Fatal Fire in 1902 at One Fifth Avenue Burned Down the Post Office and Pharmacy
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It was not the largest fire in the history of the Town of Pelham. It was, however, one of the most significant (and infamous) fires in the history of our town. It was the devastating and deadly fire that burned down the village post office and pharmacy building that stood on the site of today's One Fifth Avenue (where Pelham Manor Florist is now located).
The fire occurred during the early morning hours (between 4:30 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.) of March 14, 1902. It destroyed the wooden frame structure known as "The Pelham Building," built in 1892.
Reports differ over whether it was a three-story or four-story structure. It reportedly was owned by Clarence Lyons. On the first floor was the pharmacy of Seth T. Lyman, the United States post office managed by postmaster Seth T. Lyman, a newsstand managed by the widow Mary Youchim, and the real estate office of William H. Bard. The floors above were apartments occupied by the Youchim and Lyman families, as well as various others.
The replacement building that stands on the site today was built shortly after this devastating fire in 1902. The replacement building also housed Lyman's pharmacy as well as the United States Post Office during the early years of the 20th century. For a list of previous articles I have written about Seth T. Lyman and the replacement building that housed his pharmacy and post office, see the list of articles at the end of today's posting.
1910 Post Card View of One Fifth Avenue, Designed by Architect
Arthur G. C. Fletcher. Erected on the Site of the Original Building
that Burned on March 14, 1902. Source: Collection of the Author.
NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.
I have written before about this infamous fire. See Tue., Jul. 8, 2014: Account of Devastating Fire at One Fifth Avenue in 1902. The fire was so horrible that a local resident wrote about it in the local newspaper repeatedly decades later. See id. See also Minard, J. Gardiner, THE OLD DAYS, The Pelham Sun, Oct.. 28, 1938, p. 10, cols. 3-4.
It is very difficult to piece together precisely what happened in this terrible fire. Articles written about it years after it happened suggest that a reporter for The Daily Argus of Mount Vernon prepared a sloppy account of the fire based on rumors that he had not investigated and, consequently, was fired for his failures. It seems that The Associated Press may have picked up on some of the sloppy reporting and wired it throughout the nation resulting in a host of articles that seem to have gotten the basic facts of the tragedy wrong including misspelled victims' names, incorrect reports of the ages of victims, and even dramatic accounts of what transpired during the tragedy that appear to have been entirely fabricated. Nevertheless, all such reports seemed to agree that the fire was quite tragic.
Indeed, the fire was so tragic and frightening that Pelham taxpayers who previously had rejected fire department budgets (which had to be approved in those days) and had fought tax increases intended to modernize the tiny fire department, decided to open up their wallets. A host of initiatives were funded after the fire. One newspaper headline looking back on the devastating fire later summed it up: "Loss Of Life and Property Made Early Pelhamites Realize That Efficient Fire Equipment Was Necessary. Opposition to Fire Taxes Quickly Withdrawn."
Today it seems that the most accurate accounts of the fire were prepared years later by a North Pelham resident who helped push the hand-drawn hose carrier of the local fire department to the scene of the fire. He was a local newspaper man himself. His name was J. Gardiner Minard. He became the unofficial historian of the community in his latter years and wrote several articles about the fire.
During the early morning hours of March 14, 1902, a blizzard was raging across the region. One of the tenants on the second floor of The Pelham Building, Mary Youchim (a widow), had left the door at the head of the stairway open hoping that heat from the big coal stove on the first floor would warm her apartment. According to J. Gardiner Minard:
"Just what happened no one will probably ever know; but it is surmised that whoever banked the fire for the night forgot to check the dampers and the stove became red hot. There was no metal or asbestos to shield the pitch laden wall [behind the coal stove]."
Between about 4:30 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. in the morning, Mary Youchim writhed in her sleep and awoke groggily. In horror, she realized she had been awakened by the smell of smoke and the sound of crackling flames. Leaping from her bed she rushed to the door at the head of the stairs, the only exit for her apartment. She was staggered by the flames, smoke, and heat. Without closing the door, she raced to a window on the second floor and threw it open. The draft "brought the flames roaring into the apartment." (See below.)
Mary Youchim began screaming "fire," and awakened her children. She first told 12-year-old Rudolph to jump out of the second floor window and helped her younger children out the window, leaping herself with one of them in her arms and spraining her ankle upon landing below.
In one of the other apartments, a trolley motorman named Thomas Duane heard Mary Youchim's screams. He was nursing his wife who was very pregnant and very ill (some reports said with pneumonia). Lifting her from her sickbed, he bundled her in blankets and carried her downstairs through smoke and flames and raced her toward a neighbor's home. Other tenants tumbled from windows and escaped the flames.
As Thomas Duane carried his ill wife across a vacant lot, she gasped "Tommy, get the insurance policy!" He set her gently on the ground and wrapped the blankets around her tightly. He ran back to the burning building and raced into the flames and smoke to get back upstairs where he retrieved the insurance policy. By then, the situation was so dire that he could only take a deep breath, close his eyes and slide down the stairs on his stomach in the midst of dense smoke and roaring flames. He made it, with the policy, and returned to his wife whom he carried away to the neighbor's home.
One of the other tenants, pharmacist Seth T. Lyman who lived with his family in an apartment above his pharmacy, ran in the snow up Fifth Avenue toward the fire house shouting "fire" and awakening residents. Henry Straehle lived near the fire house and heard Lyman's shouts. Straehle had the contract for snow removal in the area and woke his son. The two hitched a snow plow to a team of horses and began plowing Fifth Avenue toward the fire to make way for the firemen.
Firemen and residents including J. Gardiner Minard got to the firehouse and grabbed the hand-drawn, four-wheel hose carriage (called a "jumper"). They began pushing and pulling the jumper down Fifth Avenue. However, the snow plow had cleared only a small pathway down the middle of the street and had thrown up two large drifts of snow on each side of the path that perfectly matched the width between the two pairs of wheels of the hose carriage. That made the going "painfully slow" as the firemen tried to get their equipment to the scene.
Hand-Drawn Four-Wheel "Jumper," Also Known as a Four-Wheel
Hose Carriage, Like the One Used by North Pelham Firemen
to Fight the Fire on March 14, 1902. NOTE: This Image is Not
Copied to the Historic Pelham Blog But, Instead, is Embedded.
Thus, if the Owner of the Image Removes it or Changes the
Image Location, It No Longer Will Display Here.
NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.
When the North Pelham firemen arrived on the scene, the structure was fully engulfed in flames. Shortly the Niagara Hose company of Mount Vernon arrived to help fight the blaze.
As the firemen worked, Mary Youchim realized that her son, Rudolph, was nowhere to be found. The horror sank in as she realized that although he was the first child she awakened and instructed to jump out of the window, he had not escaped. Nothing could be done.
The building burned to the foundation, a total loss. Rudolph's charred remains were found in the burned rubble after the fire. In the meantime, Thomas Duane's wife grew even more gravely ill due, some said, to the shock of the fire. Later the same day, at the neighbor's home, she gave birth. Both she and the baby, however, died that day, devastating Tommy Duane.
The tragedy shocked North Pelham. Sensational newspaper stories were published about the fire in newspapers throughout the nation. For the first time since the creation of the local fire district in 1892, North Pelham taxpayers decided it was time to pay more taxes to invest in the modernization of the local fire department.
Detail from 1899 Map by John F. Fairchild Showing Building at One
Fifth Avenue That Burned Three Years Later. Source: Fairchild,
John F., Atlas of Mount Vernon and Pelham, Plate 20 (John F.
Fairchild, 1899) (Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division,
The New York Public Library). NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.
* * * * *
Below is the text of numerous stories about the terrible fire on March 14, 1902. Each is followed by a citation and link to its source.
"BOY BURNED IN FIERCE FIRE.
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Others Caught by Blaze in North Pelham Hurt in Jumping.
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Rescued Woman Dying.
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Several Narrow Escapes and Brave Firemen Save Tenants.
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(Special to The Evening World.)
MOUNT VERNON, N. Y. March 14. -- Fire that destroyed the post-office building at North Pelham early to-day caused the loss of one life and the serious injury of three persons. There were many narrow escapes and some brave rescues.
Edward Yocum [sic], thirteen years old, was burned to death, and Mrs. Thomas Duane, thirty-five years old, wife of a motorman on the Union Railway, who was rescued, is dying.
Mrs. Yocum, the mother of the boy who was killed, jumped from a window and had her back badly wrenched, and was otherwise injured. She was taken to the Mount Vernon Hospital.
Others seriously hurt were Adeline Yokum, arm fractured, and Thomas Duane, who was burned about the hands.
The burned building was a three-story frame structure. The ground floor was occupied by the post-office, S. G. [sic] Lyman's drug store and William H. Bard's real estate office. The two upper floors were occupied by several families. Just how the blaze started is not yet known. There was a very high wind blowing and the flames spread with great rapidity. The inmates of the building had no time to dress and many of them had to jump from windows to escape the flames.
Mrs. John Yocum, mother of the boy who was burned, with her four children, was asleep in their apartments over the post-office when the fire started. Mrs. Yocum was the first to awake and discovering the blaze, aroused her children. The family attempted to flee from the building by way of the main stairway, but were beaten back by the flames.
Mrs. Yokum then led her children to a front window on the third floor. By this time the flames had eaten away part of the floor and they were obliged to pick up their steps to the open window.
The flames were surrounding them, and the mother called to her children to follow her and jumped to the street. All followed her excepting the boy who was carried down with the floor which burned away before he could jump.
Mrs. Duane, who was sick with pneumonia in a flat on the second floor was carried down the burning stairs by four firemen of Mount Vernon department.
She was taken to the home of a neighbor, and is dying from shock and exposure.
Although a number of people jumped to the street, the houses were low structures and most of them escaped with slight injuries.
The families that were burned out lost everything. The total loss is estimated at about $20,000. It is partly covered by insurance. The building was owned by Clarence Lyons."
Source: BOY BURNED IN FIERCE FIRE -- Others Caught by Blaze in North Pelham Hurt in Jumping -- Rescued Woman Dying -- Several Narrow Escapes and Brave Firemen Save Tenants, The Evening World [NY, NY], Mar. 14, 1902, p. 5, col. 1 (NOTE: Paid subscription required to access via this link.).
"ONE DEATH IN P.O. FIRE.
North Pelham, N. Y., March 14 -- A fire that destroyed the Post Office Building here today caused the loss of one life and the serious injury to two persons. There were many narrow escapes. The one dead is Edward Yocum, 15 [sic] years old, a newsboy.
Mrs. Yocum, the mother of the boy who was killed, jumped from a window and wrenched her back badly. She was taken to a hospital.
Mrs. Thomas Duane was rescued from the burned building and is in a precarious condition. Shortly after being rescued she appeared to be sinking rapidly and after a while it was thought she was dead, but she subsequently revived."
Source: ONE DEATH IN P. O. FIRE, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Mar. 14, 1902, p. 20, col. 4 (NOTE: Paid subscription required to access via this link.).
"TWO LIVES LOST
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In a Fire Which Destroyed the Post-office at North Pelham.
New York, March 14. -- Fire that destroyed the postoffice building at North Pelham today caused the loss of two lives and the serious injury of a third person. The dead:
Edward Yocum, 13 years old, a news boy.
Mrs. Thomas Duane, wife of a motorman on the Union railway.
Mrs. Yocum, the mother of the boy who was killed, jumped from a window and had her back badly wrenched and was otherwise injured."
Source: TWO LIVES LOST -- In a Fire Which Destroyed the Post-office at North Pelham, The Topeka State Journal [Topeka, KS], Mar. 14, 1902, p. 1, col. 3.
"NORTH PELHAM FIRE
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(By Associated Press.)
New York, March 14. -- Fire that destroyed the postoffice building at North Pelham today caused the loss of one life and the serious injury of two persons. Dead:
EDWARD YOCUM, aged 13 years, a newsboy.
Mrs. Thomas Duane, wife of a motorman, who was rescued from the burned building, is in a precarious condition. Mrs. Yocum, mother of the boy who was killed, jumped from a window and had her back badly wrenched and was otherwise injured.
The building was a three-story frame structure. All the contents were destroyed, including the registered letters and all other mail. The loss is estimated at $20,000."
Source: NORTH PELHAM FIRE, The Butte Inter Mountain [Butte, MT], Mar. 14, 1902, Vol. XXI, No. 301, p. 1, cols. 2-3.
"Boy Burned to Death.
New York, March 14. -- Fire that destroyed the postoffice building at North Pelham today caused the death of Edward Yocum, a newsboy. Mrs. Thomas Duane and Mrs. Yocum jumped from a window and were badly injured."
Source: Boy Burned to Death, Evening Times-Republican [Marshalltown, IA], Mar. 14, 1902, Vol. XXVIII, No. 64, p. 1, col. 4.
"FIRE AT NORTH PELHAM.
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Caused Death of a Boy and Serious Injury of Two Women.
New York, March 14. -- Fire that destroyed the postoffice building at North Pelham, N. Y., to-day caused the loss of one life, probable fatal injury of a second person and the serious injury of a third person. There were many narrow escapes.
The dead: Edward Yokum, 13 years old, a newsboy.
The mother of the boy killed, jumped from a window and wrenched her back badly.
The burned building was a three-story frame structure. The ground floor was occupied by the postoffice, a store, and a real estate office. The fire spread so rapidly that the inmates of the building had no time to dress and many of them had to jump from windows to escape from the flames.
So far as known, the only person who was seriously injured in this way was Mrs. Yokum. She appears to have been cut off by the flames from her son's room and was unable to arouse him. The boy was burned to death in his bed. Mrs. Thomas Duane who was rescued from the burning building is in a precarious condition. Shortly after being rescued she appeared to be sinking rapidly and after a while it was thought she was dead but she subsequently revived.
All the contents of the building were destroyed, including the letters and mail matter in the postoffice. The total loss is estimated at about $20,000, and is partly covered by insurance."
Source: FIRE AT NORTH PELHAM -- Caused Death of a Boy and Serious Injury of Two Women, Democrat and Chronicle [Rochester, NY], Mar. 15, 1902, p. 2, col. 4 (NOTE: Paid subscription required to access via this link.).
"IRE OF FIRE.
Loss of Life at One Point and Property Consumed at Others.
New York, March 14. -- Fire that destroyed the postoffice building at North Pelham caused the loss of one life and the serious injury of two persons. The dead: Edward Yocum, 13 years old, a newsboy. Mrs. Yocum, the mother of the boy who was killed, jumped from a window and her back was badly wrenched and she was otherwise injured.
The building was a three-story frame structure, the upper floor being occupied as dwellings. Mrs. Duane, who was one of the tenants, was exposed to the cold air and the excitement attending the fire. She had been suffering from pneumonia and is in a very weak condition. All the contents of the building were destroyed, including the registered letters in the postoffice and all other mail matter. The total loss is estimated at about $20,000."
Source: IRE OF FIRE -- Loss of Life at One Point and Property Consumed at Others, The Evening Bulletin [Maysville, KY], Mar. 15, 1902, Vol. XXI, No. 96, p. 1, col. 4.
"TWO KILLED BY A FIRE.
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The Postoffice Building at North Pelham, N. Y., Destroyed.
Associated Press.
NEW YORK, March 14 -- Fire that destroyed the postoffice building at North Pelham to-day caused the loss of two lives and the serious injury of a third person.
The dead are: Edward Yocus [sic], 13 years old, a newsboy, Mrs. Thomas Duane, wife of a motorman on the Union railway.
Mrs. Yocum, the mother of the boy who was killed, jumped from the window, and had her back badly wrenched and was otherwise injured."
Source: TWO KILLED BY A FIRE -- The Postoffice Building at North Pelham, N. Y., Destroyed, Williamsport Sun-Gazette [Williamsport, PA], Mar. 15, 1902, p. 3, col. 3 (NOTE: Paid subscription required to access via this link.).
"POSTOFFICE BURNED.
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New York, March 14. -- Fire that destroyed the post office building at North Pelham today caused the loss of two lives and seriously injured one person.
Dead: Edward Yocum, news boy.
Mrs. Thomas Duane, wife of motorman.
Mrs. Yokum, mother of the boy, jumped from a window and received severe injuries."
Source: POSTOFFICE BURNED, Leavenworth Times [Leavenworth, KS], Mar. 15, 1902, p. 2, col. 5 (NOTE: Paid subscription required to access via this link.).
"TWO LIVES LOST.
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Postoffice Building at North Pelham, New York, Burned.
(By Associated Press)
NEW YORK, March 14. -- Fire that destroyed the postoffice building at North Pelham to-day caused the loss of two lives and the serious injury of a third person.
The mother of a boy, who was killed, jumped from a window and had her back badly wrenched and was otherwise injured."
Source: TWO LIVES LOST -- Postoffice Building at North Pelham, New York, Burned, The Times [Richmond, VA], Mar. 15, 1901, p. 6, col. 2.
"POSTOFFICE DESTROYED.
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Newsdealer Burned to Death and Two Women Injured.
NEW YORK, March 14. -- The fire that destroyed the postoffice building at North Pelham to-day caaused the death of Edward Yocum, thirty-seven [sic] years old, a news dealer [sic]. Mrs. Yocum, the mother of the victim, jumped from a window and had her back badly wrenched and was otherwise badly injured. Mrs. Thomas Duane, wife of a motorman, who was rescued from the burned building, is in a precarious condition. The building was a three-story frame structure, the upper floors being occupied as dwellings. All the contents of the building were destroyed, including the registered letters in the postoffice and all other mail matter. The total loss is estimated at about $20,000."
Source: POSTOFFICE DESTROYED -- Newsdealer Burned to Death and Two Women Injured, Indianapolis Journal, Mar. 15, 1902, p. 2, col. 2.
"Two Lives Lost in a Fire.
New York, March 14. -- Fire destroyed the postoffice building at North Pelham causing the loss of the lives of Edward Yocum, a news boy, and Mrs. Thomas Duans [sic]."
Source: Two Lives Lost in a Fire, Bryan Morning Eagle [Bryan, TX], Mar. 15, 1902, Vol. 7, No. 86, p. 1, cols. 2-3.
"FIRE RESULTS IN TWO DEATHS
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Postoffice Building at North Pelham, N. Y., Burns and a Boy and Woman Die -- Mail Destroyed.
New York, March 15. -- Fire that destroyed the postoffice building at North Pelham caused the loss of two lives and the serious injury of a third person.
The dead are:
Edward Yokum, 13 years old, a newsboy; Mrs. Thomas Duane, wife of a motorman on the Union railway.
Mrs. Yokum, the mother of the boy who was killed, jumped from a window and had her back badly wrenched and was otherwise injured.
The building was a three-story frame structure, the upper floors being occupied as dwellings. The death of Mrs. Duane, who was one of the tenants, was due to sudden exposure to the cold morning air and the excitement attending the fire. She had been suffering from pneumonia and was in a very weak condition. All the contents of the building were destroyed, including the registered letters in the postoffice and all other mail matter. The total loss is estimated at about $20,000."
Source: FIRE RESULTS IN TWO DEATHS -- Postoffice Building at North Pelham, N. Y., Burns and a Boy and Woman Die -- Mail Destroyed, Alton Weekly Telegraph [Alton, IL], Mar. 20, 1902, p. 2, col. 3 (NOTE: Paid subscription required to access via this link.).
"BOY PERISHES IN FLAMES.
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Two Women Also Badly Injured in Burning of Postoffice.
Fire that destroyed the postoffice building at North Pelham, N. Y., caused the loss of one life and the serious injury of two others. Edward Yokum, 12 years old, a newsboy, was burned to death. Mrs. Thomas Duane was rescued, but is in a precarious condition. Mrs. Yokum, the mother of the boy who was killed, jumped from a window and had her back badly wrenched and ws otherwise injured. The building was a three-story frame structure, the upper floors being occupied as dwellings. All the contents of the building were destroyed, including the registered letters in the postoffice and all other mail matter. The total loss is estimated at about $20,000."
Source: BOY PERISHES IN FLAMES -- Two Women Also Badly Injured in Burning of Postoffice, The Waterloo Press [Waterloo, IN], Mar. 20, 1902, p. 2, col. 3 (NOTE: Paid subscription required to access via this link.).
"Pelham Post Office Fire in 1902 Showed Need For Fire Protection
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Loss Of Life and Property Made Early Pelhamites Realize That Efficient Fire Equipment Was Necessary. Opposition to Fire Taxes Quickly Withdrawn. Firemen Prove Water Pressure Is Good.
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By J. GARDINER MINARD
Fire headquarters at North Pelham is always good for a story and no old story is complete without some mention of the post office building fire which, by the way, took place just 27 years ago last Saturday morning, at 5 a.m., during a raging blizzard. Few people, however, realize that this building played a most important part in the development of the fire department. In the first place, it was built in 1892, the same year the fire department was organized. Many have asked why it is the first fire district and why does it include two villages. Here is the story.
In 1892 there was but one incorporated village in the town and that was Pelham Manor, which covered about half the area it does today. The taxpayers in the northern part of the town petitioned the town board to create a fire district under the town law and this was done. This district took in all the part of the town north of Old Boston Post Road, now known as Colonial avenue.
An election was held, at which five commissioners were elected for five years, and an appropriation voted for the purchase of a plot of ground on Fifth avenue next to the present house, and for the erection of a double fire house. Also for the purchase of two wheel hose reel, commonly called a jumper: a small spindle hook and ladder truck and 1,000 feet of rubber-lined hose. In those days the annual inspection and parade included inviting a number of out-of-town companies, which made these events quite impressive. These visiting companies usually brought a special piece of apparatus. These fancy hose carriages, often purchased by the companies themselves, were more for ornament than use, but the local department had to adopt the style, with the result that two years later a hose carriage was purchased. It was a spindle four wheel affair with a hose reel mounted high in the center. Today it would be regarded as a curiosity, but in those days the men were might proud of it.
Now property and rents were low in those days and half the property yielded no taxes as most of it was owned by out-of-town people who regarded it as practically worthless. The result was that the new fire department, although costing altogether about $7,500, made an appreciable rise in taxes. It was necessary at the fire election to submit to the taxpayers the annual budget for approval, but, although it amounted to less than $250 a year; including heat, light, repairs, supplies, insurance, etc., it was repeatedly voted down.
This was the state of affairs in March, 1902, when both the post office building and the fire department each began its tenth anniversary. This building stood on the northwest corner of Fifth avenue and First street and contained four stores with apartments above. In the corner was the Lyman drug store; next came the Pelham post office; then a news store kept by Mrs. Mary Youchim, and finally a vacant store. Upstairs over the latter lived Mr. and Mrs .Thomas Duane, the latter being in confinement. Next lived Mrs. Youchim with her two sons, Lawrence and Rudolph, and two of her three daughters, Adelaide and Virginia; the eldest, Theresa, being at that time with her aunt. In the two other apartments lived Dr. and Mrs. S. T. Lyman with their young daughter, Mary; Mr. Lyman's sister Mary and Mrs. Lyman's brother, Robert Birch.
At about 4:30 in the morning of the 16th, Mrs. Youchim was awakened by the smell of smoke and the crackling of flames. She opened the door leading to the staircase and was met by sheet of flame. Unable to close it again, she rushed in to awaken her children. Rudolph, 12, was first and she told him to run to the front window and jump out. Next came Lawrence who made the jump safely. She then picked up Adelaide and dropped her out and finally taking the baby, Virgie, in her arms, jumped herself. A blizzard was raging at the time and the snow was deep. The wind had, however, blown a clear space on the sidewlk below and Mrs. Youchim sprained her ankle. Adelaide lay unconscious with an ugly gash in her forehead where it struck the bluestone pavement. Mrs. Youchim's screams had awakened the other tenants and Mr. Duane carried his sick wife to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Hacker nearby, where the next day both Mrs. Duane and her newborn baby died. The rest of the tenants got out safely and it was not until the building was a roaring furnace in the entire upper part that Rudolph Youchim was missed. His charred body was found after the fire was extinguished and it presumed he became confused in the smoke and, panic-stricken, rushed back into the bed.
Mr. Lyman ran down the street through the deep snow shouting 'fire.' Henry Straehle, who lived opposite the fire house and held the snow removal contract, was awakened and, seeking the sky lit up, called his son and ordered him to hitch up a team to one of the snow plows and make a path up the middle of Fifth avenue to aid the firemen. The jumper was run out and on the tongue and ropes were Dr. Lyman, Frank Benz, Fred Benz, Thomas Patterson and myself. I did not look back to see who was pushing in the rear but am quite certain it was Bernard Imhoff. The snow plow meant well but had thrown drifts each side in direct line with the two wheels of the jumper and made the going painfully slow. When he arrived, the entire building was in flames from top to bottom and from end to end. The lower floors were ceiled with North Carolina pine, full of pitch, which burned with a fierce heat. Mount Vernon sent Niagara Hose, which did good work, as well as their new steamer, but the building was burned to the foundation.
This catastrophe awakened the residents to a sense of their danger and they were prepared to make financial sacrifices to improve the service. The firemen, however, were not yet aware of this change of heart on the part of the taxpayers, but held a meeting and decided to adopt a new scheme. Chief Hale of the Kansas City fire department had invented a snap harness which hung suspended on a rack over the shafts and could be dropped on the horses and snapped in a few seconds. This had been adopted by New York City and many other cities. A single set cost $54. Al Harris had a wheelright shop in the old Reilly blacksmith shop, and he was consulted. He agreed to make a pair of shafts and adjust them to the hose carriage, removing the tongue, for a very reasonable amount. A couple of horse blankets and other accessories would bring the amount to approximately $100. I informed the company that Pelham Heights would contribute this amount. A committee was appointed and, as I was personally acquainted with every resident of Pelham Heights, was made chairman.
A personal call was made at each residence and the project discussed. A fire in Pelham Heights necessitated hauling the apparatus a long distance only to be faced by steep hills which left the firemen all spent after arrival. With a horse, the trip could not only be made much quicker, but the firemen would be in condition to give their best. None refused. George P. Robbins wrote a check for $25 and called it a pleasure. He was one of the wealthiest residents of the village and another was the late Charles A. Winch, president of the American Ice Company, who lived on the southeast corner of Cliff avenue and Second street.
When the committee called upon Mr. Winch he invited the firemen in to discuss the matter. He was a big, stout old gentleman full of ready wit. Ordering the comittee to be seated at a table he called the butler and directed him to bring in a decanter, glasses, ice and vichy; also a box of good cigars, and after a round and smoke he opened with: 'Now, if you get this snap harness, how about the horses?'
He was informed that opposite the firehouse was a stable where one horse was available in the day and three at night.
'All right: a fire breaks out in my house; I telephone Billy Edinger, who lives across the street from the firehouse; we will assume Billy is a light sleeper; Billy jumps into his uniform and runs to the firehouse and rings the bell; the firemen come running in all directions, some get the horses and, bing! in a jiffy the horse is harnessed and smashing Dexter's speed record you reach my house. I am sitting on the curb across the street watching the flames breaking out through the roof. You've got no steam engine, only the hydrant pressure. The horse and harness won't help you; how are you going to put out that fire.'
I told him we could reach it with the stream.
'What!' he exclaimed. 'Do you realize that this house is high up on a hill and when anyone living on Highbrook avenue takes a bath I have to wait till they are through, as I can't get water on my second floor. You can't reach the piazza roof.'
I informed him we would bring up the jumper at 6 the following evening and make good our boast.
'If you do, I will give you $25,' was his parting rejoinder.
On the way back members of the committee chided me for making what they termed an idle boast, but my plans were already formulated. I left them at Wolf's Lane and First street and went home.
Early next morning I went to the Hygiea Ice plant, where the present Knickerbocker plant is now located. Pelham Heights drew its water from this plant. Stephen French was the engineer and to him I confided my plans. Could Steve give us special pressure the test hour.
Steve replied: 'You'll win that $25 if I have to bust every water main in the village.'
The hour arrived and we drew the jumper up to Cliff avenue and started to couple the hose to a hydrant.
Mr. Winch rushed out and yelled: 'Never mind turning the water on; I want someone who can turn it off; my water pipes are busted.'
We went to his cellar and turned it off and he invited us to first partake of his hospitality, after which he explained he had just telephoned Billy Edinger to hustle up. After a drink and smoke, we connected the hose and sent a stream clear over the house. Mr. Winch took but one glance and called enough.
'I've got enough water for one day,' he said, as he made out his check for the money. On our return we met Billy Edinger urging his horse at topmost speed, and we stopped him and told him to take his time, as we had turned the water off.
'How many houses did you turn the water off in? I've got a half dozen calls from Pelham Heights in the last half hour and my telephone was ringing as I drove away. They've all got broken water pipes.'
It was the truth; Edinger received over twenty calls that evening and undoubtedly other plumbers were busy there also. Many old residents of Pelham Heights will recall this epidemic of broken pipes and learn here for the first time what caused them."
Source: Minard, J. Gardiner, Pelham Post Office Fire in 1902 Showed Need For Fire Protection -- Loss Of Life and Property Made Early Pelhamites Realize That Efficient Fire Equipment Was Necessary. Opposition to Fire Taxes Quickly Withdrawn. Firemen Prove Water Pressure Is Good, The Pelham Sun, Mar. 22, 1929, p. 9, cols. 1-3.
"THE OLD DAYS
By
J. GARDINER MINARD
In these columns recently was noted the death of Thomas Duane who for thirty five years was starter at the New Rochelle terminal of the trolley line. His was a life upon which fortune might have smiled; but instead, 'melancholy marked him for her own.' Born in the Prospect Hill section of Pelham Manor, his father, the tall David Duane was for several terms elected town constable during the 90's. Thomas, like his father, towered over six feet in height. Built in proportion, good looking, quiet, good natured, he used neither tobacco nor intoxicants. He secured a job as motorman with the Union Railway Co., predecessor of the Third Avenue Railway System.
In 1901 he married and took an apartment in the Pelham Building on Fifth avenue near First street. Now, let us describe that building; it was a two story structure with four stores on the first floor facing first street with an apartment over each store. To enter the apartment you mounted steps on the Fifth avenue side and along the rear was a porch extending the entire length. There was a room in the rear of each store and stairs led from each apartment down into this room. The entire lower half of the building was ceiled and lined with North Carolina pine, black with pitch and well seasoned.
On the corner was Seth T. Lyman's drug store and next was the Post Office. Lyman, who succeeded Henry Iden of Pelham Manor as post master, occupied the two apartments above with his wife and child, his sister Mary and Mrs. Lyman's borther, Robert Birch. Peter Talerico had a cobbler shop in the next store and Mrs. Mary Youchim, a widow, lived above him with her two sons, Lawrence and Rudolph; and two daughters, Adelaide and Virginia, the latter an infant. Her oldest daughter, Tessie, was staying with her aunt, Mrs. Dominick Smith. The last store was vacant and Tommy Duane and his bride had taken the apartment above.
It was a February night in 1902. A blizzard was raging and Mrs. Youchim had left the door at the head of the stairway open in order to get as much heat as possible from the big coal stove in the room below. Just what happened no one will probably ever know; but it is surmised that whoever banked the fire for the night forgot to check the dampers and the stove became red hot. There was no metal or asbestos to shield the pitch laden wall. Just before five in the morning Mrs. Youchim was awakened by the smoke and getting up, rushed to the door at the head of the stairs. It was the only exit. Smoke and flames were coming up, She either could not or in her excitement forgot, to close the door. Screaming 'Fire!' she rushed to the front and threw open a window. The draft brought the flames roaring into the apartment. Lawrence dropped out the window and she grabbed Adelaide and threw her out first and taking the baby in her arms, leaped out of the window.
She had anticipated a snow drift in front, but instead, the wind had swept the flag stones bare and she sprained her ankle. Adelaide lay unconscious with a deep gash in her forehead where she struck the stone. Mrs. Youchim dragged herself and daughters to safety as the flames roared overhead from both store and apartment. In the meantime Tommy Duane, who had come home from work and spent most of the night sitting up with his wife who was greviously ill, had lay down for a few hours sleep, was awakened by Mrs. Youchim's screams. He went to the rear door and opened it to be met with a cloud of smoke and the sound of crackling wood. He rushed to the bedroom and told his wife the building was afire. Bundlng her in blankets he carried her down the stairs as little tongues of flame began shooting through the cracks of the partition beside him. It was his intention to carry her to the residence of Thomas Hewitt in the rear of Fourth avenue. While crossing the vacant lot on the north east corner of Fourth avenue and First street she gasped 'Tommy; get the insurance policy.' He set her down beside a boulder and covered her well and hurried back. Flames were sweeping up the stairs but he got up to the room; secured the policy and putting on an overcoat turned up the collar, took a long breath and closing his eyes, slid on his stomach down the stairs. He took his wife to the Hewitt home where the same day she gave birth to a baby. Mother and baby both died.
The first to come to Pelham to offer consolation was Edward A. Mahar, President of the Union Railway Co., who immediately after the funeral promoted Tommy to be starter at New Rochelle. About three years ago Tommy sustained a stroke from which he never recovered."
Source: Minard, J. Gardiner, THE OLD DAYS, The Pelham Sun, Oct.. 28, 1938, p. 10, cols. 3-4.
"Mr. Minard Sets Us Straight
-----
EDITORIAL MAIL
To The Daily Argus:
In a recent issue, reprinting from your files of 1902, you carried the story of the destruction by fire of the post office building in North Pelham. It contained so many discrepancies that the reporter who sent in the copy was fired for accepting rumors without investigation.
Here are a few: that only two lives were lost, Mrs. Duane and Rudolph Youchim; that Thomas Duane carried his sick wife out of the burning building through the deep snow to the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Hacker where Mrs. Duane gave birth to a son. Both mother and son died within a half hour. That Mrs. Youchim had four children; Mrs. Youchim had five, but the two oldest were visiting relatives that night and the three youngest were with the mother. That a resident of Vernon Heights discovered the fire and sent in the alarm; an engineer on the New York bound express saw an ominous glow on the snow swirling past his cab window. As he emerged from the cut and saw the blaze ahead he slowed his engine and all the way through Pelham sent forth a series of long and short blasts of his whistle that aroused the countryside for miles and started the fire bells in Mount Vernon, New Rochelle and Pelham Manor ringing, with North Pelham and Union Corners quickly to follow.
Perhaps the most ludicrous was the yarn that steamer Engine No. 3 of Mount Vernon reached the scene and had a stream on the fire before the arrival of the Pelham Fire company. Steamer Company got stuck in a snow drift at Franklin avenue and East Third Street and returned to its quarters and never got within a mile of the Pelham boundary line. Niagara Hose did make the trip and arrived while Liberty Hose of Pelham was throwing a stream on the fire. It was the Niagara boys who told us of Steamer's troubles. Steamer was unpopular with the other Mount Vernon companies from the time it first organized ten years previously because it required horses while the other apparatus was hand drawn. A wag in the Mount Vernon Fire Department gave the erroneous story to the reporter in order to give the other Mount Vernon firemen a hearty laugh.
J. GARDINER MINARD
Pelham."
Source: Mr. Minard Sets Us Straight -- EDITORIAL MAIL, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Mar. 22, 1952, p. 4, cols 7-8.
* * * * *
As noted above, I have written about One Fifth Avenue and the man who built the first building on that site as well as the replacement building, Seth T. Lyman, on a number of occasions. For a few examples, see:
Tue., Feb. 04, 2014: Lyman's Pharmacy and Post Office Was Located in the Building That Still Stands at One Fifth Avenue in Pelham.
Tue., Jul. 4, 2006: Seth T. Lyman, Pelham's Own Medicine Man of the Late 19th Century.
Bell, Blake, A., The Lyman Pharmacy Building At One Fifth Avenue in Downtown Pelham, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 19, May 7, 2004, p. 12, col. 1.
Labels: 1892, 1902, Fire, Fire District No. 1, Firemen, Mary Youchim, One Fifth Avenue, Pelham Fire Department, Rudolph Youchim, Seth T. Lyman
posted by Blake A. Bell @ 5:25 AM
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