The Feliciana Democrat., 1858-10-16
Tbt ftlitiana 1(motrat.
CHRYSTAL PALACE BURNING.

The New York papers of the 9th Inst. bring
us the particulars of this destructive conilagra-
ton, which was briefly announced by telcgraph:
The Crystal Palace, the scene of so many of
the great public demonstrations which have Ia
ken place in this city of late years, was total
ly destroyed last evening by fire. and the site
is now q mass of smoking ruins Not only the
Palace itself, but everything that it contained
was burned up ard the exhibitors at the Great
Fair Of the American Institute, which was be
ing held there for two weeks past, have lost all
they had in the building
There is every reason to believe that the fire
was the work of an iucendiary, as it originated
in part of the building in which no fire was
used, but which was filed with in0amable ma.
terial, the debris of the Palace, which was put
in an out.of-the.way place, for fear of accidents.
The fire was first discovered shortly before five
o'clock in the afternoon, in the northeast corn.
er of the building, about two hundred feet from
where the machinery was on exhibition. At
this time there were about three thousand per.
sons in the building, mostly women and chill
dren, who were viewing the articles on exhibi
ton. The building was so large that it PROV
ed difficult TO spread an alarm. and il was some
time before the visitors could he warned of their
danger and the danger to all in the place was
mos imminent, for the flames, when they GOT
under headway, spread with fearful rapidity,
and as by magic the vast cdice was Que mass
of glowing fire and fame. There were eight,
hydrants in the building ; bnt the suddenncss
with which the fire spread gave the employees
of the American Institution no time to use
them and almost before the hose could be
screwed on the con0agraton had made such
headway that all attempts to save anything on
exhibition, much less the building, were entire
ly useless.
Tee scene in the Palace during the progress
of the flames was one of indeScrihabe confi-
sion. A panic seemed to seize every one, and
the bewildered visitors scarcely understood
their dangerous position well enough to pro-
vide for their own safety. The children sceam.
ed, women tainted. and their distracted male
attendants with difficulty found their way to
the doors. At the time we write there is no
certainty as to whether any lives are lost, but
if all who were in the palace escaped il is lit
tie less han miracle. Last night was TO have
been concert night, and the managers cs'i-
mated that at least 10, persons would have
been present. Had the fire, therefore, taken
place three hours later, there is scarcely doubt
but that thousands of lives would have been
lost, as al conld not have passed the doors be-
fore the dome fell.
The pitch pine which formed the flooring,
stairs and framework of the entire palace, nf-
forded a most iniammable pabulum for the
confagraton to feed upon, and this explains
the reason ofts rapid spread. The scene when
the fire was at its height was one Of fearful
magnifceucc. The huge dome was like vast
ball of fire. and the flames lcaped up its side.
in great waves of lurid light. At one time the
whole palace was glowing like burning coal
and vomiting up fire at rate that would have
done credit to Nesuyius. All who witnessed
the spectacle declared that it was one of those
things rarely seen III lifetime.
About twenty five minutes after the fire was
first discovered the dome fell with fearful
crash and the flames made one final leap up
wards and sank to rise no more. III forty min
utes from the breaking out of the fire the Pal
ace and all it contained were totally destroy
ed and all that marked the site Of this once
proud building are few standing towers and
a smoking heap Of ruins.
NUMBER OF EXHIBITORS AND THEIR LOSS.
The total numbe Of exhibitors Il. the fair WI,
about $500. OF these no catalogue has yet
been made out, and it is difficult to get at ar
estimate Of the loss Of each exhibitor. Some
OF the articles were, of course, of little or nc
value, but the majority of the articles were cost
ly, and as they were not insured, the loss will
fall heavily upon the exhibitors. The average
value for each exhibitor would not fall below
$500. AT this rate the total loss would be as
follows:
$3.50 exhibitors, $500 each Isl, ,0sS, ,O0O
Cost OF Building g.............. 1000
Total loss. 81 700, ,OO0
This estimate may be IA little too high, but
the items seem little enough.