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BANK BUILDING BURNED. Loss of $30,000 at Athol Yesterday15 Below Zero at the Time. ATHOL, Mass., Feb. 19.-Fire which broke out about 2 o'clock yesterday morning caused a damage to the Millers River National bank block and occupants, estimated at $30,000. The blaze was confined to the annex, this was gutted by fire. The main portion of the building was greatly damaged by smoke and some water. The fire was discovered by William Nemo, an occupant of the annex who was awakened by smoke pouring into his room. He hurried to the police station and an alarm was rung. When Mr. Nemo returned to the building, he assisted Miss Anna McCormick, who had a hair dressing apartment in the block, and others to the police station. Nearly all the occupants were thinly elad. The fire, it is thought, started in the basement of the candy kitchen of Ardelos Bros. and soon worked its way up through the partitions. The firemen found it a hard blaze to fight. The mercury registered 15 degrees below zero and the firemen were soon covered with a thick coating of ice. It was not until the middle of the forenoon that the blaze was extinguished. After the fire it was found that nearly four feet of water was in the basement and the steam engine of the fire department was put to work, pumping out the water. The Athol Savings bank and the Millers River National bank found it impossible to do business in their quarters in the main building, and opened temporary quarters in the parlors of the Pequoig House, under police guard. The store of Ardelos Bros. is practically a complete loss, and the occupants of the annex saved but little of their goods, with the exception of Mr. Nemo, who through blinding smoke got the greater part of his to safety. People occupying the annex besides Mr. and Mrs. Nemo, were: Dr. William e J. Bolton, Miss Anna McCormiek, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Parker, Mrs. Jesse Gordon, Mr. and Mrs. David Perham, Dr. Bolton and Mrs. Parker were the only occupants of the annex who held insurance. The building was insured.
