$40,000 FIRE -- LAWRENCEVILLE'S ENTIRE BUSINESS SECTION WAS IN DANGER OF DESTRUCTION.

Lawrenceville, Feb. 15. -- For the third time in 15 years and for the second time this week Lawrenceville had its business section fire swept last night, the flames continuing into the early hours of the morning and doing a total damage estimated at over $36,000. The first two fires were of incendiary origin and last night's fire may have been also.
The flames totally destroyed the two story brick block on Main street owned by the RUSLING estate and occupied on the first floor by the department store of CROWL & CARPENTER and on the second floor by the Odd Fellows' lodge rooms.
A motor fire engine sent from Corning shortly after 9 o'clock became stalled in snow drifts near Presho and was delayed for nearly an hour so that it did not reach here until 11 o'clock. It was then too late to be of service except in preventing the spread of the flames. The pumper was put in operation, however, and drawing water from a nearby fire cistern poured water on the smouldering ruins for a short period.
The fire started in the basement of the CROWL & CARPENTER department store, breaking out shortly after the store had closed for the night. It may have been caused by a gas light left burning in the building, although there are many who believe that the fire was of incendiary origin.
The borough had recently purchased a chemical fire engine. This was not in commission for service Tuesday night when fire destroyed the CROWL & CARPENTER warehouse located in the rear of the building destroyed last night, but it had been gotten into service so that an attempt was made to use it last night. The smoke was so dense on the interior of the building, however that the volunteer firemen could not get near enough to the flames to make the chemical effective. The only remaining means of fighting the fire was an old hand fire engine which has done service in Lawrenceville for many years. This engine was the first fire engine owned by the city of Elmira. It was purchased from the Elmira department by Lawrenceville many years ago.
The flames got beyond control with the means at hand, and word was sent to Corning for help. The flames burned with a heat so intense that the fronts of the stores on the opposite Main street and further up the street were scorched by the heat. The heat parted the wires of the Bell Telephone Company, both the local and through service wires, so that telephonic communication was soon destroyed. The wires were repaired this morning and service restored.
The walls of the building fell in at 11 o'clock, the building being a total wreck.
This is the third time in 15 years that the corner on which this store was located has been swept by fire. In 1902 the store of WING & BOSTWICK, now big department store owners in Corning, was destroyed by an incendiary fire. The WING & BOSTWICK store building was of much larger proportions that the building which replaced it, being of four stories. The WING & BOSTWICK store was replaced by a new block occupied by W. D. McNAUGHTON, a department store. This burned in 1906. The present building was then erected by the RUSLING estate and JOHN and FRED BOSTWICK ran a department store there. They sold out to CROWL & CARPENTER. This store was the largest in the town.
It is estimated that $125,000 worth of property has been destroyed by fire on this corner in the last 15 years.
The fire of Tuesday night started in the feed room of the warehouse of CROWL & CARPENTER. The main building was saved only by the hardest kind of work that night, no wind prevailing to fan the flames.
CROWL & CARPENTER'S loss of $15,000 is partially covered by insurance. B. L. FLETCHER'S loss is $5,000, with insurance. The Odd Fellows loss is $1,500, with insurance of $1,000. The loss of the RUSLING estate through the destruction of the building is $20,000. This loss was also insured.
Mystery seems to surround the origin of the fire which destroyed the RUSLING block Wednesday night, and it is expected that the state fire marshal will make a thorough investigation of the matter when he arrives, says a Lawrenceville correspondent.
The people of the town are rather suspicious of the origin of both Tuesday and Wednesday nights' fires.
Wednesday evening's blaze was discovered at about the same time that the previous night's conflagration started. Members of the Odd Fellows lodge were meeting in the hall on the second floor of the building when smoke began to fill the room. Hurrying to the basement, they found flames about an immense oil tank. For fully two hours they kept the blaze under control, then the cistern, which was their main source of water supply gave out. W. W. HUTCHESON, Lawrenceville's veteran fire fighter, was overcome by the smoke in Wednesday night's fire and has not completely recovered yet. He is under the care of the family physician.

The Wellsboro Agitator Pennsylvania 1917-02-21
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!