The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1844-06-03

GREAT FIRE IN N. oRLEANs-TEN sou,pr,
LAID IN ASHES -DETWEEN TWO AMI
THRU HUNDRED HOUSES BURNED
Our New Orleans papers of the 9th ut rscon.,
this morning bring accounts of the most disosron.
fire which occurred in that city the day preyion.
The following is from the Picayune;
We are called upon to recore the particulars or ~.
of the most extensive and disastrous fires which b,.
ever occurred in our city. Between twelve and ~.
O'Clock yesterday afternoon the flames burst forth !.
the carpenters shop OF Mr. Gott near the Nortbwo,
ern corner Of Franklin and Jackson streets which ho
fore they could be got UNDER spread to the adoni,r
tenOmenls with frightful rapidty. Every buildiOo
was OF wood, and as dry as finder itself from tho
long drought, that nothing cond check the onwwd
progress Of the devOurng element. The fremen os
sembled Immediately; but no water could be oh.
tanned other than from the CUTTERS their attempts At
first were rendered utterly unavaing.
The wind fortunately blew In the direction H..
wards the swamp: hn il been otherwise, the fame,
would have swept towards The river, in which cas-,
there would hive been no bounds to the destruction
As it was, they carried with lightning rapidly
down Jnckson-street, communicating to the houses on
either side, and presenting broad sheet of 6re
some hundred yards in width. The attempt 10 Ar
rest them found entirely out of the power If
man no water could be procured, and the engines
were thus rendered useless.
AT little past -four o'clock the fire had subsided
spent itself for the want Of further food to consume
To attempt TO describe list Of the sufferers or the
amount Of property destroyed would be impossible
Hundreds Of citizens have been left without shelter
& the los'has unfortunately fal'en mostly upon poor
but industrious families ,6,snv of whom owned tho
small but comfortable dwellings IN which they resi-.
ded. Along Canal street, between IRENE AND Rob-
Crtson streets stood number of large e'erant and
costly brick residences, all Of which are DESTROYED
Their bIackened walls some ofthem still stand
ing; but as on the other parts of the burnt district
the houses were mostly Of wood, nothing now gree,
the eye of the behoder save an immense forest Of
chmneys-nll else being burn. smooth with the
ground. We can liken the appearance of this unror.
tunate section OF our city nothing save Il now field
just brought into cultivation, and on which the
heavy trees have been deadened and shorn Of ,be,
branches and tops, but still left standng-sad me.
men,oes what they in their freshness and
pride.
In our next we shall probably be able to give some
estimate Of the cnlamitous loss which has been sus-
taned-0t present il lie impossible TO make even a
rough calculation. Not less than two hundred-many
say two hundred and lighthouses have been de.
stroyed besides an immense amount of other prop
eny. Some par; ofthis was insured at tho different
Offices Of the city, but the greater portion is dead
loss.
+. s. Since writing the above we have tcard II
stated that the number orhouses destroyed will Co(
la'l short Of tco h"ndrei and eighty, and many think
thot three hundred will cover the entire numbet
Hundreds of famles are thus left HON less nad shell
lerIcss, and many Of them absolutely dependen!
tor bread nPon community that will not, we feel
confident turn deaf to any appeal that may be
made.