Year: 1878

The Park Place Hotel Goes Up in Smoke.


At few minutes past one o'clock this morn
ing box ID, corner of Summit avenue and St.
Peter street, rang out another alarm of fire.
The fire department responded promptly as
usual, and found the well-known Park Place
hotel in flames. The fire seemed to have orig
mated in the center Of the building on the
College avenue front, and a brisk wind blow
ing spread the flames rapidly, and in an almost
incredible short space of time the whole inn
mense building (Which was frame) was. wrapped
in flames.


The building had been closed hotel since
last fall and had no occupants save two young
men who acted as watchmen. The hotel fur
niture remained in the building and a portion
of what was on the first and second floors was
carried out by fremen and citizens. But a
short time elapsed before it was unsafe to enter
the building and the salvage work was neces-
sarily suspended.


A heavy shower of rain being in progress
when the fire broke out and there having been
previous rain during the evening. all of the
adjacent buildings were in good condition to
Withstand danger. Though sparks and small
brands showered about like snow fakes they fell
harmless. The trees, too which surrounded the
hotel, hemmed in the fire, and the fire.
men were thus enabled to give their undivided
attention to keeping the flames within bounds,
as 1T was, of course, useless to expect to save
such tinder-box as the building afforded. It
was nearly two hours before the flames had
done their work and the once popular summer
hotel was a complete ruin.


Statement Of the Watchman.


Mr.. Stebbins, who, with Mr.. Balfour, acts as
watchman and care-taker of the hotel, made a
statement to GLOBE reporter substantially as
follows:


II had just returned from the fire on Eagle
street. Mr.. Balfour was with me. We went to
bed together. Our room was about the middle
of the hotel, on the Summit avenue front. We
were just going to sleep when there was a sound
like an explosion. 1 said to Balfour that 1
though4 burglars were trying to get in and
told him to down the street while /
waited and stopped the thieves from getting
out. Balfour sprang for the door, and no sooner
had he opened it than we saw light; there
were sounds like three distinct explosions; I
am sure there were three distinct explosions.
When we saw the light at first we thought it
was the reflection from the lamp-post on St.
Peter street, but that only for a second; ]
cried out that the hotel was on fire, and broke
for the place where the light was; the flames
rolled in our direction very quickly. The fire
Diohc out LII u TOoH over CLe DdlcOuy, JuSL ABOUT
the middle Of the hotel on College avenue.
Our bed room st. Peter street. Our
kitchen the College avenue side and
the pantry right by it. Nobody but ourselves
was in the building. Balfour's mother is gen.
orally there, but she is out of town just now.
Her living there gave rise to the stories that a
woman was burnt We couldn't do anything
to save the building, but carried out all the
furniture we could before the smoke choked
us. We had to go hap-hazard and perhaps
there was not much of value saved. Mr. Ing
ham was in the house this morning. He went
all over it and said that everything was al
right. The outside shutters were all taken of
the house for safety. There had not been
light of any kind in the house for weeks except
own candle. 1 cannot account for the firt
in any way.


Mr.. Stebbins is man of about twenty ty-eight
to thirty years, evidently cool and collected
under ordinary circumstances, and even unde
the natural excitement of the occasion he tolt
his story in clear way that would do credit te
a reporter.