The Sun.
London, England, 1860-09-08 00:00:00

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- -
SP PA .P
Pen,AT CONFLAGRATION AT 831-eR2V.A'.`,7"\

_ .
etl2!lae inipartiia; of Smyrna, to ~..4
~.
-the 29th -of -A.uptsf,_gives the following account 0f4.Q.?;
a terrible conflagration which: ht',taken place at„,64-1
that city : ----,..,,-, ;L: ~,, ~fv,,'
\.-;-'...11,42:1_),
" A terrible disaster has befall6t4he irty
Smyrna. A conflagration has destroyed tharpar
which had remained intact after the catastrophes
of the years 1841 and 1845. According to the esti-
mation made 700 houses have fallen a prey to the
flames.
It "L',.--,. ,-- - 41- - --

,nth the heat here has been
—ocatiug, vai wing irom 90 to 100 degrees Fahren-
heit. This Senegalian atmosphere has dried the
wood beyond measure, and rendered it more easily
inflammable. At the same time a north wind of
extraordinary violence never ceased to blow except
at rare intervals.

" About half-past 7 o'clock on the morning of
the 27th pistol shots announced that a fire had
broken out somewhere. It was at St. Dimitri.
People rushed to the spot, but before the first assist-
ance could be given the conflagration had mada
rapid progress.
" St. Dimitri is a sort of faubourg of the town,
commencing at the extremity of the Rue des Roses,
bordered on the right by the Armenian quarter, on
the left by that of St. Catherine, and extends east-
ward to the new hospital of St. Roch, where the
gardens commence. All this space is filled with
very old houses, built exclusively of wood. Most
of the streets are exceedingly narrow ; some of the
projecting roofs almost touch across. The inhabi-
tants are nearly all Greeks, and are chiefly day
workmen at various trades.
" Owing to the strength of the wind the greatest
anxiety was felt. Strong gusts sent the flames
in every direction, and the conflagration as-
sumed terrible proportions.
All hopes of stop-
ping the flames had to be abandoned, and for
seven hours they did their work of destruction. At
2 p.m. it reached the extreme end of the Rue
des Roses. In this street the fifth house on each
side is of stone ; on the right side the great esta-
blishment of the Deaconneu7,s, recently in-
creased by the adjunction of the ancient Papasian
house ; on the left the house of Roboly. Every
effort was made here to arrest the progress of the
flames. The house of Papasian, nevertheless, caught
fire, and had it not been through the mercy of Pro-
vidence that the 'wind lulled, the destruction of the
whole of this quarter of the town v,'ould have been
inevitable. The flames were got under on this
side. In the street to the left, leading to St.
Catherine, one single building was left standing,
that of Dr. J. Edwards.

" .All the public establishments have been thrown
open to receive the sufferers from this disaster, and
a committee was at once formed to collect subscrip-
tions to provide for their immediate wants. To-
day, at noon, 130,000 piastres had already been
subscribed.
" The cause of the disaster was purely accidental.
It is said that a woman had lit a candle in honour
of the Virgin, and having left it burning it caused
the fire.

" His Excellency Osman Pasha, Governor of
Smyrna, was absent from the town when the fir©
broke out. He hastened back to the scene of con-
flagration. Hamed Bey, Chief of the Police,
worked with his men. The soldiers of the garri-
son, the artillerymen, and the crew of the Giay-
Ferah worked with zeal.

"An English detachment, under the personal
command of the Captain of the Terrible, worked
willing:y and zealously.
"M. Usquier, son-in-law of the French Consul,
showed great devotion at the head of a body of
men.

"The crews of all the other steamers and ships
rendered all the assistance in their power; the
Mussulman population also behaved well, helping
to carry buckets of water, &c.
" Putting aside the natural anxiety caused by
the calamity, order and tranquillity were not for
one moment disturbed.

" The official report gives the number of houses
burnt at 700 ; at first it was supposed that 2,000
had been destroyed."

A LAS? LAUGH WITH TIIO2IIAS HOOD.

(Froei Chambers' Journal.)
What a capacity for love and friendship had that
fine fellow's soul ! How naturally he flew to the
rescue of the weak or the ill-treated ! What noble
indignation he felt for the tyrant and the bigot!
How the hearts of all good men were attracted
towards his, no matter how different from his own
were their dispositions and callings ! How grate-
ful his modest spirit was for a little kindness ! He
loved his fellow creatures, but despite that univer-
sal sympathy, he did not (as sometimes happens)
love his wife and children less. All children were,
indeed, inexpressibly dear to his tender nature.
When prostrated by sickness, and in far from good
pecuniary circumstances, he would still find time
and spirits to address a laughter-moving letter to
one of his favourite little folks ; and this when his
writing had got to be of considerable value—a pe-
riod at which the most prolific authors are apt to
be chary of their correspondence. Of three letters
thus indited to the children of his staunch friend,
Dr. Elliott, then residing at Sandgate, we hardly
known which to select for its charming humour,
lurking pathos—for the writer was at the time
sick, almost unto death—and the writer's adaptabi-
lity to the capacities he was addressing.
" 111 Y DEAR JEANX,—SO you are at Sandgate ?
Of course, wishing for your old playfellow, M—
H— (he can play—it's work to me), to help you to
make little puddles on the sand, and swing on the
gate. But perhaps there are no sand and gate at
Sand gate, which, in that case' nominally tells us a
fib. But there must be little crabs somewhere,
which you can catch, if you are nimble enough—so
like spiders, I wonder they do not make webs. The
large crabs are scarcer.
" If you catch a big one with strong claws—and
like experiments—you can shut him up in a cup-
board with a loaf of sugar, and you can see whether
he will break it up with his nippers. Besides
crabs, I used to find jelly-fish on the beach, made,
it seemed to me, of sea-calves' feet, and no sherry.
The mermaids eat them, I suppose, at their wet-
water-parties, or salt soirees. There were star-fish
also, but they did not shine till they were stinking,
and so made very uncelestial constellations.
" I suppose you never gather any sea-fl Jones
but only sea-weed. The truth is Mr. D
never rises from his bed, and has a gal:
have heard
weeds, like Dr. Watt's Sluggard.vidfull of
I refreshing,
that you bathe in the sea, which
but it requires care ; for if you stayeris very
nder water too
afirs72,s tail—which she
rill& which is
long, you may come up
'bad better try this with
into half a doll-fin.'
only half a lady, with
can boil if she likes. You
her
your doll, whether it t u rsnesa
I alw ayedid wen I
" I hope you like the was about t
was a child, which h a fizzing two years ago.
Sometimes it makes c
London zzing and foaming. I
of our cheats do not bottle it
wonder some
up, and sell it for ginger-pop. When the sea
is too roug.lt If you pour the sweet oil out of the
cruet all over it, and wait for a calm, it will be
quite smooth—much smoother than a dressed salad.
~ some time ago exactly,
there used to be, about
the part of the coast where you are, large white
birds with black-ti •
black-tipped wings, that went flying and
screaming over the
sea, and now and then plunged
down into the water after a fish. Perhaps they
catch their sprats now with nets, or with hooks
and lines. Do you ever seo such birds ? We used
to call them gulls,' but they don't mind it ! Do
you ever see any boats or vessels? And don't you
wish, when you see a ship, that Somebody was a
seacaptain instead of a doctor, that he might
bring you a pet-lion, or calf-elephant, ever so many
parrots, or a monkey, from foreign parts ? I knew
a little girl who was promised a baby-whale
by her sailor-brother, and who blubbered
because he did not bring it. I suppose there are no
whales at Sandgate, but you might find a seal about
the beach ; or, at least, a stone for one. The sea
stones are not pretty when they are dry, but look
beautiful when they are wet—and we can always
keep sucking them !
" When I can buy a telescope powerful enough,
I shall have a peep at you. lam told with a good
glass you can see the sea at such a distance that
the sea can see you. Now I mast say good-by, for
my paper gets short, and not stouter. Pray giv°
my love to your Ma, and my compliments to Mrs.
H—, and no mistake, and remember me, my de
ar
Jeanie, as your affectionate friend, ff
"Taos Ho"'
" The other Tom Hood sends his love to ever,'"
body and everything. a good
P.S.—Don't forget my pebble;
naughty-Icm would be esteemed c0r.i01".7
I used to
To Jeannie's brother he writes 'line. It was
catch flat fish with a very long
esrtrang; there are no
like swimming a kite ! But p
ur snoe-soles. The
flat-fish at Sandgate--except Ysh°wh
fi ere there are
flaa
best plan, if you want t-
nd hammer them into,
none, is to bring codlings,,_ice, and seeing it all
dabs. Once I caht a Pia
thought bad caught the measles."
over red spots, iI be better soon
somebody
He hopes the lad will somebody and with told me you had
theman observes he
'4 I regard to
swimming, t 'oonert new ideas." only swim in
fancy, and strike

d last springwere aufficiemtly high tc. tempt ship-
ments the prices of grain
.in
Incredible as. it may seem
ents from California..lifi San Francisco advicos of the 31st
N. July mention that at that moment six ship s were loadii
with wheat and oats, two of which were fon England, anci
the remainder for Australia and New, Zealand. l3arlii,
also, had beau sent to Chili in cozuso4mblq quantities.