New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-12-25
LATEST NEWS.
By Telegraph to the New-York Tribun.
WASHINGTON.
The Capitol on Fire-TA. rih,,u

WASHINGTON.
The Capitol on Fire-The Lih,,,, n..,...
At6 o'clock yesterday morning fire WAS dis.
covered IN the large room occupied BY The er-
tensive Library of Congress We give N. f,l.
lowing dispatches concerning the cstas,roohs
WASHINGTON. Wednesday De- "a
IL oclock 10 N A N.
The FIRE at the Capitol is extending w,ts,
is very scarce, and the weather intensely c,ld
The whole community are out The 6reno,
are nearly frozen. The whole OF the I.Ibr,r,
and contents Of the room are in ashes, and
from present appearances mos. of the buildin,
will be destroyed The Paintings OF the Rotuad,
have been saved.
Second Dispatch.
Spseial Dispatch 70 The v Y. Trlb-me
WASHINGTON, Wednesday, Dec g. ls5l.
lwrite at II o'clock. There is no dan.
ger Of the destruction Of the whole building
The Library Is separated from the rest OF the
building by a twenty. seven inch wall, running
from the basement TO the roof No fire can pen.
citrate except on the top of this wall. where the
beams and ra.tcrs rest upon IT, and of this the
danger Is but small There are seven engines
Three are at the or IN the Enclosure on
the east front. 'ust IN iTont OF Washlngton's
statue two at the front OF the steps that lead 10
the east portIco, and one m the center OF the 70
tunda From these 4 constant stream Is poured
through the main library door upon the now
smoulcenng flames. The entire library room
with Its contents is burned. and the windows
and root have fallen M. The roof fell at half
past II.
The floor of the ro'unda and all the main pas
sage-ways are al0at with water and numbered
with old carpets, hose ashes and rubbls h. The
cause of the fire Is unkn own \ broom and
wooden box and defective eas-plpes are sug
gestcd The ten or dozen night-watchmen left
about the building were probably engaged en-
loving a SnoOzo m their room, which Is IN the
northwest corner OF the building The loss OF
the library Is vast and lueparable, and more
deeply lamented than anything else abou! Wash.
iRgton could be J.Sr,
Third Dispatch
wssurNGroN Wednesday, Dec. pa ls5i-2 pm.
The fire Is under, though the smoke still sui
leny issues through the ROOF of the Library.
The Senate Chamber House of Representa-
tives and Supreme Court room remain undis-
turbed.
All the valuable papers were remoyedirom the
Senate Chamber this morning, but have been
restored.
Nothing is DESTROYED but the wing containing
the Library and nothing will be destroyed un-
less the remains of the fire should make a secret
inroad over the top of the main brick wall be-
fore referred to. which, however, Is not at all
probable
Among the few articles snatched from the
flames In the Library, Is the original Declaration
of independence.
The external appearance of the building !.
unchanged save only the open and blackened
windows of the Library portico JsP
Fourth Dispatch
WAsHlNGroN, "Wednesday, Dec -, 1851.
The whole force Of mechanics aud marnes the
Navy Yard have labored necessarily all the morning
az the Capitol, and at ~ O'Clock had succeededin
separating the roof Of the Library part OF the building
from the domes the Rotunda, and houses, and oy
the application of water from buckets succeeded
in preventing the spread OF the hames and saUng tho
domee
The President, and the members Of The Cabinet
ha... besa he ground all tho morning. giving d.
rections and urging on the firemen and workmen to
almost superhuman eIeItiOn. Owing to the dense
volume OF smoke, all attempts TO save anything,
when the hre was first discovered, were unayang.
The cold ia intense and the tremen have suffered
very much. But very tie water could be- had The
heat nom the burning books IN the Library was
OverpOwerlng but, the ceiling being treproof, the
root was partially protected Considerable fire IA IN
the building STILL bat II is believed to be beyond
further damage.
FIRE in the Franklin Hotel adjoining The IntsL,-
gencer office, took place before daylight The board
ers and the family of Mr. Baker escaped with difii-
cuity.
rim Dispatch Further Particulars
WAsHfNoToN, "Wednesday. Dec. ~, 1851.
The fire was discovered by a watchmap At half
past TINS morning-the flames we're FIRST seen at
the center table sweeping round 70 the northwest
shelving few buckets Of water would then have
suppe Ihe fire. but before they could be procured
the entire library was IN flames. II contained
IS 600 volumes about 1000, which were IN an adj
Joining room we're saved. All the fixtures were
destroyed, and the loss is estimated At over $20o03o
but some OF the works can never be replaced. The
roof OF the library is all burned and the exterora
the building on the west Is blackened. The Dome
at time IN imminent danger, but this and
the two Chambers OF Congress are unlnJured. The
flames were subdued by ~ O'Clock IL has not yet
been ascertsined whether the FIRE was caused by
the fues, or was the work OF an incendIary
guard Of marines has been detailed To watch
during the night