Spectacular fire destroys Town Hall, July 26, 1926

More and more interesting tales from the past emerge as we continue to mine the pages of The Enterprise … so now we have a partial copy of The Enterprise datelined July 28, 1926 with information about the people who were burned in the fire.

A man badly burned had arrived two days before with a circus, was arrested, and when taken to the hospital had not been identified. For many years I had understood that there was only one man, who was black, that was hurt in the fire but the following news story tells much more…we start with the headlines and sub-heads …

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Town hall burns with probable

Loss of life; prisoners are trapped by flames in the lockup

Disastrous fire wipes out Harrietstown building, police headquarters and newspaper plant;

Joseph Shaw dying from burns;

Two others seriously injured;loss of $75,000

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Here are excerpts: “Joseph Shaw, one of three men dragged in an unconscious condition from the cell room of the lockup, was seriously burned about the head, face, arms and chest, and it is believed that he also inhaled flames…(can you imagine anything as horrible as being burned in a locked cell?)

“The other man at the hospital arrived with the Gentry Bros. circus on Monday (this story was published on a Wednesday) and has not been identified.

“George Hazard, colored, was the third occupant of the jail, and was severely burned about the back.

“Valuable records of the town of Harrietstown were entirely destroyed, as was the only complete file in existence of The Enterprise, covering a period of 32 years.

“The neighboring buildings, Walton & Tousley on one side and the Empire Hotel on the other side caught on fire several times but firemen managed to stop the fire from spreading. Lake Placid sent a pumper truck to join the Saranac Lake firemen in battling the flames.

“The fire broke out shortly after 1 o’clock Tuesday morning at the rear of the cell room. Cries of the prisoners attracted the attention of members of the Saranac Lake Club, who saw the blazing cell room from a window across the alley separating the town hall and the Empire building where the club is located.

“Phil Perry, steward of the club, saw the blaze, and the card game in progress was immediately abandoned as the members including Nicholas Pendergast, former president of the club, Thomas E. Daly, William F. Mulfur, John Crowley, George Toupin and others rushed out to rescue the trapped prisoners and to turn in the alarm.

“But for the moment the rescue was balked by the iron bars on the jail door. (There apparently was no policeman on duty). The timely arrival of James Egan, night man at the Riverside Inn, who is a close follower of police affairs and knew where the jail key was kept, enabled the rescuers to get into the jail, which by this time was ablaze and full of smoke.

“Patrolman P. S. Baird arrived on the scene from his home and joined the others in removing the unconscious men. Patrolman J. A. McCarthy was also on hand soon after the alarm.

“Hazard soon recovered but the others remained unconscious and were being attended at the hospital by Dr. Charles C. Trembley.”

That town hall was built in 1886. The newspaper reported that work was already well under way of removing the all that remained which was “charred embers and twisted iron.”

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99 years ago in Saranac Lake

There was trouble right here in River City back in 1907 as The Enterprise carried this front page story:

“Building operations in Saranac lake and vicinity were interrupted Wednesday when the carpenters, painters, masons and plasterers went out on strike. The demands of the men are set out in the following statement:

“Upon April 7, 1907, Local Union No. 600 of Saranac Lake of Carpenters and Joiners of America, served written notice on the contractors asking better working conditions; namely, a 9 hour work day with no reduction in wages, time and a half for overtime and double time for Sundays and holidays.

“On Tuesday evening, April 30, without one opposing vote the Local Union No. 600, decided to go out in support of the demands made. The committee: J. J. O’Connell, F. J. Brows and T. W. Haselton. (I think these men all ended up as contractors but apparently were the nucleus of the early union movement here).

“The contracts in force in Saranac Lake and vicinity were said to be set upon a scale of wages which is said to average $2.75 cents a day and a schedule of ten hours per day. The master builders say that a working day of 9 hours at the same scale as a ten hour day would mean an increase in operation amounting to about 10 per cent.

“The master builders also say that wages have been advanced here within the last year. Nearly 200 men will be left idle by the strike.”