000 03001cam a22003253u 4500
001 78708
003 UtSlPG
005 20260610134827.0
006 m
007 cr n
008 260607r20261908utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d
010 _a08019884
040 _aUtSlPG
041 7 _aen
_2iso639-1
050 4 _aF001
100 1 _aPratt, Walter Merriam,
_d1880-1973
245 1 4 _aThe burning of Chelsea
264 1 _aSalt Lake City, UT :
_bProject Gutenberg,
_c2026
300 _a1 online resource :
_bmultiple file formats
336 _atext
_btxt
_2rdacontent
337 _acomputer
_bc
_2rdamedia
338 _aonline resource
_bcr
_2rdacarrier
500 _aRelease date is 2026-05-19
508 _adeaurider and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
520 _a"The burning of Chelsea" by Walter Merriam Pratt is a historical account written in the early 20th century. It offers an illustrated, eyewitness chronicle of the catastrophic 1908 conflagration in Chelsea, Massachusetts, blending on-the-ground reporting with local history, statistics, and the civic response. The work likely covers the fire’s origin and spread, key losses, firefighting and militia actions, relief efforts, and reflections on the city’s past and future. The opening of the work sets its purpose as a firsthand narrative and then sketches Chelsea’s rich background: early settlement at Winnisimmet, notable “firsts,” ferries and turnpikes, industries, prominent residents, and the shift from elite suburb to dense, industrial city. It follows with concise statistics underscoring the blaze’s scale—hundreds of acres burned, thousands homeless, major institutions lost, fast spread in high winds, heavy water use, and broad insurance exposure. The narrative then describes the start near the Everett line, the second ignition at a rag shop, explosions at factories, the near-miss at an oil station saved by Malden firemen, and harrowing scenes of flight and loss as the fire leapt into the business center and up Mount Bellingham. By evening the flames were being contained; marines and, soon after, state troops established cordons, martial law, and nightlong medical relief amid crowded, makeshift shelters. Dawn reveals a vast, smoking waste with a few vaults and walls standing; praise is given to exhausted firemen and disciplined militia, while rumors of looting are refuted. Messages of sympathy arrive from national and international figures, and a large, well-organized relief operation takes shape, distributing food, clothing, and lodging and instituting identification to curb fraud. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
534 _pOriginally published:
_cBoston: Samson Publishing Company, 1908
653 _aChelsea (Mass.) -- Fire, 1908
856 4 _uhttps://archive.org/details/burningofchelsea00prat
856 4 0 _uhttps://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78708
999 _c119426
_d119426