E-text prepared by Bryan Ness
and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
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The Great Chelsea Fire
On Sunday April 12, 1908, at about 11 o’clock A. M., an alarm was rung infor a fire in the works of the Boston Blacking Co. on West 3rd St., nearthe Everett line. The fire department responded immediately and succeededin putting out the fire with but very little damage, but the forty-milegale that was blowing at the time carried sparks from the fire to nearbyhouses, and soon all the frame buildings in that vicinity were ablaze. Thefire then traveled with great rapidity in an easterly direction, anddespite the best efforts of the department, was soon beyond control. Aidwas called in from nearby cities, but even the largely increased force wasunable to cope with the fire, and could only endeavor to keep itwithin certain limits. So intense was the heat that buildings made ofsolid granite crumbled, and were entirely destroyed. The fire could not bechecked in its easterly course, and in a short time had traveled acrossthe city and was stopped only by the Mystic River at the East Boston line.Almost the entire business section on Broadway was destroyed, the northernboundary of the fire on Broadway being the Boston & Maine R. R. tracks,and the southern boundary Chelsea Square. Between these two points onBroadway almost all the retail business of the city was done. Among the moreprominent public buildings that were destroyed are the City Hall, Y. M. C.A. Building, Odd Fellows Building, Chelsea Savings Bank and County TrustCo. buildings. The number of buildings destroyed is estimated at about1500, while between 10,000 and 12,000 people were rendered homeless.
No sooner had the awful havoc that the fire had wrought become known, thanrelief funds were started all over the country, and many of the cities andtowns in Massachusetts gave substantial amounts for the relief of thestricken city.
Within two weeks after the fire, Lee Higginson & Co., who were financialagents for the official relief committee had received almost $300,000, andmany thousands of dollars more were given directly by employers of theburnt-out families, and by fraternal organizations such as Knights ofColumbus, Knights of Pythias, Odd Fellows, Elks, Eagles and many others,almost all of which established relief headquarters at once. The centralrelief committee immediately opened relief stations at the new High Schoolbuilding and at Lincoln Hall, and thousands were fed at these two placesdaily.
By Tuesday, great quantities of clothing had been received fordistribution, and a receiving station was established at Keany Sq. Boston,where contributions of clothing and household goods were received.
On Wednesday a large number of people were furnished with cooking utensilsand mattresses, and by the end of the week thousands of sets ofbed-clothing had been distributed.
In response to a call from the relief committee, hundreds of automobilesoffered their services in delivering goods to the homeless, and the workof relief was greatly aided by this means.
