The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-22 00:00:00

THE FIRE AT CONSTANTINOPLE.

The origin of the great fire which destroyed such an
immense quantity of life and property at Pera, Constan-
tinople, has been discovered. A woman had sent her
child upstairs to bring down a "mangal "—an open vessel
containing lighted charcoal, for the purpose of cooking.
The mangal fell on the stairs, a window curtain caught fire,
and as the window was open and there was a strong wind
blowing, the flames soon spread. Unfortunately the house
was of wood, and the street in which it was situated was
very narrow, and the other houses were also of wood. In
a very short time the whole neighbourhood was in flames.
The combustible nature of the dwellings that first
caught, combined with the rushing wind which car-
ried large fragments of burning matter an incredi-
ble distance, caused the extraordinary spread of the
fire. The Levant Times says that the flames, instead
of rising vertically, were blown horizontally, and
attacked buildings apparently a long way out of reach.
Nothing—not stone nor iron, still less wood dry as tinder
—could resist these fiery blasts. Iron shutters were red
hot ; iron girders and bars were twisted in all manner of
shapes, and the glass in the houses was all run into solid
masses. Nothing affords a more striking illustration of
the terrific character of the fire, the Levant Times says,
than the destruction of the British Embassy, a
massive stone structure in the midst of a spacious
garden surrounded by lofty walls, and provided
with fire-engines and an abundant supply of water.
The correspondent of the Standard says :—Whole streets
were withered up, each house on either side being com-
pletely gutted by the flames, which must have done their
work with unparalleled intensity and fury. Nothing more
complete could be imagined ; had it been done by light-
ning, the result could not have been more fearful to behold.
As if by a miracle, three churches in the very centre of
this destruction remained almost wholly untouched, and I
also saw an unfinished house, built of brick, only the carcase
of which had been completed, standing at the corner of a
street without a single mark of fire about it, though every
house around it had been burnt to the ground. With
these 'exceptions, nothing that came within my view had
escaped—all was a blackened mass of charred. ruins. It
will occupy months to clear the rubbish away alone, and
ten years at least must elapse before the immense area
will be again fully inhabited, rising up from its present
ruins, like the fabled phoenix, more beautiful and magnifi-
cent than ever. It is stated that there are now 2,500
tents _pitched on the north side of the town, and from
the appearance of the encampment, I have no doubt of
the truth of the statement. Mrny of the poor people,
though well and carefully provided for as regards food.
are greatly in want of clothing, several women and
children whom I saw being very scantily clad indeed ;
and numbers who were not to be seen, I heard, were
even still more destitute of necessary covering. Much is
being. done for them, but the task is too vast to be
properly accomplished here, notwithstanding the efforts
made by the Government, and the subscriptions opened,
by the various embassies and legations.