, 1860-02-07


Some 1onr years since We began to warn the
public against the large structures which the
owners s,f real estate i'll our city were Begin
ming to erect Of con,euslib.e materials, Giylug
them such breadth and such height that wlcM
once they cau.h. fire no ordinary engines could
put out the flames. We stlowet, ut the time,
how next 10 impossible It was that i'll one Of
these buildings, crowded with inmates, the
whole Of them should escape with their lives
whenever it should happen, as it might easily,
that the flames had made much progress in the
l"wcr stories before the asarui WAS given. These
adn1opiti0as repeated from tine to tinac it
this journul. and We might hare f:tncied not
wholly without effect, had we not seen building
after building going up after this frightfut pat-
tern, Of immense height, with roofs Of hrs nd
span, and the whole Interior cnntexturc ef in-
!]anlable xood work, ready to becun,e IN OCEAN
of flame at tile touch Of spark.
Last night we had q dcporab'c example OF the
truths which had been urged to So little pur-
pose great building in Elm street, hun
dred aud fifty feet in depth, fifty in width, anu
six stories above the sidewalk, built to contain
twenty-five familics, became suddenly on fire
in the lower story, and before the alarm could
he given ADORE, the chance Of escape for MANY
Of them was gone. The whole space within the
wallis became filled with flames SO fierce and
smoke so dense that it WIS death to descend
the sltrieks Of the doomed inmates rose above
the roar Of the fumes and tho noise Of the en-
gtncs; many feapcd from the windows, and
were taken up mang!ed and lnsensitle; and
others fell into the flames and were burned to
ushes-mcn, women and childr. II perishing by
that most friRhtful of deaths.
We hope the proprietor Of the building was
OIL the ground VIC hopc those who planned and
caused it to be erected w:re there, to sec the
mischief which was the natural consequence Of
tacir devices, n consequence against which they
bad been warned, and for which in tue sight uf
God they are responsible. They are insured. it
is true. but not agu.ns the stings of 5emorsc.
1t may be that they will take refuge behind the
example Of others, and al!sge thct they Layc
merely done what thousands besides have dtne
in this ci.y-but it the vnicc nf consci. &C be
not wholly stihed within them. they will seem
to hear for many night tu come in their beds
tue shri+ks Of their victims, and see their wild
faces as they app nred OIL tia: fatal evening at
the upper wiadows. They will not ue glcct, we
hope, TO be present to-day when the bones Of
these unfortunate creatures arc dug from tic
cinderE Of the ruined building.
The last Of prof: lies Mt tie bottom Of this
wickedness, for such we must 1aii it. These
enormous buildings haye been put up with tie
expectation Of receiving large rents, without
the proprietor troubling Air,self to Inquire
safety Of those who inhabit them. The owners
cause their property to be insured; the inmates
must take tho canco of saving their own iiveS.
Thus it is that these great structures ere reared
when it Is fully known there arr no sutficiuuI
means Of cxtinguishing tires in them; when it
is moral certainty that once In flame, they
must burn to the ground and that ii all their
inmates escape, it must be By some special kind
ness Of Providence, on which We have no right
toprcsume. We etIrout the LAWS OF nature il
trusting the lives Of our fellow creatures TO sucl,
a contingency; the laws which we violate are
terribly avenged in such disasters Us the one
which We record to-day; the community stands
for a moment ayhast, II deep sympathy is felt
with the sufferers, and the next day the founda,
tjons Of new houses ore laid, to be built on the
very same plan, S.th ti'.. sumo blind disregard
OF consequences.
These houses now abound nl} over the CITY,
They ere 50 muny funeral piles, to wh:cl, tic
torch will bc put sooner o. later, aud from tl:
grcater number Of which the sbrieks If hu1-.an
creatures will be heard ,,erishing in the sacsi-
fec VIC offer to the Mo}ucl Of gain. An expert
calculator Of chances tnignt compute iu how
muuy years ai:e Tlo!s Of them will he con-
sumed how many will be laid in ashes iu er.Yy
single year, and how many human beings, Of,
an ayerugr, will annually DC burned to death,
In the meantime, the community must do its
best TO lessen TIC frgllful evils which this sys-
ten Of building has introduced. We must llnSe
more steam tire-engiues, which alone cen bring
water in such Hoods Us are necessary to e2tiu-
gussh the sea Of fire raging within the walls Of
such structures. We must provide au ample
supply Of thnse coutrisauces, FIRE escapes they
are called, by which persons eau descend in
safety from the upper windows Of lofts build
ing. The ingenuity Of man should be set 10
work to dcgiie cverj possible means Of lessen.
ing the danger md supplying lne i.,eass Of es-