Norwich bulletin., 1914-10-13

shortly DerOre midnight MOnOdy, COldl- ly destroyed the Thamesville car barn owned by the Shore Line Electric com pany, together with a score or more ot summer passenger cars and at least two snowplows stored there. when the crew in charge of the trolley car from New London was passing the barn. flames were seen issuing from the building by Motorman Church.
 Conductor Wilbur K. Pavey, who had been to New London, and who was returning to Norwich on the car, got off. Conductor Pavey found the barn a mass of flames in the rear and the fire was rapidly spreading to all parts of the building. He stated to Chief Stanton later that he went to the Tuberculosis sanatorium just across the road and had one of the private box, which is box 317, and pulled in the alarm. Someone, how ever. rang in box 12 at the corner of West Thames and Shipping streets and it was in answer to this box that the fire department responded. The auto chemical and the other companies responding made a fast run and reach ed the scene a few minutes after the alarm had rung in.
 Got Four Cars Out.
 Conductor Pavey then returned to the car barn and with the help of Conductor John T. Gleason, who hap pened to be in the neighborhood at the time and who heard of the fire, succeeded in getting four of the cars out of the barn, thus preventing them from destruction. Three of the cars saved were of the double truck style and the other was of the single truck style. The fire had gained such head way by that time that the circuit had become grounded, making it impossible to get any more cars out and so they pulled out the switch, shutting off the current from the barn tracks, which was under the circumstances, the best thing to do, as shortly afterwards the overhead wires fell with the ruins and would probably have caused the fire men and others considerable trouble. Laid Two Lines of Hose.
 By this time the hremen had ar rived and two lines of hose were laid from the only available hydrant at 1 that point. However, the pressure was so low that the lines were almost use less and one line was shut off. This | increased the pressure in the remain | ing line, but 1t was poor at its best | Flames were shooting fifty feet tr | the air and the barn was mass oi | fire from one end to the other. The | heat was intense and it was almost | impossible to get close to the burning | building.
 Roof Fell in Twenty Minutes. Inside of twenty minutes the rooi with the front wall and large sec 1 ton of the north wall had fallen In g mass of ruins and it was momentarily | expected that other sections of tho walls would follow the same fate Conductor Gleason took off his coa1 when he arrived at the barn and pass ed it to a person standing nearby te | take care of. When he went to looi for 1t afterwards it could not be found ! although 0 thorough search was made | of the cars that were standing outside the barn and also of the premises. Int coat was later found hanging on [ post and 1t was quite badly damaged
 Big Rotary snewplow Burned. | Of the score or more cars in thu barn nothing remains but the truck: and other parts of metal construction which are 6 meas of twisted trcn Along with the ears stored In the barr | was the large rotary snowplow. ac duired by the company seaae few Year' ago. but which had been used but lit tie, Thia also was totally destroyed. On the south side af the barn wher% there is a spur track. were steret several ether snawriews. One Of th' blows ts almost totally destroyed. bu quick action on the part of the ire men, who kept the stream of water il that section prevented the ether
 morning it was thought tha these blows would escape witt
 in three or four feet of them did ne
 erumbie and fall. burying them in ho
 bricks, Two small sheds located a
 the rear Of the barn and used TO
 various purposes were badly seerehed
 Tn a little over an hour the fire hat burned itself out to 8 great extent
 but the ruins were still red hot.
 Rushed Special ts the Rescue.
 Shortly after the fire had been dis covered Conductor J. J. Shea, -Whe !
 acting night starter this week. va
 notified. He in turn notified fnsPeete
 Reuben Iadd: who quickly got a ereF
 of about 8 daHeA ST fifteen Tnetermef conductors and mechanics from tn
 GreeReville barn together and rusne'
 special car down te the b1FninaI time to get out the ears steFed theFe
 Aithaugb they Haada very fast lIsaf
 arriving there it is said eight Iainuts
 after leaving Franklin square, the
 were tee late te get ept any or tn ears and had to stand by and watc seTae of the f1remen remained ther the greater part of the night with liRe ef hass, but as there WAS iltti usse fer Fhe cezsPanies in genera
 Chief Stanton sent several of theE 1 back ta their stations.
 One ef the cars rua cut eff ths bar nF Cenductors Giea sen and FaVey wa drought te this city about 1.39 e'cioe , and taken to the GreeneHiile barn:
 Kept Bushnell House Reof Wet: Tive es three hundred feet to tn Z2erth of the barn is located the nous occupied by Richard Bushnell an B family: As it was feared that spark might set the roof on fire garde
 hose was brought inte use and tn reef was kent we'll wet down.
 l Thethlgh dry grass around the bar