Victor Insulator works burned

VICTOR INSULATOR WORKS

ONLY A HEAP OF ASHES

Fire From Some Mysterious Cause

Spread Swift Destruction Yesterday.

LOSS FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS

While the Insurance is Only About Two-Fifths

of That Amount - Promise That the Works

Will be Rebuilt as Soon as Possible --

Ontario County.

The most disastrous and costly fire that has ever visited Victor occurred in that village yesterday afternoon. At a few moments after 1 o'clock, just as the church-goers were on their way, to their homes, the church hells clanged out the alarm of fire and at once the streets were filled with an anxious crowd, as past experiences have made the residents of that place nervous when a fire breaks out.

It was quickly ascertained that the fire was in the direction of the New York Central depot, and soon thick smoke was seen issuing from the roof of the Locke insulator works which were located a short distance west of the station. A crowd of willing workers was soon on the the [sic] the spot, but it was seen at once that nothing could be done to save any of the buildings, and all energies were concentrated on rescuing a large number of barrels of costly insulators that were packed ready for shipment in the storehouse of the works. A large number of these were rolled out of the way before the fire grew too hot for the men to stand.

The buildings, which covered about one half an acre of land, were in part of brick and part frame buildings, and were nearly all closely connected making practically one immense building. The fire broke out apparently about in the center of the plant and spread each way with great rapidity. There were three men in the building, and it was their opinion that the fire started in some way from one of the large kilns which bad been opened but a short time before the fire was discovered. Its origin is a little mysterious, as Mr. Locke had left the place but a short time previous, leaving strict orders with the watchman to guard carefully that part of the works, as he knew there would be danger if the building near the kiln was not carefully watched when its doors were opened.

The first intimation of the fire was when one of the men, John Reeves, opened a door and was met with a cloud of smoke in his face. He at once gave the alarm, telephoning to the home of Mr. Locke that the plant was on fire. In just an hour the roof of the last building had fallen in, and of the whole plant nothing was saved but a small building a short distance away that had just been erected for an office.

The buildings contained three large kilns in which the insulators were baked and which cost to build about $3,000. There were also two engines and boilers, a large dynamo for lighting, and also used in connection with an apparatus for giving each insulator an exhaustive test before shipment. An immense amount specially constructed and costly machinery necessary in the formation of the insulators filled a large space. It is thought by some that the boilers and kilns will be of use again, but that cannot be determined until the ruins cool off and a careful examination is made of them.

During the hottest of the fire the whistle of the factory commenced to blow and for some moments wailed out its own requiem. The lumber sheds of Hill & Wilbur, which were near by were at one time in imminent danger of going up in smoke, but a volunteer fire brigade with snow and water succeeded after hard labor in saving them although the roof was on fire many times. The roof of nearby residences were covered by the flying cinders but careful watch prevented any from igniting.

Early in the fire a telegram was sent to Canandaigua asking for help front its fire companies, but none was received. Victor village is entirely without fire protection, the only apparatus it possesses being a few small hand pumps, buckets and ladders, but as there is no water supply except such as can be obtained from wells and cisterns the apparatus is practically worthless.

Mr. Locke estimates his loss at about $50,000, with an insurance of about $20,000. The business was one of which the town was very proud. Mr. Locke began about four years ago on a very limited scale in the manufacture of insulators of his own designing, which aided very largely in the bringing about the idea of long distance power transmission by electricity. A large trade was quickly built up, the fame of the Victor insulator going to all parts of the world where electricity is used as a motive power. His shipments were largely to the Pacific coast where he is equipping the longest lower transmission line in the world, and also to many of the foreign countries.

Beginning with the employment of a half dozen men he had so increased his business that last week there were about eighty men on his pay roll. As nearly all were residents of the town the stoppage of operations caused by the fire will create considerable loss in the way of trade. Mr. Locke had just received a large order that in order to fill would have worked all hands the balance of the winter.

It is said that Mr. Locke has made the statement that the work of re-building will begin at once, and that the new plant will be constructed in a strictly fireproof manner of steel so far as possible.

Fortunately no one was injured during the fire, although two or the men in the building, John Ryan and George Hall, had a narrow escape from suffocation as the dense smoke almost instantly filled the large room in which they were. Ernest Hopkins, a young man who was fighting the fire on the roof of the lumber shed, also received a severe shaking up owing to his falling from the roof to the frozen ground. At one time it was feared that the boilers which were fired up might generate steam enough to explode, but fortunately such was not the case.

The village has experienced heavy loss by several fires in the past few years, and this last and most costly will probably arouse the residents to the necessity of an adequate system of fire protection of some kind for its future safety.

It was later ascertained that the Canandaigua fire department had an engine loaded on a flat car ready to start for the scene of the fire when notified that there was no danger of the fire spreading farther and that their services so quickly offered were not needed.