A story describing a fire at the John Romberger home near Short Mountain, Lykens Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, was reported by the Millersburg Herald and reprinted by the Sunbury Gazette, July 19, 1878:
Between the hours of 11 and 12 o’clock last Sunday, while Mr. John Romberger and family were attending religious services at Berrysburg, Dauphin County, their dwelling caught fire and was entirely destroyed. The building was a large frame, located near Short Mountain, and owned by the tenant’s father, Mr. Daniel Romberger. It had a porch around the entire building in the roof of which the fire originated. The cause is unknown as there was no fire in the stoves at that time. There being no one about the premises but the hired man and girl, and the flame communicating so rapidly along the porch, they found it impossible to extinguish it, at once went to work to save some of the furniture. With the assistance of neighbors who made their appearances about this time, they succeeded in saving some of the contents on the first floor. The barn which was filled with hay and grain, was saved only by the hard work and great vigilance of the people, pouring a constant stream of water against it. It had ignited several times. How the fire originated is a mystery, the only cause that can be assigned is that of spontaneous combustion. The property was insured for $800 in the Lykens Valley Mutual Insurance Company of Elizabethville, which, however does not meet half Mr. Romberger’s loss. A temporary building was erected this week until the busy season is over, when a new dwelling is to be erected.
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Obtained from Newspapers.com.
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