After the Great Chelsea Fire: April 12, 1908
It is five o'clock April 12, 1908. We enter a city beleagured and replete with human suffering. The fire that began at ten o'clock in the morning is still raging. Thirty fire departments and three hundred men have joined forces with Chelsea firefighters to put this blaze in check.
The strength of the fire was so intense that residents of Portland, Maine (a city 120 miles away) could see its glow. John M. Reynolds in his article, Chelsea On Fire, published in the April 1968 edition of Yankee magazine, notes: "The full effect of Chelsea's agony became apparent when darkness disclosed a mile long sheet of flame stretching along the North Shore. As far away as Portland, Maine the glow was so bright that many were led to believe York Beach (Maine) was the site of the fire."
Amid the confusion, three hundred Chelsea citizens were injured. The local court, spared from the blaze, served as a hospital with doctors and nurses in attendance. Firefighters pressed bandages to their eyes and found themselves still gasping from the contact with the smoke. Women, with no place to go and uncertain of the fate of their friends and family, cried in the empty courtrooms. We can only imagine the horror of losing all that you have and wondering whether or not your children were alive and well. We can only imagine the feelings of utter destitution that engulfed these Chelsea citizens. Walter Pratt tells us: "In the court room were, homeless women huddled in gray despairing heaps on the hard benches. At the back of the room, rows of rubbercoated men leaned back on their hard benches, their inflamed eyes completely hidden by sqaures of soft absorbent cotton soaked with ointments, which showed up with startling effect against their blackened faces.
By eight o'clock, the fire had begun to subside. It had taken 40 million gallons of water to put the blaze in check. This was a tremendous amount of water when you consider, that on an average day, Chelsea only used 3 million gallons.
Thousands of refugees aimlessly wandered the streets. The high school on Crescent Avenue opened its door to some, but it was forced to refuse others. There just wasn't enough room. Some refugees sought shelter in adjoining towns and cities. The less fortunate and a good percentage of the homeless were forced to erect tents provided by the state. Still others laid their weary bones on park benches covered by overcoats or blankets.
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By 10:30 p.m., martial law was proclaimed in the city of Chelsea. Movement in and out of the city was highly regulated and restricted. Trains, trolley cars and ferries were forbiddin to run. Electrical power was cut off to prevent electrocution from the fallen wires.
With the
martial law came twelve hundred troops to enforce the law, to prevent
looting and assist the homeless. These troops often spent eight hours
at a stretch guarding public The troops were also needed to unearth the dead from the ruins. Many individuals presumed missing were often times exhumed from the smoldering rubble. In the April 25, 1908 edition of The Chelsea Gazette, we read of the search for the dead. |
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Cadets and Coast Artillery troops guarding the Chelsea Savings Bank. These were some of the 1200 troops sent into Chelsea to prevent vandalism and looting and to enforce martial law. |
"On Sunday what was supposed to be the body of Benjamin F. Knowles, was found in the cellar of his late residence, 34 Cottage Street. On Monday the workman discovered another body in the cellar of the house at 141 Central Avenue. It is believed to be that of William Morris, a shoemaker, who lived at this place and who is missing. On Tuesday another body was, found at the same address and was supposed to be John Grillock, who has been missing since the fire."
April 13, 1908, Chelsea's citizens rose on a blackened and smoldering city. Hollowed out buildings, burned-up mattresses, dead animals, the sick smell of smoke and monstrous destruction greeted its inhabitants. In the face of such insurmountable obstacles, one would expect the spirit of Chelsea's citizens to falter. Falter, they didn't.
Consumed by overwhelming loss, the talk around town was "rebuild". Mayor John E. Beck, whose own home and newspaper were destroyed by the fire, echoes these feelings in the April 18, 1908 edition of The Chelsea Gazzette: "The burnt district with its tottering walls, all that remain of the homes of our citizens, is a most desolate scene, yet the courage of our people remains undaunted, they look to the future with the firm determination that from these ashes will rise a a new Chelsea."
Beyond the various relief committees organized and the outburst of support from local towns and cities, there was the common occurrence of people taking their own initiative to help others. Some made bushels of sandwich. Some fed the smoke-parched firefighters coffee. And others plainly denied their own needs to help others that they deemed were less fortunate. This is evidenced in Fred W. Cheney's article in the April 18, 1908 edition of The Chelsea Gazette.
Fred W. Cheney was a New Hampshire insurance adjuster who visited Chelsea immediately after the fire to file the claims of loss. He aptly wrote that you just can't understand the fire by reading how many sqaure miles and square acres it took. It just won't hit you that way. Fred says that it begins to hit you when you stand amid the rubble and see an entire city gone. It begins to hit you when "your eyes have softened and your throat feels lumpy."
Fred was amazed at the self-sacrifice on the part of the Chelsea population. Fred recounts the many times that he aproached people to get them to sign proof of loss so that they could collect and he would meet resistance because it was more important for them to help someone in greater need. He tells us: "I located one lady who had a claim for loss, devoting her time to the distribution of clothing, instead of hunting for the insurance company. I got her proof all ready for signatures and then had to rely on a committeeman to pass me by the sentries in order to reach her. She was helping a little old man make up an outfit, and wouldn't leave him for five minutes for such a little matter as signing a proof of loss, until she had procured a substitute for her work. This is only a typical instance."
Chelsea officials and the relief committees acknowledged the importance of getting the homeless in homes. Sleeping in tents was extremely unhealthy due to the cold weather and the lack of proper sanitation. And this feeling of uprootedness that comes with sleeping in tents made many leave Chelsea altogether. This was clearly recognized as a danger by city officials. These citizens of 1908 were a good and wholesome lot. It would be a great loss, indeed, for this city to lose them.
To rebuild 492 acres of destruction, Chelsea would need and would get aid from local towns and cities. Many towns took up collections. Many businesses donated materials for reconstruction and laborers would have stricter codes to abide by. The junk dealers and rag shops were given encouragement to leave the City as there were too many fires of questionable origin. Many insurance companies refused to cover businesses of this nature.
In order to rebuild more effectively, Senator Alfred Hall of Suffolk presented a bill on April 28, 1908 which would ask that five competent men govern Chelsea for a certain period of time. These five men were given the power of Mayor, Board of Alderman and School Committee. They were to be called "The Commission."
These men would be chosen from Chelsea's finest. They would be astute and capable men. They would all be residents of Chelsea and most important of all, they would have the interest of Chelsea at heart.
Rebuilding would be painful, but out of this pain would emerge a new Chelsea. Safer structures with stricter building codes would be erected. Rag shops would slowly disappear. Storefronts would paint fresh signs and open their doors for business. Saplings would replace the charred remains of the ancient oak trees. And within its community the spirit of survival and strength would allow Chelsea to move on.
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