The Sun.
London, England, 1865-07-11 00:00:00

Great Fire at Quebec.

The Toronto Globe has a letter from Quebec of
the 23d ult., giving the particulars of the great fire
in that town as follow :
" The conflagration which took place here yesterday
afternoon ravaged both sides of Champlain-street, from the
schoolhouse, on the line of the street itself, or Flanagan's-
wharf in the rear, to Martin's-wharf on one side, and to the
residence of Mrs. P. Kelly, No. 132, Champlain-street, run-
ning thus from west to east. With the exception of a few
buildings in the immediate vicinity of the spot where the
fire originated, all the houses on both sides of the street
were of brick or stone, the latter predominating consider-
ably. Where the flames broke out there were a few wooden
houses, and on the wharves in rear, all along the riverside,
ranges of wooden tenements were erected. Champlain-
street is the only thoroughfare between the base of the over-
hanging cliff of Cape Diamond and the river St. Lawrence,
and all along the whole line followed by the devastating
flames it is extremely narrow. Under these circumstances
the difficulty of making headway against the fire, after it
had communicated to both sides of the street, or even
saving life and property, may be easily understood. The
residents of the districts ravaged by the fire are, almost
without exception, connected in some way with, or in-
terested in, the shipping trade of the port. The lower
stories of the houses on the street itself were, almost with -
out exception, occupied as taverns, groceries, ship chand-
leries, marine stores, and boarding-houses, with a few boot
and shoemakers' stores, &c. The upper stories and attics
were occupied by stevedores, timber towers, timber swingers,
ship labourers, and other persons following similar occu-
pations in connexion with the shipping. The tenements on
the wharves were, with hardly an exception, occupied by
labourers. All the houses and tenements were filled to their
utmost limits with residents. We heard in some cases of as
many as six or seven farailies residing in the same house, and
as many as 16 families in a small row of wooden tenements.
The fire involves tho destruction of between 90 and 100
substantial houses situated in Champlain-street, and 40 or 50
wooden tenements situated on the many wharves and slips
running down to the river. It is calculated by those bast
acquainted with the locality which has suffered this fearful
visitation that between 600 and 600 families, comprising at
the ordinary average about 2,000 and 3,000 souls, have thus
been left houseless. The flames broke out in the backattic
of a two-story wooden house situated on the south or river
side of Champlain-street, a short distance below the build-
ing known as the Bishop's School. It is not known with
any degree of certainty how the fire originated. A variety
of stories were in circulation as to the probable cause of
the conflagration, but none of them could be traced to any
reliable foundation. There was a strong westerly wind
blowing at the time, which soon fanned the first jet of flame
into a large volume, and the combustible material of which
the building was composed was in a few minutes enveloped
in flames. The progress of the fire was favoured in a great
degree, not only by the wind but by an additional advan-
tage in the result of the recent exceeding hot weather,
which had reduced shingles, weatherboards, fences, window
frames, &c., to the consistency of match wood. The flames
found congenial material in the woodwork of the neigh-
bourhood, among which they revelled for some time,
beating up, strange to say, dead against the wind, and
destroying three or four houses until they found a barrier
in the stone building used as a school-house. By this
lime thewind
and had
extent increased,
and the fire increasing
in strength
swept
across to the north or
rock side of the street, communicating with the build-
ings on that side, and began to retrace its steps down-
ward. Almost at the same moment it extended to the
rear, and began to envelope the buildings on the wharves.
Detachments of the Royal Artillery Rifle Brigade and
Royal Fusiliers came upon the scene of the disaster in quick
succession. The firemen and police worked manfully, but
in vain. The soldiers also worked well, but the flames
were not finally arrested until half-past five o'clock p m.,
after causing she amount of damage above stated. Ono
of the most striking incidents of the fire was a panic
which took place about half-past 4 o'clock. The rumour of
a proposal to blow up a house or two in order to stop the
fire got abroad among the crowd, and spread rapidly from
mouth to mouth, becoming fearfully exaggerated as it went:
In one place it was stated that the magazines of the citadel
were in danger, and that a fearful explosion might at any
moment take place. In another it was believed that the
cliff had cracked with the intense heat, and was about to
roll down in crushing masses upon the narrow street below,
with its sea of human life. While these reports were being
circulated an order was given to clear the street, in order to
give room to the working parties. A detachment of the
Royal Artillery dashed down the road at full speed for this
purpose, dragging with them a covered waggon. The panic
reached its height. A wild cry of vague terror arose from
the throats of thousands, who laboured undor the belief
that some new and undefinable horror was about to occur.
Acting under the impulse of the moment, they rushed
headlong down the street, a confused, entangled mass of
human beings, horses, and vehicles. Nothing could with-
stand the shock of such an awful human wave. The
more prudent managed to slip into gateways and lanes,
but those who were in the centre of the crowd were borne
along unresistingly. Many were knocked down, and not a
few were seriously hurt by being trampled upon, or by
articles of furniture falling upon them. The panic passed
like an electric shock through the Lower Town, and hun
dreds ran through St. Peter, Sault au Matelot, and St. Paul
streets, not knowing why they ran. It was felt on the lead-
ing thoroughfares in St. Roche, and many took to flight in
the streets, fearinga general blowing up of the city. Even
in the back streets the fear of something horrible made
itself felt. We are assured that even so far down as Belair-
street people hastily debated the propriety of crossing the
St. Charles to avoid the shock. But, like all panics, it soon
subsided, having the beneficial effect of clearing away a very
large proportion of the idle spectators who thronged the
street. Throe or four persons were thrown into the water by
the rush upon the wharves, but were at once rescued. Others
wero hurt or stunned by the falling of heavy pieces of furni-
ture. One man had his hands burnt while being dragged
out of a burning building on a wharf. There wore at least
a dozen cases of slight injuries from burning. It is only
surprising, considering the confusion, the vast crowd, and
the narrow limit within which it was packed, that we have
not to deplore fatal accidents. During the conflagration
sparks ignited the dry top-hamper of three or four vessels
lying at the wharves, and the destruction of the whole lot,
numbering over a dozen, which were in immediate
proximity at the time, seemed imminent. By the activity,
however, of the crews they wore soon cast loose from their
moorings and hauled out. Several moved down the stream
to other berths; 15 vessels had thus to be moved in order
to avoid the fire, and on board as many more it re-
quired the constant exertions of the crew to prevent the
rigging from igniting. A quantity of timber alongside
some of these vessels got adrift during the confusion,
and floated down with the tide, but was afterwards re-
covered. The loss of the property alone is estimated at
over $BOO,OOO, averaging each house at $BOO. The loss
of stock and furniture destroyed may be calculated at
half as much more. A comparatively small portion of
the loss is covered by insurance—little over one-fifth. The
Royal, the London, and the Quebec are the principal suf-