New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-06-30
CALIFORNIA
The Great Fire, its incidents and Consequences
-Enterprise OF tie people-Plans for oo-
tanning Water-7Iiuing Prospects and ope-

Correspondence q The Tribune

SAs rRANcisco. Thursday May 10
Our CITY IS IN ashes-;he body dead out
not 'ho soul I wll .,ayc 20 the newspapers
nc, Of the d,,,l.. Of TINS ie.nD'c calamity le-
strlctinc mys,t 70 few bref remarks. Inc
fire broke out ofeo.s,,y 10 .hc reogra heal ceh-
ter Of the CITY. iu Clay--'. stones throw from
the Post Office, the wind blowing gale ION
due Yves. and directly toward the haroof anu
the dcnsely-lui.t and business strict .oi
this point 10 orteuded with amazing IdPr""',
eating out the heart Of the City noIth"aio an"
son,byard along the wharyes. forming cfes-
con, tvo.tbirds Of q mile il length and onetnlrd
m deotb It began on Saturday night at eleven
O'clock. and was arrested toward daylight IN Us
sor,b,yar,l cou-sc. bat not until long after sun
r,se toward Clark's Point. The number OF
l,ildioos DESTROYED was between 500 and co..
| co,oprising three-fourhs OF the large ana SUD-
stantial edihces IN the CITY.
There were on the track Of the hre upward o'
20 brick and ron buildings, mostly large ana val
uable and furnished with IRON shutters ana o'hei
6re.nroof arrangements OF these, fifteen eS-
caned The result shows that freprooi houses
coa h. erected and it will lead TO proper care IN
this respect for the future The IRON shutters
were too slight to Withstand the intense heat
without being warped from their place, and IN
this way the fire entered at the windows and
doors Argent's Banking house had the WIN
dows set in the wall, so as to be lmmoyable' ana
il escapod. This building had fiat roof covered
with couposition so that 1t was flooded with
water 10 the depth of several inches. One or
two other houses were saved by the iron shut
tors being inside No one VIII now pretend to
make a fre-proOi house without dopbie IRON smut
ters ar shutters Of boiler iron set IN the wall.
And tins will be the arrangement OF nearly an
the brick buildings hereafter erected
The iron houses iased still worse. The M
tense heat OF the 'conhagation scarcely touched
| them, when they fell IN ruins At the corner OF
/ Montgomery and Sacramento SIS stood spen-
/ did IRON stOrehOuSe, bullt win MASSIVE pillars
! and thick plates and apparently capable " re-
sistng the flames II was occupied 10y laane
| a. McCahill, and flied with valuable goods y
/ number OF persons remained within a u became
! surrounded by the destroying clement attempt
ing to save IT, But the iron expanded with the
| heat. the floors gave way and they were m
stanilv buried IN a mass of blazing runs oN
perscns met this horrible death. One OF them
| was Capt Walsh of Baltimore, another the
brother of McCahlll Most of Tie bodies were
recovered only after several days, and thenthey
could not be distinguished one from another
The remains of Capt Welsh were recognized 10y
bunch of keys lying by their side. -Four OF the
bodies were found i'm the same spot mangled and
burnt The wretched victims had crowded to-
gether IN one corner, where they mot lhClr sau
fate.
The most exaggerated reports gained cuuon
CIV. respecting the number OF deaths from the
confederation II was known that IN several
instances persons had renamed IN their stores
suuposng them secure, TIL they took ire, or
Were surrounded by the raging food, and rumoF
ascrbcd great loss of lie to tins cause. Tn Sun
day II was generally believed that from 80 TO
lO0 persons had fallen victims. No wonder 1t
should he So when hundreds had been able to
save nothing, or al most a single trunk or bum
desc incOnCelvably rapid, and beyond all anti
clpaton was the spread OF ruin. Houses that
were thought out OF danger, were IN ten minutes
time envclOpCd IN flames. while the owners, con
fldcnt of the safety of their own habltatlOns,
were III another street assisting their nclghbors.
1t is truly astonishing how many haHdreds OF per
sons, might say, saved nothing Vast guam
tliicS of merchandise were consumed IN the
streets, and the streets themselves, being Gov
cred with plank, added to the universal ocean of
fire. The citizens were appalled, and Niapihrd'
and for the most part appeared 10 abaHdOn the
city TO destruction.
Beside the SIX persons killed IN the ron store
alluded to- man was burnt 10 death II attempt
me 20 save the Custom HO Sc, another fell dead
from exhaustion, and believe third was killed
during the Ere-Wakng nine deaths IN all
There Were many narrow escapes. lhe large
banking and siorchouse of Wells 4 Co, supposed
to tie fire proof, was Surrou ldcd by fam's ana
the cellar I'M a blaze, when the inmates VINO
were CndeavOrlng 20 save Il discovered thtr oal-
ger and attempted to escape but theH were
badly burned i'm running through the names
Many persons received similar INJURIES, bul they
are ali recovering Three workmcn Were killed
several DAYS anerward 10y the falling OF a wall
they were removing, and the fourth 10y another
wall This ends my tale OF death
The amount OF property destroyed haS he'n
varously estimated. The lowest marx aHoWt'
l. about ten millions, but think this Is too high'
/ have no doubt that SIN millions would cover the
entire loss
Al one perlod, the destruction OF the shipping
apaeared inevitable. BY the most strenuous tN-
cnlonS the course OF the tre down JackSon-St.
WAS arrested before It reached the end oil the
wharf where II would have communicated with
a dense mass OF shipping, and treo!ed me GeS,
truction of property for the shipping WAS iull OF
valuable merchandise. The progress OF thc
| flames on the other wharyes was also checked,
| hut not until they were nearly Sewpt iron emf
| To end.
asking from five TO twenty dollars for every load,
! and IN some instances throwing of the boxes
from their carts because the owner was unable 10
! nav them the cash m hand Some OF our oeS'
! merchants received this treatment \ fen, how
/ ever. OF the cartmCn, refused 10 receive pay De-
yond the usual rates, for Whlchtbcy deserve high
/ honor Hundreds of men We're employed al =
| per hour III removing or preserving property.
As Is customary, the fine has been ascubed 20
design. and the Sydney boys Scoundrel> as many
Of them ere. receive the credit Bur have no
idea Of any other cause than carele>>ne>S. IL
| began IN paint shop, fronting On one OF The mos;
! public streets, while many persons Were passing
and repassng, and IN bright moon. The CIT
| cumStanceS were not those OF inceudlauSm.-
| T Is a wonder that the great combuSullty of
| most OF the buildings, and the general careless
ness with fires and lights DO nor lead 20 more
| frequent repetluon> of the catastrophe