Southport telegraph. [volume] (Southport, W.T. [i.e. Kenosha, Wis.]) 1840-1850, 1846-10-14

/ cheeriuly rushed into every DANGER
Breathing nothing but smoke and ashes
canopied by flame, and smoke and cinder:
surrounded by walls of fire that rocked
10 and fro and fell with a crash amid the
blazing ruins. carrying down with them
re@'hot roofs of iron, he struggled agains
an enemy that no boldness could awe, o,
courage overcome. Those brave troops
has heard the tramp of thousa nds of caval.
ry sweeping TO battle without fear; but now
they stood in still terror before the march
OF confiagration, under whose burning foot
steps was heard the incessant crash of fall
ing houses, and palaces ana churches
The continuous roar Of the raging huui>
cane, mingled with that of the flames, was
more terrible than the thunder of artillery;
and before this new foe, in the midst of
the elements, the awe>sruck army stood
powerless and at1righted.
When night descended on the citv,it pre-
sened a spectacle the like of which was
never seen before, and which battles ali de-
scription. The streets were streets of fire
the heavens canopy of fire, and The en-
tire body of the city was mass of fire, led
by a hurricane that whirIed the BLAZING
fragments in constant stream through
the air. lncessant explosions from the
blowing up Of sores of oil and tar, and spir
its, shook the very foundations of the CITY.
and sent vast volumes Of smoke rolling fil.
riously towards The sky. Huge sheets Of
canvass on fire came floating ike messen-
gers of death through the hames-the tow
ers and domes OK the churches and pala-
ces gIowed with a red hot heat over the
wild sea below, then lettering moment
on their basis were hurried by the tempest
into the common ruin. Thousands OF
wtetches before unseen were driven by the
heat from the cellars and novels. and stream
ed in an incessant throng through the
streets. Children were seen carrying their
parents-the strong, the weak; while thou.
sands more were staggering under the
loads of plumber they had sna;ched from
the flames. This, too, would frequently
take fire in the falling shower, and the
miserable creatures would be compelled q
drop il and flee for their lives. Oh, it was
a scene of wo and fear uncomfortable and
ipdeseribabIe. a mighty and close packed
city Of houses, and churches and palaces
wrapped from limit to limit in flames, which
are fed by whlrljng hurricane, is sigh
This world will seldom see.
Blu; this was all within the city. To
Napoleon without, the spectacle was still
more sublime and terrific. When the
flames had overcome all obstacles, and
had wrapped all things in their red mantle,
that great city looked like a sea of rolling
FIRE, swept By q tempest that drove it into
vast pillows! Huge domes and towers,
throwing off sparks like blazing fire brands
now lowered above these waves, and now
disappeared in their maddening flow, as
they rushed and broke high over their tops
scattering their spray OF fire against the
clouds The heavens themselves seemed
to have caught the cenhagraton. and the
angry masses that swept il, rolled over q
bosom Of fire. Columns Of flame would
rise aud sink along the surface of this sea
and huge volumes of black smoke sudden.
Iy shoot into the air as if volcanoes were
working below. The black form of the
hremin, alone, lowered above the chaos
DOW wrapped in flame and smoke, and
again emerging into view-standing amlc
this scene at desolaiion end terror; like vir
tue in the midst of a burning world, envel-
oped but unsca:hed by the deyouring ele-
ments. Napoleon stood and gazed on this
scene in silent awe; though nearly three
miles distant, the windows and walls o: his
apartment were so hot that he could scarce
ly bear his hand against them. Said he
years afterwards:
at was the spectacle Of sea and bill
lows fire, sky and clouds of fame
mountains ofred rolling flame, ike immense
waves of the sea, alternately bursting
forth and elevating themselves 10 skies Of
fire, and then sinking into the ocean OF
flames below. On. it was the most grand
the most sublime, and the most terrific
sight the world ever beheld.r