The Sun.
London, England, 1862-06-24 00:00:00

THE FIRES IN ST. PETERSBURG.

The St. Petersburg Gazette publishes a series of
decrees suppressing various institutions in conse-
quence of the recent fires. Among others the Chess
Club, two Sunday schools, and other establishments
are suppressed, on the ground that political discus-

sions of a revolutionary nature were held at them.

All the public reading-rooms are closed, The fol-
lowing is the order issued by the Military Governor
of St. Petersburg :
" I. The Military Governor-General of St. Peters-
burg, deeming it his duty, under the present cir-
cumstances, to take all necessary measures to calm
the anxiety which prevails in the public mind, to
prevent the propagation in the capital of reports
devoid of foundation on actual events, has thought
it advisable to close the Chess Club until further
orders, as it was there that such erroneous opinions
were formed and circulated.
'2_4.li. The baneful tendency of some of the public
reading rooms recently established, and which

have offered fewer facilities for reading than oppor-

tunities for propagating among the persons who
frequented them works of a nature to excite the
people to agitation and disturbance, as well as false
reports, has rendered it necessary for the Military
Governor-General to close, until further orders, all
public reading rooms actually existing."
Meantime, despite all the exertions of the police
and the military, the fires continue, not only at
St. Petersburg, but in other towns of the Empire.
Detachments of volunteers have been organised to
assist the fire-brigade.
A letter from St. Petersburg, in Za Presse, dated
the 12th of June, gives the following account of the
conflagrations in the capital :
" You will doubtless already have heard of the
numerous conflagrations that have extended their
disastrous ravages over our capital. Behind these
flames there is a dark mystery which alarms the
Government. No ono here believes that these con-
tinuous fires are the result of accident. The details
of these conflagrations, and, so to say, their geo-
graphy, show a concerted plan and a clever organi-
sation. To be convinced of this it will suffice to
follow their course.

On the 2d of June, at 5 a.m., fire burst out op-
posite the police station in the Grand Okhta-street ;
fanned by the wind, three streets were burnt down.
While the fire brigade was actively employed in
putting out the flames, another fire burst out, at 2
p.m., in the Georgewska-street, which consumwl
25 houses and their dependencies, as also the Chap-el
of Our Lady of Smolensk.
" On the following day, the 3cl;the fire brigade
was hastily sent for to the Kamskaia quarter ; six
houses were in a blaze. The flames shot across to
the left side of the Ligowska, where all the build-
ings are of wood. They were all consumed.
" On the 4th of June, at 2 a.m., flames burst forth
from one of the barracks ; 40 houses were burnt
down. The fire brigade had scarcely returned to
their quarters when, at 3 p.m., bright flames lit up
the Grokowa Market, the streets Kobylowka, Ly-
gowks, and Nazicwae. The number of houses de-
stroyed is not yet known. At the same moment
a commercial house was burning in the Bechkutoff-
street ; finally, at 11 o'clock at night, a house oppo-
site Nacziwisk burst into flames. I cannot describe
the effect of these terrible man eeuvres. Consterna-
tion prevails. Political discontent, armed with
torches, is taking the revenge of savages.
" On its part, the Government responds to these
provocations by the sternest measures. A ukase is
published to-day to the effect that any person in
whose house shall be found combustible materials
shall be tried by court-martial within 24 hours.
This is a most severe measure, as in every house
combustible materials are to be found, necessary for
daily household purposes. Various arrests have
been made by the police. A special committee of
investigation is sitting. A military governor has
been appointed in every quarter of the town.
Another source of anxiety is added to these
incendiary acts. Hand-bills, exhorting the people
to revolt, are largely circulated by the revolutionary
propaganda. One of these, printed and circulated
by thousands of copies, contains an energetic appeal
to insurrection against despotism. A second, called
Zownskaia dunia, or National Chamber, is a project
of constitution. A third (Rowhaia pravda, or
Russian truth), demands the independence of Po-
land, and conciliates the Russian movement with
the cause of Poland.

"A fourth is devoted to the memory and history
Of Captain Alexandrow, who, employed at the
telegraph-office, altered a despatch sent from St.
Petersburg to Gen. Luders, in April last, ordering
the severest measures to be employed in case of a
demonstration, to a milder form, recommending
measures of persuasion. Captain Alexandrow was
sentenced to be shot,but his sentence was commuted
to exile in Siberia.
"Finally, other proclamations denote the moment
for a general rising at the anniversary of the inau-
guration of the monument of Istovogorod—the 2d of
August—the anniversary of the foundation of the