The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-17 00:00:00

MR. BALDWIN'S SHIPS.

One of the most lamentable associations connected with
this disastrous fire is the loss of Mr. Baldwin's two mag-
nificent composite ships, which he intended to launch in
the course of a few weeks. The loss of these vessels will
not only entail the most serious consequences, in a mone-
tary point of view, upon the builder, but is a great mis-
fortune for the city of Quebec. The best proof of their
quality is, that Mr. Baldwin's ships would have classed
eleven years at Lloyds, an unheard-of classification for
Quebec ships. He has watched the construction from day
to day with great anxiety and pride, determined to offer
to the English market a ship which would not only com-
mand ready sale, but would prove that Quebec
could. compete with the world in naval archi-
tecture. The fire communicated to the shed under
which the ships were then , being built, from
the roof of a blacksmith's house, about six o'clock
a.m., and burnt with such rapidity and fierceness that an
hour later, nothing but the iron beams, knees, and bolts
remained. It is very much to be regretted that the water
was not concentrated on this point for about half an hour,
and if such had been the case, the vessels would have been
undoubtedly saved. It was also remarked that out of
three hundred men who received from Mr. Baldwin their
daily bread, only about fifty turned up to assist in saving
his property. When the fire had fairly seized upon this
great mass of woodwork, the sight was awful to contem-
plate. The persons who had been more closely engaged
in trying to stop the communication of the fire were com-
pelled to leave the yard with the greatest haste, to avoid
being scorched, so intense was the flame from the burning
wood. Many of our young men from the city gave
valuable assistance, but as one or two of them have ex-
pressed a wish to withhold their names from publication,
.we will apply the same rule to all.
The Toronto Globe says :—At one o'clock on Tuesday,
May 24, the alarm sounded from the box in the vicinity
of St. Roch's Church, which called the Fire Brigade
promptly to the spot. Before the water could be ob-
tained into the direction of where the fire was going on,
the flames, fanned by a strong easterly wind, had com-
municated to a number of houses in the vicinity of Crown
and Queen-streets, and it became evident to the spectators
then that no effort could save St. Roch's from a conflag-
ration equal, if not of greater extent, to those of 1845 and
1866. Our reporter lost no time in reaching the spot, and
on his arrival he found the house of a Mr. Berube com-
pletely enveloped in flame, and burning w,th such fierce-
ness as to drive the fire to the opposite side of the street.
The people residing in the vicinity had at this
moment commenced to fully apprehend the dan-
ger of their situation, as many of them
could be seen hurrying to and fro through
the streets, carrying with them such articles
of furniture and wearing apparel as could be con-
veniently removed to places of safety. The sight, in
some cases, was most appalling. Poor women, with
barely a stitch of clothing on their backs, were met at
every turn—most of them carrying their children—rush-
ing in a wild and insane-like manner. As the wind rose,
the flames gathered strength and intensity, leaping with
fearful violence from one building to another—sweeping
before it everything of a combustible nature. The wind
blowing at the time from the east, directed the tendency
of the flame towards the Marine and General
Hospitals—running through Qneen and King-streets,
down as low as Prince Edward-street, which is near
on a line with the water's edge, and at the time our re-
porter left, half past three a. m. , fears were entertained of the
burning of the Marine Hospital. In an upward directien
the fire had gained as far as the walls of the Jacques
Cartier Hall, on St. Francis-street, and in this
direction had carried everything before it up to
the street known as " Vieux Pont," or Old Bridge-street.
The projecting eaves of the Jacques Cartier Hall caught
fire in several places ; but owing to its height from the
ground, a sufficiently strong pressure of water could not
be obtained for a long period of time to reach the spot
where the fire had caught. After considerable difficulty,
ladders were spliced together, and lifted to the side wall
of the Hall, upon which' the hose was raised, but not be-
fore a great deal of time had been lost. When we left
this section of the fire, the water was playing on the burnt
cinders, and there remained a probability of saving the
building. The forces of the fire brigade were next con-
centrated on Old Bridge-street, which runs from Valier-
street to the River St. Charles. Here, a number of
citizens, aided by some clergymen of the Roman Catholic
Church who were present directing, set to work and tore
down all the temporary fencing and other small buildings,
galleries, railings, &c., that could be disposed of by the
hand. The fire had also, in its ravages, continued to sweep
along with terrible force through King and Queen-
streets, wrapping up in its embrace over fifty houses at a
time.