house at Is West street
occupied by Mrs. Marion Maiden early
this morning. when the kitchen range
iexploded and dumped many nieces of the
stove through windows on two sides of
the room. There Was a good deal of
commotion following the report and
before the danger of bad fire had en-
tirely subsided, Chief Gladding was
asked to send the auto fire truck to
| West street. The chief and some of the
regulars looked the situation over and
decided that the plumber and glazier
could do more than the fremen Al
though a brisk fire was burning in the
stove, when it exploded, strangely
enough, the flying Goals did not commu
nicate with any part of the room.
One of Mrs. Maiden's boarders was
the first to reach the kitchen when the
explosion occurred at 7 o'clock Up
stairs he was dreaming of Gen. Villas
attack ON 0jinaga and when loud re-
port came from below, he bowled over
small army of Mexicans and bounded
down stairs. He saw the kitchen stove
distributed over the room and two large
lights of glass in the windows shattered
to bits. Burning coal was scattered
over the floor, but none of the furniture
had taken fire. His first move was to
summon n. NJ. Nelson, the owner of
the house, and the fire department.
Chief Gladding amt Mr. Nelson ex
amined what remained of the stove and
decided that the explosion had been
caused by water freezing in pipe
which connected the hot water coils on
the front of the range with tank in
the rear. When the pipe began to thaw,
the steam sought an opening from its
narrow confines and the explosion fol
lowed The stove is a total wreck and
will hardly do for junk. Two large
window panes We're shattered and there
was ample evidence of the explosion
elsewhere about the room.
Fire in Church ST. Gymnasium.
A FIRE in the Church street gymnasium
called out the auto fire truck for the
second time to-day at 2:l0 this after
noon. One Of the Methodist brother
hood was thawing out the sanitary bub-
bier in the dressing room off the basket
ball floor when a draft sucked the flame
up through partition and ignited
quantity of dry sawdust and other in
fiammable material used as filler be-
tween the walls. Cyril Marion, the
first of the Spaulding basketball team
to reach the gym. for afternoon practice,
ran to the fire station and gave the
alarm after dense clouds of smoke had
driven him from the hall
Among the others who were early
aware of tile fire was II. z. Mills. Mr..
Mills was visiting with a customer when
the smoke began tC bllow into his store
on the first door OF the gym. The fire.
men strung a line OF chemical hose to
the dressing room and fought the blaze
from that point Twice the axemen
broke through the windows, SO dense
was the smoke. a number of holes
were chopped in the floors and parti-
tions before the Are could be smothered |
II was narrow escape for the old gym !
Wherever the fire got half chance il |
took hold of the dry timber with !
Minor repairs will have to |
b. made to the dressing rooms and par.
titions, new panes will be needed in two |
front windows and other damage will !
include that caused by smoke. Mr., !
Mills store was so filed with smoke |
that he was unable to ascertain the |
extent Of the damage. Basketball prac-
tice was called off for the afternoon.
More Frost and Fire Work.
Lunch clerks at the Hub restaurant 4
N the Mascot building ON North Main I
street became alarmed over hot stove
lipe in the rear of the establishment this
morning and telephoncd to fire head
quarters for help. Chief Gladding sent
man and an extinguisher TO the res
.aurant. At ono time the fire threat
med to break through the pipe, but the
precautions taken by the firemen were OF
sufficient avail to prevent any damage.
The scare came mst at the breakfast
lour, when the restaurant was crowded
With early morning callers but cool
reads prevailed and there vas no gener-
L stampede for the exits.
Last night chimney fire in the Hen
lerson block at the corner of Main and
Pearl streets caused many people to
,elieve that bad blaze had been started
fire leaped from chimney over the
Vermont Fruit store to height of Is
eet Inmates Of the tenement in the
ear OF the store kept the pipes swaddled
n water and soaked burlap and averted
n outbreak.