Norwich bulletin., 1922-07-15

S20o.OoO fire started on High stree. I Friday and was one of the worst fire. that has occurred in. Westerly. The P. H. opie drygoods store was burned oul between 2 and o'clock in the morning 1 Officer Sucker of the West Side was on l the PawcatIIck river bridge when he saw l the flames coming from the top foo | windows of the Opie building He sen; l in an alarm from box No. 56 and when ! the fire was located q general alarm was sounded
 The P. s. Barbour Hose company oi Pawcatuck and the Watch Hin fire de- 1 partment arrived quickly to assist in | fighting the blaze. The store it Is un- stood was all right at closing time and the rounds were made as usual after 1 the employees had gone. This large two- story brick building called the Brown
 building, built by Mrs. Edwin Brown several years ago, was occupied by The Qpie ,Company's drygoods store and Samuel H. Davis attorney. and Attorney
 Harry B. Agard, Louis Tuck, clothier pr. w. D. stanton, dentist. Attorney Clarence Roche, John J. Dim, attorney. 1 and Robert H. F'arnham. The lawyers
 lost all their libraries which they had
 been collecting for years and will never be able to replace.
 l AlAS Oil Ai6tl IS lDNdLEu
 in one of the busiest and most thickly
 settled parts of the town. On one side
 Is the Industrial Trust company's bank
 building and on the other side Mrs.
 West and the. Direct Importing Stores are located. Several extra clerks were
 put on Thursday in Opie's to complete a large order for several of the cot
 tagers at Watch Hill. together with the
 regular summer business.
 l fr nIf G-e ,., ;,,
 the southwest corner of the second floor of the store. where an electric fiat had been used during the rush work, and that the current had been turned on and | forgotten, as the blaze was discovered | here first. The flames set fire to tn,
 rapers and lace that was handy : Eighteen streams of water were play
 ed upon the building by the fire compan ] es, who worked diligently to subdue tn, : stubborn blaze and they confined jt [,
 the building of the Opie Company. Thi i was most difficult to do. as the othe
 wooden structures were so closely con D nected in this thickly settled place an s sreet. The Prudential Insurance com 1 panys office on the second floor and F
 ". Stiles, photographer, were also burn : ed out. The large front plate glass win V dows, four in number. on the first fooi | we're saved from being damaged. Tn l. dry goods, upholstery and all the art t eles of the store which carried a larg c stock of drygoods and ladies wearin
 apparel millinery, carpets and fanc e dry goods were water-soaked and other r wise damaged. The upper floors wer n total joss and the damaged ceiling
 | with plastering down, the watersoake d first floor with water dripping all owe o the goods, which were saved, made = sc:ry sight Friday afternoon.
 Bremen played several streams C y water on the building all day and rC v mained throughout Friday night. Cha:
 red wood was scattered everywher n about the store and sidewalk on Hig e street. A bronze pipe in front wa e melted of by the intense heat This la l. on the sidewalk, together with burne r wood and the contents of the offices. e L. c. Tuck conducts 3 clothing stor r on the north side of the building an
 this was gutted Water soaked aboJ
 half of his stock, which was in readine:
 for a sale he was to have held Frida,
 His goods were ruined by smoke an l. water
 Fred S. ople, proprietor of the op IS store, did all that he could to assist u
 fremen Chief Egger was out of tow y and Assistant Chief of the Fire Depar r. tnent Harry H. Coyle took charge ar l. did excellent work.
 Many of the firemen have blistere r. hands The pulmotor was used on se' ee eraI of the men. who were overcome. e. smoke Daniel Keegan, a member of r. B. Barbour Hose. company, was struC
 On the head by falling timber. Dr. ss H. Scanlon attended him. No serioI K result is anticipated as the man W;
 able to be about Friday afternoon. d. It is estimated that the loss wal, S2oC
 eOo. practically covered by insurance. ,h Mrs. P. H. Opie was one of the fir h. women here to open dry goods sto h. and from this small store the busine . had grown to Its present proportions. e. Throughout the day throngs filed u
 streets to view what was left of u on building and it's contents. The op to employees and fire companies helped
 sweep out the water on all the floor ay which drenched. many articles. The .dri te ping of water from the two upper foo
 Ito the floors below Friday afternoon ke te the men busy.
 ay Holes were cut in the floors to le. il - surplus water drain out.
 he Samuel H. Davis has secured room