New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1917-10-23
Residence Of Mrs. Vim. Alderidge
Burned This Morning
CAUSE OF BLAZE UNKNOWN
Town Votes to Install Surface Sewer
on WoOdfOrd Avenue-Plainvfl1e
Oversubscribes Its Allotment When
Rockwell Drake Sends in.

Fire, which started about 7:45 this
morning completely destroyed the two
story dwelling house belonging to the
estate of the late William Alderidge
at 81 Fluff street, causing a loss of
| between $4,000 and $4,000 The fire
/ Is believed to have started from an
overheated stove on the first floor, oc-
cupfed by the family of letter carrier
Gordon Hartschorne. The upper floor
was occupied by Mrs. William
Alderidge. Although both the women
| escaped safely, Mrs. Hartschorne was
later stricken unconcious, partially
from the effects of the smoke and
partially from the excitement. She
was attended by DR.. Bull. Practically
| the whole of the contents of the
building was destroyed,
! Shortly before 8 o'clock while Mrs
! Alderldge was planning her days
schedule Mrs. Hartschorne called to
her stating that the chimney was afire.
Immediately Mrs. Alderidge rushed to
| the telephone, called central and
! asked that the alarm be rung in and
that the fire department be sent to
| the scene. few minutes after 3
| o'clock the entire fire department was
| at the burning house
/ Although the residence had been
afire but a few minutes the flames
had gained such Roadway that the
best efforts of the firemen were to no
! avail. Also because of the volume of
the flames which seemed to pour from
every door and window it was almost
impossible to effect an entrance and
to save any of the furniture.
/ Of
arrival of the firemen the blaze was
under control and shortly after was
completely extinguished. One side of
/ the house was completely demolished
| while the other half was burned only
from the inside. Because of the
| great damage done the remains will
have to be torn down If plans are
| made to rebuild
! None of the furniture belonging to
| the occupants was saved. The be-
| longings of Letter Carrier Hart
| schorne, who was recently married
| were burned and in addition Mr..
| Hartschorne did not carry any insur-
| ance. Mrs. Alderidge, who carried
| insurance both on the house and on
her furniture, thought that remuner-
alton from the insurance company
| would cover a fair share of the loss.
The exact cause of the fire is not
| known and probably will never be de-
termined. While some are of the
opinion that the fire was caused from
an overheated stove others state that
a defective chimney was to blame for
/ the damage.
Considerable criticism was heard
| during and after the fire regarding
! the telephone system which is used
| in % a Of inf n 81
the firemen of the location of a blaze
when a fire starts After the telephone
call was sent in this morning, the
whistle at the Bristol Mfg. company
| is said to have blown two longs and
| two shorts alternately instead of the
signal which it was supposed to blow.
Because of this fact people were un-
] able to locate the section of the town
| in which the fire started. Although
! the system is tested daily to ascertain
| whether it is in working condition,
many residents who were present at
the fire were of the opinion that
new system should be installed.
| Clock and Barometer Break.
| The clock on Central square and the
| barometer at the Plainville hardware
| store were put out of commission ST.
simultaneously yesterday afternoon
when it was learned that the Rock
well-Drake division of the Marlin
| Arms company had subscribed to
| $4,000 worth of bonds and that
the amount had been added to Plain
villes subscription list. Neither the
| improvised clock nor the barometer
| were equipped properly to register
anything over $4,000, with the result
that new figures had to be added to
! the instruments, which were con-
| structed for the purpose Of testing the
| patriotism of the citizens Of the town.
| At present the hand on the clock now
| points proudly to the fact that the
town has subscribed to $4,000 in
Liberty Bonds, while mercury on the
| barometer is stationed opposite that
| amount.
Members of the general committee
| who had high hopes of raising the
maximum allotment of s165, desiG-
mated to the town are now more op-
allotment will be subscribed and
place their lowest estimate of re-
ceipts from the sale Of bonds at
$15O,OO0.
AS yet there are several organza-
tons to be heard from and in the
neighborhood Of $4,000 is now in
sight Many of the subscribers are
buying one or two bonds of small de-
nomination.
Until the last day Of the campaign
which ends Friday, will there be any
allegiance in the efforts of those who
have worked hard to place Plainville
among the foremost towns and cities
J of the states.
Town to Build Sewer.
With Judge A. H. Condell presid-
ing, the special town meeting was
called to order last evening at 8
O'Clock. A touch of the military was
added to the special session by the