HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 2016-06-01, Page 1616 News Record • Wednesday, June 1, 2016 Photo contributed by their granddaughter, Bernice Gross Fred and Laura Toll from Auburn dressed up for the Clinton Spring Fair in 1916. Clinton's 'most disastrous fire', May 13, 1907 bout 2:00 p.m. on Monday, May 3, 1907, a spark from the Clin- ton Thresher Company's chimney was carried from the factory's roof by a 'strong gale' blowing from the southwest. That spark ignited what the headline in the Clinton News -Record called 'The most disastrous fire' in the town's history. The Clinton Thresher Company was located on the block between Isaac Street and King Street. In just 18 months, Mr. D. A. Forrester had built the foundry into a thriving enterprise with 75 employees. By the time the flames were spotted by foundry employees, the massive building was already 'doomed' according to the News -Record. Before the Clinton Fire Brigade deployed hoses onto the facto- ry's roof at 2:30 p.m., high winds spread the fire in a northeasterly direction to the Thresher Company's office building across the street. Flames leapt across the London Road and engulfed the Rattenbury Hotel. Built in 1872, the Rattenbury Hotel was a frame structure with a mansard roof. The fire started on the hotel's third floor and quickly spread to surrounding buildings. Jim Flynn's Blacksmith shop located at the hotel's rear was only spared destruc- tion because he and his workers refused to abandon the shop. Water filled buck- ets uckets were passed to Flynn who stood on the roof extinguishing the cinders falling from the hotel. Ironically, Alex Robinson, the Ratten- bury's proprietor, was then in the process of negotiating the hotel's sale to Mr. J. M. OFFICE HOURS The Office Hours for The Clinton News Record are as follows Mondays - 9am - 5pm Tuesdays - CLOSED Wednesdays - 9am - 5pm Thursdays - 9am - 5pm Frida s - 9am - 5pm News Record' 53 Albert St., Clinton, ON PH: 519-482-3443 • www.clintonnewsrecor POSTM EDIA 411, Huron History Dave Yates Laird of Watford 'when the fire alarm sounded and the deal was off' according to the News -Record. With over twenty buildings ablaze and burning shingles falling as far as three streets away, this was no ordinary fire. The Blyth telephone exchange in Frank Metcalfe's Drug Store received an urgent call from Clinton for help. When Met- calfe rang the fire alarm, someone asked him 'What right had you to do that?' Metcalfe answered 'Clinton is burning and needs our assistance. We'll settle the question of right afterwards.' The Blyth Fire Engine was loaded aboard a railcar and arrived in Clinton shortly after 3:00 p.m. The News -Record said that the Blyth brigade 'responded nobly' and 'worked like Trojans' in bat- tling the fire. The Stratford brigade sent their fire engine on a flatbed car by special train where it arrived in Clinton at about 4:00 p.m. The Goderich fire engine had been in disrepair 'for some years' and so could not respond to Clinton's distress call explained the Goderich Star. Postmaster James Scott saved the newly built Clinton post office by hang- ing wet blankets over its windows and doors. The Goderich Star reported that flames from the Thresher Company lapped against the rear of the Wesleyan Methodist Church (where Heartland Community Church is now located). Although small fires broke out along the walls, the church was spared destruction by the efforts of churchmen. The church's deliverance may also have been due, in part, to its slate roof. For a while, it was feared that patients in the new Clinton hospital on Cutter and Vic- toria Streets would have to be evacuated. Although Seaforth did not respond with fire equipment, not a horse could be hired in town. Spectators had rented them all so they could to rush to Clinton to watch the excitement. The paper reported that crowds from Wingham, Auburn, Londesborough, Goderich and surrounding townships flocked to Clin- ton to watch the excitement. The St. Paul's churchyard was 'covered' with spectators and refugees. Several res- idents in the fire's path tried to save fur- niture and whatever personal belongings they could by hastily piling them on the churchyard. Others gathered there sim- ply to gawk at the spectacle. Mrs. A. O. Pattison was so enthralled by the scene that another woman had to call her attention to her hat which was on fire. The flames were close enough to the church that its spire caught fire several times. One callous bystander told the 'News -Record' that 'if St. Paul's goes it will be a sight to see the flames climb that steeple.' The paper noted that'khodaks were in evidence' everywhere and speculated that 'souvenir postcards of the fire' would soon be for sale. Less fortunate were the homes, offices and liveries in the fire's path which the winds spread threatening the entire northeast section of town. Valiant efforts were made by ordinary townsfolk to dowse cinders and sparks falling on homes and buildings throughout Clinton. When the Rattenbury livery on the north side of the Huron Road was ablaze, William Fulker, an elderly man fighting the fire, was told to leave. Fulker replied that 'this old man will stay with the boys' even after his clothes smoldered. The 'News -Record' credited 'water in dipper- fuls promptly applied in the proper place' by citizens 'saved many buildings.' Old time Clinton resident, Jabez Rands, recounted the 1907 fire in the 'History of Clinton' (1975). Rands recalled that Fair's Pond between Park Lane and Mill Street was pumped dry by the Stratford brigade's hoses which stretched all the way to the Huron Road. The infemo reached a few homes on Princess Street before the winds died down so that the fire could be brought under control. The Blyth fire brigade left for home at 6:20 p.m. The Stratford fire brigade departed at midnight, while the Clinton fire fighters battled the remains of the fire into early morning. The 'News -Record' expressed the town's gratitude to the fire- fighters by praising their tireless efforts in preventing an even greater disaster. At an estimated $70,000 in damages, the 1907 foundry was the most expensive fire in Clinton's history until that date. With the major exception of the Clinton Thresher Company, most of the 24 build- ings lost or badly damaged in the fire were re -built. One of the fire's lasting consequences was that Clinton voters overwhelmingly approved the creation of a municipal waterworks system that could be used to control future fires. Yet, without the heroic of efforts of the fire brigades and townsfolk, few doubted that the entire town of Clinton could have been lost to the 'fire fiend'