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| Main Street, Scott, N. Y. |
Cortland Evening Standard, Thursday, October 1, 1903.
BIG FIRE IN SCOTT.
The Hotel Burned With Nearly all of its Contents.
OTHER BUILDINGS WERE ON FIRE
But Were Saved by Hard Work—No Means of Fighting the Fire Except by Buckets—Cortland Steamer Gets Nearly There—Fire Started in Chimney—Loss About $12,000, Insurance $7,000—Will be Rebuilt.
At 3:15 o'clock yesterday afternoon fire broke out in the big three story hotel in Scott village owned by William J. Roche and within an hour the entire hotel with nearly all of its contents was burned to the ground, comparatively little being saved. The Alvord store across the street was on fire several times and was only saved by the most strenuous work on the part of the residents of the vicinity who formed themselves into a bucket brigade. The same is true of the big hotel barn. The house of Austin Brown next west of the hotel was badly blistered. Had there been the slightest wind in any direction the destruction of property would have been much greater but, as it was, there was scarcely a breath of breeze of any kind, and the flames shot straight up.
Structure of the Hotel.
The Scott hotel, as it was called, a frame building of wood, stood on the north-west corner of the cross roads, at the center of Scott village, facing the east. The main part was a three-story structure 40 by 60 feet in size with a double deck piazza on the east side. A long wing 28 by 70 feet in size and two and one-half stories high extended to the north. The hotel contained thirty-eight rooms. On the first floor of the main part was the parlor, sitting room, reading room and bar room. Above were sleeping rooms. Upon the first floor of the wing [were] the diningroom [sic], kitchen and personal living rooms of the proprietor and his wife. Above was the big ball room, where so frequently dances have been held, for Mr. Roche's parties were well known far and side and these have helped to give the hotel much more than a local reputation. The hotel stood upon ground that sloped rapidly down the hill to the west in its rear, so that under the entire west side of the hotel was a big basement and cellar. At the front, this basement contained one large room used for the town hall and for public meetings. In its rear [were] the liquor room and a long cellar. The hotel was well furnished throughout. It was piped for water and a spring high on the big hill to the east furnished an abundant supply of pure water which was carried to almost every room and which supplied bath rooms and flush closets, a feature not usually found in the country hotel.
Surroundings.
About sixty feet to the north of the hotel stood the big barn and stable, its long side and shingled roof turned toward the hotel. North of the barn were the two stores of C. C. Clark and Hamilton Whiting. Across the street from the hotel to the east, and on the north-east corner of the crossroads was the big three story store of B. Alvord, the building itself being owned by J. M. Cottrell. Next north of this was the meat market of J. Friar, the upper portion and wing being used as the dwelling for Mr. Friar's family. Next north of this was the residence of Ernest Clark and next the residence of Frank Booth. Adjoining the hotel on the west and next down the hill toward Glen Haven was the residence of Austin Brown. All of these buildings were in the most imminent danger and for a time it was believed that all would go. Across the street to the south of the hotel is the Ernest W. Childs' homestead, but this street is pretty wide and it was not thought that the fire would spread in that direction.
Fire Discovered.
It was just 3:15 o'clock when Austin Brown, who lives in the house west of the hotel came out of his barn and around the corner of his house. Glancing toward the hotel be discovered smoke rising through every joint in the roof of the main part of the building and flames just beginning to show through the shingles next the chimney. He called to his wife "The hotel is on fire," and ran up the hill shouting "Fire."
At just about the same moment Mrs. Friar, from the other side, saw practically the same thing and she rushed across the street and into Mrs. Roche's kitchen exclaiming, "You are all on fire."
There was no one in the hotel at the time except Mr. and Mrs. Roche. They had had an uncommonly large number of people in the house at dinner and Mr. Roche was helping his wife do up the work resulting therefrom. At the alarming cry he ran through the house toward the front and opened a door leading to the upper floors. It looked to him as though a veritable fiery furnace was raging there. It was utterly impossible to get above the first floor in this part of the hotel, and not a thing was saved there.
Origin of the Fire.
The fire is supposed to have started from a defective chimney. A wood fire in an oak stove had been kindled by Mr. Roche in the morning in the reading room. This had been kept going all day, and right after dinner Mr. Roche put in a big maple chunk and closed up the stove, thinking that the fire would keep all the afternoon. It is believed that the fire had been going for sometime in the attic in a smoldering way before it finally got to the air and broke out.
The Alarm Given.
The cry of fire was quickly taken up. The church bells were rung, and in an incredibly short time, men, women and children from all over the village, and surrounding country began to assemble and begin to carry out property. Mr. Roche and three men succeeded in getting out of his bar room the large and handsome sideboard. The furniture from the lower rooms was all removed, including the personal effects of Mr. and Mrs. Roche. Crockery was packed into potato crates and carried out. In the attic of the main part where the fire started were fifteen beds which were used in doubling up in the rooms below when the hotel was crowded; also 160 chairs, a surplus from the ball room, beside many other pieces of furniture. All the furniture in the sleeping rooms was lost. Barrels and kegs from the cellar were pitched out of the windows and rolled in an indiscriminate mass upon the lawn of Austin Brown adjoining.
Fighting the Fire.
There were no facilities in Scott for fighting fire except with pails, but a bucket brigade was formed and it did valiant and effective work. There was no use whatever in attempting to extinguish the flames in the hotel for they had too much of a start, but every effort was directed to the saving of nearby buildings, and the people worked desperately, for it looked to them as though the whole north end of the village would go. There was little breeze of any kind, but what there was carried sparks and embers to the north and east. While the women helped carry out property from the hotel, the men carried water.
There was an abundance of water at hand. Between the hotel and the barn stands a big circular watering trough like the one at the Main and Clinton-ave, corner in Cortland. A powerful stream of water poured into this trough and furnished plenty of water till the fire became so hot that it was impossible to go to it. Then water was taken from wells and springs in the neighborhood.
Several times the roof of the barn was on fire, but a force of men was on the roof all the time and as soon as a spark ignited a pail full of water extinguished it.
The building most in danger was the Alvord store across the street, in which the postoffice [sic] is located. The blinds were closed at all windows upon the second and third floors to protect the glass and keep sparks out, but there were no blinds or shutters for the first floor and so hot were the flames that the big glass windows were cracked and broken. The paint was scorched and blistered, and time and again in several places the cornice and the clapboards near the top were on fire. F. M. Hazard lay flat down on his face on the ridge pole of this building while men brought water in buckets to him from behind. Leaning over the gable he dashed the water at the places where the fire started and kept a pretty constant stream flowing down over the front of the building till the period of greatest heat was past, and the building was saved.
Water was also thrown upon the roof and front of the market and house of Mr. Friar.
Down at the house of Austin Brown carpets were hung over the edge of the roof to protect the most exposed portions of the siding and these were kept soaked with water. Men on the roof watched out for sparks and promptly extinguished them. But in spite of it all the paint on the clapboards where the carpets did not protect was scorched and colored.
Help from Cortland.
When the fire first broke out it looked as though no means at hand would be sufficient to protect the adjoining property, and a telephone call was sent to Cortland asking for help in the form of the steamer and hose. Homer would be nearer, but the Homer steamer is out of repair and useless. Chief E. N. Sherwood was summoned to Fireman's hall, but before he could get there D. F. Waters, the driver of the hook and ladder team, had arranged a plan of action. It seemed useless to take hose from Cortland, and Homer was asked to send that. Seven hundred feet of hose from Homer companies No. 1 and No. 2 were placed on a light truck belonging to Briggs Brothers, and accompanied by a few firemen, were hurried off to Scott.
Relays of Teams.
Mr. Waters started to hitch the big city team upon the steamer but found that the tongue of the steamer was not as long as that on the hook and ladder truck and not long enough for the big black team and had to abandon that. The big truck team of Leroy Call was pressed into service and started for Homer with the steamer and with Engineer A. M. McNett, and Alvah Harmon. Chief Sherwood and A. B. Filzinger followed quickly in a buggy. The request for help came at 3:20 and at 3:40 the steamer started. It is a good eleven miles to Scott and all up grade and altogether too far for a single team to take the steamer at the speed at which it was pushed through, even though the roads were good, so relays of teams were arranged for. Nearly every other farmer on the Scott road has a telephone so it was easy to make arrangements.
At Homer the big bay truck team of Schenck Brothers was waiting for the steamer to come up and it took but two or three minutes to change horses and move on again. Three miles further up the road is Frank Rice's farm and as the steamer arrived there it found Mr. Rice's splendid pair of draught horses all ready, and on it went again at a tremendous pace. Three miles further at Walter Jones' farm four horses were waiting to take the steamer on up the last hills to Scott, but a telephone message was received that the fire had probably done its worst and that the other buildings had been saved and it was not necessary to go further. So a halt was made for a little time to wait developments, and as word continued to be favorable the faces were turned back homeward, but the pace was slower than when on the way up. A thorough examination of the steamer was made this morning and it appears that it is in no respect injured by its rapid trip. Only one nut could be found that had even started. It is, however, to be given an immediate test to see that it is in perfect working order.
The Standard Gets the News.
The Standard got the news of the fire at 3:20 and ten minutes later two representatives were on their way to Scott. The Standard team was the first out of Cortland and the first to arrive at Scott from this city. Afterward a number of automobiles and several carriages arrived from Cortland. At the time The Standard men got there the hotel was pretty well down, and the helpers were beginning to take the rescued goods to places of safety.
Loss and Insurance.
Mr. Roche was asked about his loss and insurance. He said that the building could not be replaced for $8,000 and his inventory a few months ago showed that the goods and personal property amounted to about $4,000. He, therefore, places the loss at not less than $12,000. He had $5,000 insurance on the building and $2,000 on the contents, all placed with W. H. Foster of Homer. He says he shall rebuild at once. When be made this statement in reply to a Standard man's question his words were greeted with cheers by the crowd of bystanders who heard. They said they had feared that he would not put up another building.
Mr. Roche said further that he should have a hotel open last night. He owns the building, once used as a hotel, on the corner diagonally opposite from the burned building, and he said that he should open a hotel there without any delay whatever.
Former Hotel Was Burned.
It is worthy of note that the hotel which preceded this one was burned on the same site twenty-five years ago last May. The fire then started in the barn from pipes from some young men who were smoking there. The flames spread to the hotel and both barn and hotel were wholly destroyed. The owner at that time was Charles Dunbar and it was 6 years before he rebuilt. The hotel burned yesterday was put up nineteen years ago this summer for Mr. Dunbar by Francis M. Hazard, Sherman Brown and John Cleveland. Mr. Hazard recalled the fact yesterday that they completed their work on election day nineteen years ago and that after voting, he went to New York that night, partly on business and partly to hear the returns from the presidential election concerning which there was so much excitement. It was the year of Cleveland's first election.
Sympathy for Mr. Roche.
Mr. Roche has been the owner of this hotel since ten years ago last July. He has been a very popular and successful proprietor and Mrs. Roche has been just as capable and successful in the charge of her part of the business as her husband in his. The hotel has been a favorite gathering place for people from all over that section of the country and, as stated before, their periodical parties have always been popular and well patronized. On all sides yesterday was heard expressions of sympathy for Mr. and Mrs. Roche in their loss, but words of gratification at the prospects that a new hotel is to go up from the ashes of the old one.
At the same time, while all were commiserating the loss that had fallen upon the place they were thankful that it was no greater, for at one time it seemed as though the whole north half of the village was to be destroyed.
Fire has fallen heavily upon Scott in recent months, for the large and handsome dwelling owned by Mrs. John Landphier and occupied by the family of D. J. Cottrell was burned in Jan. 24 of this year and has not been rebuilt.
During the progress of the fire yesterday the workers were much refreshed by the hot coffee and lemonade prepared and served by the ladies of the village.
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