Danbury Evening News - 1888 - Fire on Triangle and Elm Streets. (Document)
Dublin Core
Description:
Patrick Elliott's house on the corner of Sheridan and Triangle Streets, and a larger fire Elm Street. Two women, Mary Sherwood and her daughter jump from their burning building. Losses for the burned buildings are also given.
Date:
1888-05-29
Subject:
PDF Search
Text:
OF
VOL. 19, NO. 7.
BABBITRY,
I not a l adder was in e ight. A n umber of fixtures $300, insurance n one; A. N. The r ailway commissioi
[men s tarted f or the t ruck h ouse o n I vea Garnsey, loss on h ousehold g oods $500, ining t he D anbury a nd ]
[street, b ut b efore t hey could return, covered by insurance. Third floor, to-day.
' t h e t wo w omen, b ecoming' w eak f rom James H inkley, loss on h ousehold goods
exhaustion, let go t heir hold on each $400, -.no i nsurance; Mrs. S. A. W inton, Several of our merchan!
other a nd d ropped t o the g round below. loss on c lothing and f urniture £300, no | tbe Price °r flour twentyThe l adies w ere Mrs. M ary S herwood, insurance; L avinia Cronk, dressmaker, barrel!.
— a nd irer daughter" Ids". "Tire daughter toss mostly on dreesea and dress g oods John Firth, the seeoai
flref, a nd c ame down with a $300, no insurance.
Danbury's last year's base
king t he a wning in f ront o f
cently died in H ouston, T
COFFIN'S Bt'ILDING.
the s tore known a s the "Bon Ton," a nd
Dr. S. M. G riffin, loss on b uilding, $8,going t hrough t he r otten ca'nvas l ike a
At a m eeting of the Fa
knife. S he f ell o n her side o n the pave- 000, i nsurance $5,000; F rank E. G alla- sociation held in Bridpep<
;her, barber, loss $1,700, insurance$1,200;
THE M OST E XTENSIVE C ONFLA- ment, a nd waa c arried into a h ouse n ear H. Stern, u pholsterer, loss $200, no i n-| Kevr ' Dr' Maxwell, of Din
GRATION THAT HAS VISITED by. a few s econds elapsed a fter t he rarance; Mrs. S. Ruscoe. milliner, loss P°mtetl scnbeBut
young l ady's f all b efore t he m other, b e- £1,500, i nsurance $800; William M atchett, Anthony B utton, w ho
DANBURYINTHPEE
coming f rantic from t he e ffects o f t ht restaurant, los?s $500, i nsurance ?350; R. last s ummer, t o m ake h is
YEARS.
smoke, f ollowed suit. S he f ell close I L E. T wing, c utter _ and manager for E. nah, N. Y., is in t own \ ritt
to the side o f the b uildinir, a nd s triking Tallersott, t ailor, loss $000, no i nsurance; j ting f riends'
—
A B laze on T riangle S treet F ollowon a s ign w hich p rojected a f ew i nches- A. N. H awkin?, loss t"2,000, i nsurance.
ed b y. a O lnch Larger O ne
from a bove t he door o f the s tore, £1,500. Second and t hird floors: No. 31, The firm of G orden &
Hull, loes $COO, no i nsurance; J ohn been d issolved by i-the i
bounded o ff on the a wning. Fortunateon Elm S treet.
ly, h owever, i t s ustained h er w ei?ht. C. C olline, loss $000, n o i DBarance; l?o. Robert J . B aldwin, o wing
29, James S mith, loss $1,000, no i nsurTHE LOSS O VER $30,000. and w illing b onds l ifted h er to t h < ance; No. 27, M rs. M ary Sherwood, loss W. A. G orden w ill continu:
ground and a ssistid her to a n eighbor's.
The Housatonic railwa;
From T'^sdair's E-reniny tVr'.rs.
Robert M cNamara t ells t he s tory, r e- {2,000, no i nsurance; No. 23, A. H. Mal- o r k of c onstructing freii
On Triangle Street.
garding t he o rigin o f the fire, as givec let!, loas $2,OOP, i raurance $500; C harier clocks at W ilson—Poinf, i
Gustoson, loss ?250, no i nsurance.
the n eighborhood of $30,
An slarm o f flre wa^ s ounded f rom above, b ut s everal other s tories a re t old,
lumber.— Norwalk GnzctU
(Jlcders.
- box -!5, s ituated at t ha corner of S outh and the one t hat t he o wners o f the b urnS. B loomer lost a bont fifty d ollars Edward Leach, in the ei
street a nd T own H ill a venue, about 8 SO ed b uildings, a nd m any o f the t enant,
last n ight. A f ew m inutes l ater t he e n- favor, is t hat a pan of g rease setting OB worth o f f eed, harnesses a nd s uch t hings Olmstead,. received a bs
tire s outh a nd eastern p ortions o f the the f loor of the r estaurant, took f lre. which w ere i n the b arn.
ankle, yesterdsy, by ste]
town w as b riHiantly i lluminated b y and M cNamara s eized i t and t hrew i t
The flre police, as u sual, r endered end of a timber on skids
out into t he back yard. The, grease 7ery e fficient a id in p rotecting prop- under him.
what a ppeared to be a large fire in the
spattered u p a gainst t he b arn, as w eli erty. and keeping back t he curious
vicinity of the h orse rail way stables.
The m embers of the
Many persons ran in the d irection in as a gainst t he b lock, a nd set fire to b otfc crowd.
companies decorated the
dicated a nd f ound a t the corner o f Sher- buildings a t the same time.
At one t ime the livery stab'.es of HawAn a larm was n ow s ounded f or b ox 25, ley B radley were threatened, b ut t he deceased members- of th
idan and T riangle streets the house ol
Patrick E lliott in flames. The firemec- at t ie c orner o f M ain a nd W nite s treets, applications of water f rom a small hose this m orning. No firemai
ring the past year.
•were «low in a rriving at the place, it and p eople b egan t o flock to the s cene illayed t he danger.
being the e xtreme end of the b orough. The f lre c ompanies w ere on b and
The " sermon of Rev. ;
The p eople at large were not as quick
The b uilding was very nearly d estroy- promptly, a nd a s tream was p layed OB as u sual to r espond to the r inging of the preached a t the d edicatio
the r ear o f the t urning. D ozensed, t ogether .with m ost of its c ontents.
iiarm, and it was some time b efore a church in his f ormer cha
The flre was caused by t he e xploding of m en r ushed i nto t he stores, a nd i nto iarge crowd gathered.
v!!!e, Pa., was reported rn
of a lamp. The totsrl less on d welling the l iving apartments above, a nd a
that city, one of them
and c ontents was 82,300, on w hich t here shower o f c hairs, f eather beds, pic- __ I)r. M cDonald estimates h is oss at full.
curts, c rockery, a nd all s orts c f u ten $200, b ut succeeded i n s aving o ver t wo
was an i nsurance cf $2,250 w ith the
3ils, r ained d own o n t he h eads o f tht thousand d ollars worth o f b ooks which The annual diocesan—a
agency of B igelow & S tevens.
were i n his l ibrary.
the P rotestant Episcopal c
copefesss passer by.
On Elm Street.
The f lre q uickly s pread f rom t he b are
The loose piles of p aving b locks t hat held in Christ church, Hs
Since t he great B eckerle disaster n c
to t he b lock o f Dr. G riffin, a nd i nto t ht reached a lmost t he w idth o f Elm s treet nine J une 12. The aari
such c onflagration h as v isited D anburj
tin s hop of H enry P erry w hich was, adpreached by Rev. Dr. "Lint
a^ that which started near the center oi joining. T he M atchett restaurant anc iu several places p roved a great h inderthe business portion ol tte town at an the h allway w ere quiek^y1 sotted, and ince t o t he progress o f the firemen w ith The HonBatorjic r ailwtsj
tnclr hose carriage?.
-early h our this m orning.
the, t wenty-five cent) '"store next- f tl! • All the f amilies living in the v:c':nitj Saturday, r ound t rip -?^s
But few o f.even t he earliest risers werf
bury, incIuding.admiisioB
prey to theflames,j _
of t he t urned blocks, generously t hrew
stirring at h alf past four. Stragglers
The rear p ortions o f all the b uildings open t heir doors t o the u nfortunate atreduced rate?, from, all
now a nd t hen hurried down along t he
were burned nearly to the g round be victims o f the fire, and p rovided a s far tween Falls Village and Brstreet and dove into the door of t he
iton inclusive.
'ore m uch f lame appear'ed a t the f ront as t hey could every c omfort.
most c onvenient saloon, a nd these, with
Then with a r oar t he s moke a nd flame?
-It is reported about towi
the p olicemen, c onstituted t he p rinciburst f rom t he f ront windows a nd up An explosion, presumably of gas, tore the s torm of yesterday
pal portion of D anbury's active popuup a portion of the roof of the s toop in
toward t he eaves.
farmer in Redding was mil
lation.
A s ingle-stream of w ater was p laying front o f G allagher's store. T"-n y oung cow was s truck and knock
Numbers 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29 and 31,
men w ho were s tanding e n i t at the
on t his p ortion o f the b uilding a t the
the man had his l eft l eg pa
Elm street, and but a few s teps west ol
time, b ut it succeeded i n n early E ubdu time were s tyerely shaken u p.
were unable to learn the re
Main street. The first two are t he
ing it.
^tMrs. M ary Sherwood and her d augh"numbers ot the stores, in .the h andA~Btresm of w ater wasi t hrown inToTBF ter, Ida, who j umped from the upper If you arejfond ot b eaut
some brick block, recently b uilt p?
variety store, which was a mass of fife floor of f he b urning block, escaped very flower8,--stop and view
Henry Perry, and the r emainder
This was conquered but almost at the fortunately, the f ormer getting off with orchids displayed in the
are in the two a djoining blocks, o wned
by Dr. S. M. G riffin. These latter same m oment t he flames burst o ut f rom a sprained ankle, "and the latter with Wilson's jewelry store. '
the c entre o f the r oof.
numerous bruises.
and h andscme specimens ai
are of w ood, antl are t hree stories i n
But two ladders, those carried up b j
height, w ith a f rontage of e ighty feet.
Charles Brinshall, while the flames Saugatuck.
4•»
hand—were on the scene, and they w ere were raging passed in f ront of the buildAt the r ear of these b uildings are sheds,
The J lecture of Rev. Dr
not long e nough to reach the roof.
and a large b u n ; Also the tin s hop of
ing on the sidewalk, w hen a large piece " Shams," w hich was adv
The h ook and ladder men soon came of p late glass f ell, and cut bis f oot and
Henry Perry.
time ago to be delivered
up h
the
Robert McNamara and A lpnzo Mead ders owever,uand one of aves.longer lad- knee q uite seriously. Dr. G. A. Gilbert House for the benefit of
placed p to the e
A line of dressed the wounds.
were s tanding in the d oorway of Matchand the Children's Home, a
•ett's restaurant, which is situated in hose was run up and a fierce fight ensued. The flames were driven back Warden L. L. Hopkins desires to ex- poned to an i ndefinite date
•Griffin's block. MeNamsTa is chief
after a w h'le.
press his thanks to the members ot the en early in t ne season of ne
A
BLAIR
Scenes and -Perils.
Women Jumping from Third
Story Windows,
r
ni#nt cook in that institution. He l eft
Mead and went into the rear of the From the back the entire field of the flre d epartment lor the promptness
ould beseem—Atrorrt a
hrtwlllrwlstch they responded to the two penters' union, No. 121, wli
-store t*rstten<no"8oni<r~ beansTBSt he fire cportion of G riffin's newiialf of atnd
block
calls, u nder the very unfavorable cirwas cooking. He bad hardlv entered rear
,r
library.
the Protestant Episcopal c]
The loose piles of p aving blocks t hat held in Christ c hurch, Hai
reached a lmost the w idth of Elm street cing J une 12. The sern
tu several places p roved a great hinder- preached by Rev. Dr. L.todi
inee to the progress of the firemen with
The Housatonic
their hose carriage?.
Saturday, r ound t rip fiffe
All t he f amines l iving i n t he v icinity bury, including admi?sia&~f
of the t urned blocks, generously ihrew at reduced rate?, f rom all
open t heir d oors t o the u nfortunate twcen Falls Village and Bro
victims of the fire, and provided 33 far tion inclusive.
as t hey could every c omfort.
An explosion, presumably of gas, tore .It is reported about town,
up a p ortion of the roof of the s toop in the storm of y esterday i
front o f G allagher's store. T <-T y oung farmer in Redding was mill
men w ho were s tanding e n i t at the cow waa s truck and knocke
the man had his l eft leg par
time w ere s tyerely shaken u p.
were unable to learn the mi
Mrs. M ary Sherwood and her d augbter, I da, w ho j umped from t he u pper If yon are f ond of beauti
9oor of the b urning block, escaped very flowers, s top and v iew t
fortunately, t he f ormer g etting o ff w ith orchids displayed in the
3 sprained a nkle, *and the latter w ith Wilson's jewelry store. T
and h andseme specimens ani
numerous bruises.
Charles B riashall, w hile t he t lamee Saugatuck. •
4~>-«
were r aging passed in f ront of the build- Thejlecture of Rev. Dr.
ing on t he sidewalk, w hen a large piece " Shams," w hich was adve
of p late glass f ell, and cut h is f oot and time ago to be delivered i
knee quite seriously. Dr. G. A. Gilbert House for the b enefit of t
dressed the w ounds.
acd the C hildren's H ome, ai
Warden L. L. Hopkins desires to ex- poned to an indefinite date,
press his t hanks to the m embers of the en early in tne season of nea
fire department for the promptness
Tritb7wnich they responded to the two —Th
calls, under the very unfavorable cir- penters' union, No. 131, will
Tuesday evening, June 12th
cumstances which attended both.
delegate to the national oon^
The very first men on the scene at- be elected. A foil attendan
tempted to get to the room on the top sary. Per order of the pree
story .,of Griffin's block, in which the
-TbtrBwoBkeTFBF'tBffav
fire had already gained such headway Army corps, Captain 8. L
no fire oould be f ound, so no 'attention and the heat was so intense that in was former Methodist minister
*wBspaid-to4t-untjl at.ajg^hour the sfound impossible to get above the second Jamiesori and Cadet-Heunin
fla_mes suddenly burst up fronTtne^gorv
floor.
tain_Lamj)ton
ner of the roof w here they had been
Had the h ook and ladder rrnck been Hatch are to go to South
smouldering. A lthough three stream?
.Conn.
were q uickly d irected on the spot t hej so t hat it oould have been transported
seemed to be of l ittle avail, for tht immediately the progress of the fire C. M. Horch & Co.. on W
flames s prung no in every quarter. Tht could have been stayed at a much have one of the most ap
roof and u pper floors were badly b urned earlier 'stasr.e. I t was a considerable dressed w indows in t own'
time beforehorses could be procured.
before the fire oould be extinguished.
tion day. Besides the flag
The tide of excitement was n ext t urn- The condition of the family of James large and elegantly framed
ed toward Perry's brick block. But few Smith was really pitiful. They moved of the '-March to the Saa,"
of the great crowd of spectators wert from Sandy Hook on S aturday last, and ber of shot and shell f nm
aware t hat Perry's block had been bad their rooms nicely atied up. Nearly tie fields of the war of the r
damaged in the rear, a nd when t ht everything t hey possessed waa lost, snd
flames came f rom t he f ront w indows, they were turned out on the street al- • An exhibition of the Lewi
the excitement was intense, and everj most penniless.
extinguisher, m anufacture
available stream was b rought to bear on The wet weather of late and the Curtis* & Co., of Danbury, w
the third story windows.
heavy rains of last n ight did coneirfera- la the Wooster House squar
The firemen worked hard, and at ble towards the protection of property, day afternoon, at 5:40, by th
every point the flames were met by a and it not only impeded the progress of B. MahtL The .qualities of
steady torrent of water, and finally, the flames on the burning buildings guisber are well known and
after two hours and a half diligent but it also prevented adjacent buildings miss the exhibition.
fighting, t he chief engineer declared the
are u udur control, but most of the
The neatest and most com
streams were not withdrawn until eight The horse railway track was ob map book ever published
truet/ed for some time owing to it being known as '"The Cyclists' B
o'clock.
The front of the buildings present a necessary to ran lines of hose scroas from Connecticut." It contains m
comparatively good v iew to that of the the WoosterMHojBtJB-jQomer. The com- county of Connecticut, and
back, but l ittle of the work of the are pasy had cars above and below the ob- county, N. T., showing all p
being visible f rom the street. As said struction, and by changing the horses with reported cycling road
and classified. L uman H
before, the en t ire north walls and the no time or trips were lost.
corresponding p ortion of the roof, to- With all the misfortune there were the J. M. Ives company, sti
gether _wUh ^Ltbe_rooms__in_thatjsidfi two. things i n_fayor. o f_preventing n of these b ooks left.
greater disaster. At the time ol each
smoke waa pouring In volumes, a thril- of the buildings, are in ruins; the worst fire there was no^ wind blowing, not Fred Frisble, of Brookfie
ling sight met their gaze. From one oi being at t he portion nearest Maia street even a slight breeze, and the showers a lively time of it during th
the windows on the .top floor a y onnj
and jggoranoshad very thoroughly wet t hings down yesterday afternoop. He wa
lady'was banging, clinging to the winThe total logs by fire and water ia esti- Had not these two f avorable cireum in it w ith a team. He had l
•dowsill, and around'her waist were the
stances existed, it ia .almost impossible aye carves
3urms of another w oman, who was leaning mated at 131,000, on which there is a to- to devine what the result might have on the seat and hla little d
with, him. When
out of the window frantically entreat- tal i nmranca.of $12,350, as follows: v
bean.
hail very hard the horses be
ing the other not to let go.
BCTLDIXG.
ened and
He
c
.Around them the eirioke was pouring Henry 'Perry, loss on building -95,000, Through the generosity of 'General and they ran. like lost won
sped
the ind
up In Tolrime«, and through the open insurance $l,WO;_Jnlius R, Weber, tai- CharlesT,HiHyer^ of aurtfordiiJheT. bobbed u p and d own a nd
door of the hallway, toe bright" flames or, loss.>on stock, mostly by water M. C. A.,'of that place has c ome into little girl ecreamei, and fo
could be seen eating their way through il,300|in«nrfrnoe- $^200; W. B. Jones & possession of., a $30,000 s ite for a new
meats destruction stared M
the thin partition under the stairs.
., grocers, loss principally by water building. The new tite will contain a the face. The horses ran
All communication with the street, 3,300; insurance 1500. Second floor, Dr. building 150 feet square, It ia near tee were winded,; 'and t hen'
by means ol the stairs was cut o ff, and, George Bronson, dentist, Iota on office park..
.
'onnd shftlttw !r> a f »rm«r 'a
On Elm Street.
Since the great B eckerle Disaster nc
such c onflagration has visited D anburj
ai t hat w hich s tarted n ear the c enter ol
the business portion of tte town at an
-early h our t his m orning.
But few o f.even t he earliest risers w err
Btirriug a t h alf p ast f our. Stragglers
now a nd t hen h urried d own a long t ht
street and dove into the door of tht
most c onvenient saloon, a nd these, w ith
the policemen, constituted the principal p ortion of D anbury's a ctive population.
Numbers 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29 and 31.
Elm s treet, and but a few steps west 01
Main s treet. The first two are tht
'numbers of the stores, in ihe h and.
some brick block, recently built b j
Henry .Perry, a nd the r emainder
ore in the two a djoining blocks, owned
by Dr. S. M. G riffiD. These latter
are of w ood, arid are t hree stories i n
height, w ith a f rontage of eighty feet.
At the rear of these b uildings are sheds,
and a large b arn ; Also the tin s hop ol
Henry Pc-rry.
Robert McNamara and Alonzo Mead
were s tanding in the d oorway of M atchett's restaurant, which is situated in
Griffin's block. MeNamtfra is chief
night cook in t hat i nstitution. He left
Mead and went into the rear of the
^Store to~aEtend to s ome beans t hat he
was cooking. He had h ardly entered
the k itchen w hen a l oud noise attracted
bis attention, and Klancing out the door
ahuge streak of flame met his gaze. A
barn at the rear of the establishment
-was i n f lames.'
leapec
a^offtK& stoop a nd,-running™to4hejjarn
made a v ain attempt to unhitch one of
the two horses,;whioh were j umping
abogt in theiiistalls snorting w ith terTor.
The s moke was so d ense that he could
not act as quickly as necessary, and
being unab.le to unloose the firmly-tied
knots, he ran back into the restaurant,
and, grabbing a h uge carving knife, returned to the barn, where it was b at s
second's work to f ree the terrified animals.
Calling to a waiter to run down street
and give the alarm, McNa'cara rushed
up into Griffin's block and by his orits
-of "Hre," and by p ounding on t hedoorf,
succeeded in awakening all .of .$ht
-occupants.
By this time the flames had extended
^to the rear of the Griffin block and were
rapidly eating their way up along tht
•stoops. Windows were hastily thrown
up, and w hite covered heads popped
ou^ but for an instant only, for t hi
fierce heat drore them baok.
A general rasi was, made for the stairways, and from the f ront doors the
occupants rushed in their night clothes,
their arms filled with garments which
they adjusted as they ran.
Pertaps a dozen men now appeared
•on the scene, and as they ran up to
m
passer Iiy.
Tho tire q uickly s pread f rom t he b are
to the block of Dr. G riffin, and i nto tht
an s hop ol H enry Perry w hich was. adjoining. Toe M atchett restauratft anc
tne h allway were quiekjy sotted, and
the. t wenty-five cent) 'store next f ell
prey to the flames. J
The rear p ortions of all the b uilding?
were burned n early to_ the g round be
fore m ucb f lame appeared a t the f ront
Then w ith a r oar t he j moke a nd flame?
burst f rom t he f ront w indows a nd up
toward t he e aves.
A singla-etreaia of water was playicg
on t his p ortipn c f the b uilding a t the
time, but it succeeded in nearly s ubdu
ing it.
Tt
A stream of w ater was~fhTown i rifb fbTe
variety store, w hich w as a mass of fire
This w as c onquered b ut a lmost a t tht
same m oment t he flames b urst o ut f rom
the c entre o f the r oof.
But two ladders, those carried up b j
hand—were on the scene, and they wert
not long e nough to reach the roof.
The h ook a nd l adder m en soon came
up h owever, and one of the longer ladders placed up to the eaves. A l ine of
hose was run up and a fierce fight ensued. The flames were driven back
after a "ivh'le.
From the baok the entire field of the
fire could be seen.—Atrouffflrstnyn
rear portion of Griffin's new block and
all of the rear of Perry's waa in r uins,
and s till the fire was eating its way in
every direction.
In Dr. Griffin's adjoining block the
smoke was so dense-that it waa w ith
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