Connecticut western news., 1914-10-01


 ness for some time to come.
 At 4 o'clock that morning, smoke awakened the servants, who had sleep ing quarters over the ell part at the north end of the building, and on arousing they discovered flames crawl ing up the ceiling, from the floor immediately over the store room back of the bar.roo The tenants of the ell gave the alarm to others in the hotel, at the same time rrabbing up their belongings and throwing on such cloth ing as would afford covering and some protection from the cold. and made their way out through the smoke-filled halls and down the stairs. The boarders and transients were quickly aroused, and hustled ont into the street in various stages of undress. and many took their time on the sidewalks, to finish putting on their clothes. Two of the servant girls clambered out of the second story windows at the rear of the ell, dropped down on to the roof of . shed, and so to the ground, unhurt, but considerably frightened and almost hysterical.
 Tn the meantime Mrs. H. B. Ives, had called up central, from the Ives apartments in the hotel, and requested that Sexton Coons, of the Methodist church, be instructed to strike the church bell, at the same time that young Arthur White, who had seen the blaze from the outside, was trying to get central's attention by banging on the locked door of the telephone office.
 The sounding of the alarm soon brought the f1remen to their quarters and at the same time summoned the cit ms generally. tlAi
 When the firemen, with their appara- tus, arrived-which was within few minutes from the striking of the alarm, the flames were shooting up high in the air from the sides of the ell part Foreman Frank Whiting directed the movements of the firemen and soon two streams of water were playing on the flames.
 Several of the firemen ascended to the roof and began tearing off tin roofing while others crawled through the stifing smoke into the chambers and
  property as was easily removed and chopping holes through the roof for the convenience of the hosemen.
 The chemical engine was hauled to the scene and run into the hall on the second floor of the main building and a line of hose laid to the burning part. The chemical soon subdued the interior flames and the water hose on the out side made short work of the blaze on the exterior.
 The citizens all this time were hero ically assisting the hotel people in removing furniture, fixtures and per- sonal property, which were deposited on the depot park i'll front of the hotel and soon the latter resembled a crowded market place.
 The Norfolk firemen who had been summoned by telephone. arrived in an incredibly short time, with their motor fire truck and apparatus, but their services were not necessary, the local boys having gotten the fire under con. trol before their arrival.
 AS a consequence of the fire, the ell is total wreck, and thef main part badly damaged by smoke and the great volume of water poured into it. The walls and ceilings were thoroughly saturated and the drippings through the metal covering of the ceilings leaked torrents of water upon the floors beneath, until the flood on every floor was as deep as the doorsills would hold it.
 By strenuous work on the part of the firemen the flames were confined to the ell, and there the damage was practi. cally complete. The floors and walls were burned through and the outsides were charred. Only a defaced shell remains, of which repair is out of the question.
 The cause of the fire has not been definitely fixed. The first theory advanced was that the blaze started from defective chimney connected with the kitchen range, as the most disastrous work of the fire on the second floor was in the kitchen, especially that part of it which is directly over the liquor store-room back of the room. A close inspection however, showed that the store-room was even more badly burned than the kitchen which inclines many to the be- lief that the fire started in the store room, and as there was no fire or light left in that room, the opinion is that the original cause was ignition from the electric wires, resulting from defec- tive insulation.
 The wrecked building and furniture strewn park attracted crowds of curi- osity seekers all through the day, and a number of camera fiends took pictures of the unusual scene.
 Late in the afternoon, when the water had practically stopped dripping