Ref: Town and Country Newspaper Pennsburg, Montgomery County, PA Saturday - May 2, 1903 THE HEART OF THE VILLAGE OF MERTZTOWN GUTTED BY FIRE THURSDAY NIGHT A disastrous fire almost wiped the old part of the village of Mertztown off the map soon after 5 o'clock Thursday evening. The little town has no water works and nothing could be done towards stopping the work of the flames, which originated on the roof of a lumber shed near the railroad, owned by Bie ry & Pilger, and the high winds prevailing drove the flames along from house to house, sweeping all before it. The fire was started by sparks from a passing locomotive. From the shed the fire spread to the barn of E.J. TREXLER, on the opposite side of the street, and, after a little while, not a house in the village seemed safe. The people were helpless, and almost before they thought of removing the goods the buildings in the fire district were in flames and the saving of the goods was out of the question. The main street runs northwest and southwest and the wind was blowing fiercely from the south, striking the southwesterly side of the street. The barn first ignited was, however, on the southwest side. On the opposite side of the street a fine old stone mansion where E.H. TREXLER resided, and the large swiss barn appurtenant thereto were then set on fire and totally destroyed together with contents. Shortly after this the alarm became general and for a time a district comprising several acres was in flames. The shed at the Hotel Biery was the next ignited, and from there the fire spread to the three-story Hotel Biery. Then to the houses of M.L. FRITCH. One of these was occupied by Mr. FRITCH, while the other was vacant. Then the house of H.J. TREXLER was destroyed, and after these structures were consumed, the flames stayed their course. At 9 o'clock the wall of the hotel fell. The excitement in the village can not be pictured. People ran about wildly, but nothing was to be done but to allow the flames to speed their mission of destruction. Nearly a dozen buildings, including the above residences, were destroyed, besides many others being very much damaged. The handsome Lutheran church was also damaged and only saved with difficulty. Uriah BIERY, of Shamrock, is the heaviest loser and it is thought his loss may sum up to $50,000, as he had a large lot of lumber stored. The loss is partially covered by insurance. The smoke from the fire caused considerable excitement and worry to the residents of the boroughs of Pennsburg and East Greenville. Along 11 o'clock at night the smoke was so dense in some residences that it awakened member of the household and a general feeling was that their own house was on fire. After searching the house and finding no cause they went outside and found the smoke there as dense as in the buildings. Especial excitement prevailed at Perkiomen Seminary, where several hundred students are quartered. Many of the girls started to pack their trunks and placed them near the window ready to throw them out. One girl hurriedly packed all her belongings into a bed blanket, tied it up into a bundle and started to take it out of the room, when she ascertained that the bundle was too large and it could not be moved through the door. By this time all were quieted, as a search had been made of the building and everything found all right. SEVERED ARTERIES WITH HATCHET Eugene REINHART, of near Geryville, an employee in A.R. MUMBAUER's cigar factory, near Kumry, met with a painful accident last Friday while he was nailing some staples over wire to fasten cases of cigars preparatory to shipment. In his right hand he held a very keen hatchet and while reaching over it with his left hand to get a staple, he came in contact with the cutting edge and cut a deep gash in his arm above the wrist. The wound bled profusely and upon close examination it was found that three small arteries were cut. AGED MAN ATTENDS TO SWARMING BEES Joseph R. MUMBAUER, Sr., of Kumry, Bucks county, is seventy-one years of age, but is still able to attend to his stock of bees as has been his custom all his life. He constantly has bees in hives in his yard and when winter set in he had twenty swarms. Through good attention and care he saved seventeen swarms. Mr. MUMBAUER at one time had seventy swarms of bees. About ten years ago he had a swarm that weighed one hundred and ninety pounds. THIEVES TRY TO ENTER GERYVILLE STORE Thieves tried to gain entrance to U.G. LOUX's store, at Geryville, Bucks county, on Sunday night. They rolled a water barrel under a window, stood on it and drilled three holes into the shutter. They could not drill through them as they were lined with sheet iron. They then tried to pry open the shutters but were unsuccessful. It is supposed they were disturbed, as Mr. LOUX returned to his home at about midnight. WILL PREACH IN SCHWENKFELDER CHURCH Rev. Elmer E.S. JOHNSON, pastor of the First Schwenkfelder church, of Philadelphia, will preach in the Hosensack Schwenkfelder church tomorrow morning, at 10 o'clock, in the German language. HILLEGASS STORE LEASED Wilson E. SCHULER, of Hillegass, yesterday leased his store property to Wm. KERSHNER, of Pleasant Run. Mr. KERSHNER conducts the store at that place at present. He will move to the Hillegass property in the latter part of next week. CAUGHT LARGE CARP IN THE PERKIOMEN CREEK John S. KLINE and Prof. I.F. KULP, of Gratersford, on Monday caught a monster carp in the Perkiomen creek. It measured thirty-two inches and weighed fifteen pounds. A BUSY POULTRY BREEDER F.G. WILE, the poultry dealer of Telford, has had an exceptional busy season thus far. He breeds fancy poultry and sells the stock as well as the eggs for hatching. He has thus far this season shipped between two and three thousand eggs to distant points weekly. He almost daily receives letters from parties that he shipped eggs to, stating that the chicks were hatched and that they were doing fine. Last week he shipped over five hundred eggs to Santa Rosa, California. KILLED SNAKE AFTER HE WAS BITTEN Wm. T. DELP, of Eureka, had a desperate fight with a snake upon his farm and was bitten badly. DELP discovered the snake sucking a cow in a field near by, and in attempting to beat the reptile off it bit him twice before he killed it. HAS BEEN GRANTED A PATENT John M. JACOBS, cashier in the Montgomery Trust Company, Norristown, formerly of East Greenville, has been granted letters patent for an ingenuous nickle-in-the-slot cigar machine, that bids far to become popular in club rooms and tobacco stores. His model is beautifully gotten up and does its work with accuracy. The inventor is now arranging for their manufacture on an extensive scale. CIGAR THIRTY-SIX YEARS OLD Edward KLOTZ, of Chapel, Berks county, is the owner of a cigar that was made thirty-six years ago. Charles MOLL, of Macungie, made the cigar at Limeport in the year 1867. The cigar is seven inches in length and is well preserved, considering its age. INSANE MAN TAKEN TO NORRISTOWN Theodore GULLY, of Plover, Lehigh county, was taken to the Norristown Insane Asylum on Thursday, by constable A.B. JONES, of Lower Milford. GULLY was declared mentally unsound by a commission.