NEW YORK CITY: Dec. 3, 1907 — A night watchman's pet dog saved the day when he woke his sleeping owner, who was in a tailor shop on the second floor of a five-story building at 193 Chrystie St. in Manhattan. Whimpering and pulling on the watchman's whiskers, the dog roused the napping guard, who then smelled smoke and checked the hallway to find flames burning in the floor below. He dashed back into the shop and began shouting an alarm to others in the building as he exited a window and dropped onto the roof next door. The dog dashed downstairs to safety and past the fire. Firemen rescued the other watchmen from fire escapes on the floors above.
HOPKINSVILLE, KY: Dec. 7, 1907 — Firemen were hard pressed as a huge band of night riders descended on the little community during the early-morning hours. Four hundred heavily armed and masked men rode into town, captured all the policemen and locked them in their own station house, then set guards at the firehouse to prevent the engine from responding as they began shooting at and ransacking everything in sight. Several buildings were set ablaze and one business owner was pulled from his home and severely beaten. Several tobacco warehouses burned to the ground and numerous businesses suffered heavy damage. The riders eventually let firemen save things from exposed buildings and limit the spread of the fire before they rode off into the night.
BOSTON: Dec. 10, 1907 — A late-night fire destroyed the York Building, a brick-and-granite structure at 97 Albany St. Housed inside the fire building were a lace-curtain company, a box company and a child's dress company that were all damaged by flames. A hardware store adjacent to the fire building also suffered damage.
WEST SAGINAW, MI: Dec. 15, 1907 — Seven firemen were injured, one in critical condition, after a difficult fire in the Saginaw Produce and Cold Storage Plant. The injured were quickly treated as the fire department battled the stubborn blaze that did $40,000 in damage.
TORONTO: Dec. 15, 1907 — Firemen were faced with two separate major fires in one evening. The first fire started in a huge paper-box-manufacturing company and spread to three nearby houses with $180,000 in damage. The second fire, with damage in excess of $18,000, was in the Woodbine mill in the East End a short time later.
NEW YORK CITY: Dec. 21, 1907 — A huge explosion rocked an apartment house on Manhattan's East Side, shaking every building on the block. Tenants from nearby buildings and employees of the Kip's Bay Brewing Company ran into the streets and watched the shocked people stagger out of the bombed building. Fire companies were on scene in minutes and quickly extinguished a fire in the lower hallway adjacent to the blast area. Complete searches of the damaged structure proved negative. Detectives and fire marshals investigating the blast believed it to be the work of the extortion ring known as "The Black Hand." No arrests were made.
DETROIT: Dec. 21, 1907 — An early-morning fire in a six-story brick building on Jefferson and Woodward avenues destroyed a fur dealership and a milliner concern. Two firemen, Assistant Chief Kelley and Pipeman Robert Hummell, were seriously injured battling the blaze. Hummell's injuries were said to be extremely critical as he suffered a fractured skull.
SAN FRANCISCO: Dec. 26, 1907 — Six buildings on Mission Street between First and Main burned and the fire threatened to extend to the entire factory district. Dense smoke from the Revere Rubber Company added to the difficulty faced by firemen. Despite the headway the fire had gained prior to their arrival and the fast-moving nature of the blaze, the quick and effective work of firemen held the blaze in check.
CHICAGO: Dec. 28, 1907 — Sixty terrified children stampeded for safety while fire engines struggled through muddy roads effort to reach the Norwegian Children's Home. Firemen traveled a great distance to reach the fire, which had hold of the top floors of the structure on their arrival. All the children escaped.
