Vermont Phœnix

The Fire at Burlington.—The Burlington Free Press gives a detailed account of the destruction of the Pioneer Mechanic shop. The building was of brick, 400 feet long, 60 wide and four stories high, and cost $60,000. It was filled from the ground to the roof with timber in various stages of manufacture. The brick partition walls which divided the different portions, proved no obstacle whatever to the speed of the flames—they poured from the windows, leaped around the partitions on the outside, ran by the roof, and in an incredibly short space of time took complete possession of the entire structure.

The building was occupied by twelve different manufacturing establishments, and the total loss was $120,000, with only $17,000 insurance, the risk being generally declined by insurance companies. About 150 to 200 men were employed in the building.

The fire originated in a room where there had been no fire for a day or two, and Mr. Martin, the book-keeper, passed through it only ten minutes before the fire broke out. It is thought that a spark from a locomotive, which passed up the Vt. Central track to the south of the shop, about half past seven, was carried by the wind through a broken pane of glass to the piles of shavings and paper which were used in the packing-room.

The principal losers are H. P. Hickok, building and machinery, $60,000; C. Kilburn & Co., chair manufactory, $40,000; Kendall, Wright & Co., doors and sashes, $5,000 ; E. W. Chase, doors and sashes, $4,000 : Wing & Smith, last makers, $4,000; L. Barnes, lumber dealer, $800; Messrs. Gates, furniture, $1,000; Hamilton & Sears, foundry, $3,000. Kilburn & Co. were insured for $16,000, but none of the others were insured.