The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1852-07-17
GREAT CONHLAGRATION Ar
MONTREAL.
EI@HT HUNDRED HOUSES BURNT.

- ! s,terdav we had to lament one Of the most
awful CONGREGATIONS which has probably ever
occurred in this city. 1t took place early in
the mornng,in shop near the St Lawrence,
Main Street, according to some accounts IN
that street itself. according to others. in St.
Dominique street. BE that as it may. the
dreadful element speedily communicated to
the adjacent premises, and by noon. the whole :
Of the st. Louis Suburb was in flames The
conhagration. hy four o'clock in the afternoon.
had DESTROYED nearly onc-half of the East
side OF St Lawrence street. the Whole o. 81.
Dominique. St. Constant, St. Elizabeth San
euiret. and s.. Denis streets. all running
parallel to each other from North to South.
Ii had also cleared the whole Mynonne, Dor
chester. and great part Of I.a.auchcticre
streets. running from East to West At this
time. saw halt-past ,, T. NJ. we had made a
very accurate survey Of the course and eX-
,e.i OF the CONFEDERATION, and bv comparing
this with the books Of the Corporation. we
found Oh rough calculation, that something
like five hundred houses had been destroyed,
comprising almost the whole of the st. Louis
Suburb. Upon again going over the burnt
district. to verify our account. We ascertained
that great part Of Lagauchetiere street had
also fallen victim TO the dreadful element.
which hal also swept St. Denis street from
end to end BY {. p. NJ, the Bishops church
and the late residence. as well as the newly
built Pa;ue of the Bishop. were in flames
The fire had also extended along St. Catha
rinc street. so rs to destroy everything on the
Nort! side as far as the Asvlc. and on the
South side as far as Mr. Collins the Prothon-
otarv. We then determined to make I'D as
full an account as possible of the whole occur
renee; but had hardly left the scene Of disas-
ter for half an hour. when we were again
recalled to the streets by the alarm of the
Hays House being on fire. The report was
but too true. b. .. 7. NJ, that magnificent
pile of building, was in blaze as high as the
cupoia, and it continued to burn till ore story
after another fell in. This did not happen,
however, until i. mad spread ruin on each
side oft On the South side of the street,
block of houses with an end fronting on Dali
housie Square,,nd dividing No:re Dame from
ST. Paul street. took fire, while the sparks
communicated the contagion right across the
SQUARE, Che whole of which was burnt to the
ground) to the west end Of St Marvs street
agatel by sparks to an indefinite extent till
We went to press. What part of the Quebec
Suburbs will be ultimately saved, it is hard
20 say The Timber Yard and Saw Mills Of
Nessrs. Sims ana Coleman, went earlvin the
afternoon. long before the flames had reached
them in body the fire being communicated
by the sparks. We had hoped to give a full
Ter account of this fearful calamity. but the
constantly growing character of the evil was
quite in excess OF our powers; add to which
the fact that almost all OF our compoSitors
were residents Of the burnt district, and, OF
course. Obliged to be looking after their prop
ertv. We must plead the universalitv of
the calamity as the excuse for orr Snort COM
inss. We have already prepared a list of
about Ave hundred houses which We're de
stroved bv four o'clock. We fear the list
NAV be EXTENDED to six cr eight hundred and
there can be little DOUBT that between 5000
and 5000 persons were lat night without
shelter The relief otthe necessities cf;h"sc
poor persons Is the most pressing call upon
the community at this iuncturr Their s.t-
terngs. mental and bodily .havc been extreme.
durin. the heat and anxiety of the last TWEEN
ty-tour hours. and we hope that means Will
be taken speedily to relieve them
Another paper says Prom TIE main or
st. Lawrence street, the fire burned every
thing before It along Catharinc and Dorchcs-
ter, and widening it, pathway up towards
Cote Barron. and downward to Craig street
As it went along on 81. Denis. no.withstand-
ing the strenuous exertions TO save them, the
splendid buildings known as the Cornwall
Terrace were consumed. The fire having
caught in El!slie's wood ward. and nothing but
wooden buildings intcrvenn" between it and
the Montreal General Hospital, that institn-
ton was in imminent danger from about one
o'clock until haf-past 81 The most strenuous
cxertions were required to keep the fire from
rearhingit.
/ The Union Company did good service
there. and drew a large quantity of wafer
from the large cistcrus on the Hospital
! grounds.
Some buildings and fences were also torn
down here, and the fire checked in st. Dom
Unique street. On the eastern side of the
Hospital the fire ran down below Dorchester
street. to near I.agauchetiere street Above
this It made clean sweep up to the vacant
ground which skirts Cote Barron and extend
ing outward along Dorchester street. Cathe-
rlnc and Mignonnc streets. it made a clear
sweep up to st. Denis street, which wa
burned from one end to the other. The Bish
ops Church and Palace fell prey to tn.
flames the greater part of the Palace hac
; been newly erected. 1t was a splendid Gu
stone building, with futcd columns
The fire ran down St. Catherine street t.
the house of Mr. Coffin, prothonotarv, whicl
was consumed. The Nunnery opposite wa
saved-,hc fire raging on three sides Of it
The buildings on Vigcr place, including tn,
Cattle Market, H., were DESTROYED and her,
the fire was arrested on the lower side.
e The loss of real property will probably b,
from sl25,ooo to sl50,oOo. Not more thar
half of this, we believe. is covered by insu
rance, If 50 much The loss of persona
property it is impossible to estimate man,
poor mechanics and laborers have lost theil
little all, and few of them we fear have taker
the preraution TO insure their furniture; from
: Sl3,000 to 500 We think a moderate val
uatlon OF these loSses-cxcusive of what ha.
been lost in the Church and Palace, the
wood yards and the shops, which will rroba
bly, be 10000. The total loss we should sci
down, therefore, at $4,000 The fircmer
did all that men could do who had no leader:
for part Of the time, and for the best par
OF the rest had to work without water at their
t engines, They worked at their engines up.
, on the roofs; and in the demolition of danger
Gus buildings, from morning till night in the
midst of fire and smoke, and under broi!ino
= sum- with the temperature in the shade al
more than 9vo.
While this fire was raging another one was
klnded, as We are told bv the sharks from,