Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-07-10
Great Fire in SO. PeGersbaFg-HevoIutio
nrV HucendfarisF,1,

/, look upon its universal stone and stucco palace
3 it would appear almost impregnable to fame
1t has ample facilities for quenching fire in sun
mer, for it is cut up with large canals, and th
| NeYs, wide and inexhausisble river runs slmOi
through the middle of the city. Unlike Moscow
it has no traditions Of great fires, excepting th
destruction Of the Winter Palace some thirt
years ago-an event in which the Empero
Nicholas made himself prominent by allowinl
none OF the wOrkmen to endanger their lives il
rescuing the furniture, declaring that he woul,
prefer it should be all destroyed rather than hav
q single life lost Ia the famous Costume
Dyori or public bazaar, the most extraordinary
preparations are made to guard against fire.
Yet We learn that notwithstanding all this
some thirty fires had taken place in the city
during the two weeks preceding the departure
OF the last European steamer. The city ha.
been placed under martial law, trade and com
merce is at a stsnd-stilI, and even goods ordered
from England to St Petersburg have been coun-
fernandez The committee Of the bank has
passed resolution for the unlimited prolODgatiou
OF the credits hitherto opened to large commercial
firms whose establishments were burnt in the
late eonhsgrstion. A Syndicate hiss likewise
been appointed, for the purpose Of opening cred.
its to smaller shopkeePeTs.
| These fires have political significance, and
| therefore create a sensation dsproportiOnate
]
has been published declaring that rapine, mur-
der incendiarism and destruction OF crops iJ to
be punishable with death
hestatements that a third Of the city has been
! destroyed are greatly exaggerated, and it IS ac-
| knOWledged that the burnt district includes only
the poorer and inferior portions of the CITY. Yet
the loss is roughly estimated at from two and e
haf to i've millions Of dollars Of our money.
None OF the great palaces, or public buildings
near the Nevs have been destroyed.
Yet this fire has consumed one of the most re-
markable and characteristic features of st. Pc.
teTsburg-the celebrated Apraxin Dyor, or,
as it Is called by the English residents, the Louise
Market. This was a large space, some Fl fteen
acres in area, surrounded by uniform rows Of
| stores, and situated near the great Gostjnnoi
| DvOr, in the heart of the city and but a few
minutes walk from the Nevsky Pfospekt, the
Broadway Of st. Petersburg. This Louise Mar
ket Is the tavOrite resort Of the poorer classes.
1t Is entered by wide gates between the Gordon
OF buildings which incIOsed It, and which, quite
/ respectable in appearance, would lead one to
expect regular and sven elegant series of
stores. Bul once inside, all this changes The
entire area IS covered by most intricate laba-
rynth OF streets or paths wide enough only for
pedestrians, and hanked by little wooden
houses never more than two stories high and
| generally but one. Occasionally the paths ex-
pand into little open spaces, filed with pedlsrs
instead of houses. Every conceivable thing
and great many that are not conceivable, could
be bought here-from q tun of lead to an old
pamphlet worth two cOpeks-frOm a feather bed
| to Heedle-trom pisnO-fOrts to a broken can
| dlestiek-for in Russia everything has q mar
ketable value, and peddler may and has been
| seen crying vehemently to passers-by to pur-
chase something from his stock, said stock con
sisting Of an iron pair of spectacles without any
glasses, two tallOw candles, and rusty key
Here also are the shops where are made the
/ quaint, holy pictures to De found in every Rus
sian hoUse-portrsits of saints or the Medonna,
painted on wood, and then covered over with
tin or gilt foil so that only the face and hands
/ OF the painted saint can be seen, as if he were
l peering from the bars Of a prisoa.
These pictures are to be had at all prices,
| from twenty cOpeks to q thousand rubles. Here
are also the bOOkstsnds, very much ike book
stands in other cities, comprising in their stocks
| innumeTable old books in unreliable Russ, vast
numbers in French, not few in Spanish and
Italian, and some in English. The gsudily col
oTed pictures sold at a eopek apiece to the peas
/ ants, and representing saints in blne and vel
low glory, or scarlet apotheOses Of the Cars
Nicholas and Alexander, or fierce warriors on
niraculonsly shaped steeds, prancing over a soil
striped in blue and purple, pictures OF the sUE
priests or delineati0ns Of scripture parallels, OF
portraits of the reigning family, OF representa-
tiOns Of popular legends-sh these were to be
| found in the Louise market Here too was The
great depot of old clothes and cheap iewelTy and
samOvaTs or tea urns. AL the shOpkeepers wore
the good old Russian costume of blue cloth in
one long gown reaching from the neck to the
heels, and buttonsd in front; AMI they wCrs
magnificent auburn boards and had their hair
parted in the middle, Ike Mario and some of our
uptown fops, and were moreover provided with
tOuters, who cried out the excellent character of
their goods These tOuteTs were boys, and they
made a terrible racket. This was a peculiarity
OF the ApTaxin DYor-tEat it was lively and
noisy, and people acted as if they were wide
awake. In the streets Of st. Petersburg, in
summer everything IS magnificently quiet aud
dull-but once in the Louise market and all is
different. There is plenty of noise, aad melc-
diouS noise, too, for the Russian language, the
most euphoneous Of any modern tongue, never
sounds harsh Or unmUsical, ngteven when bswl-
ed out by the lowest and most illiteTs!e classes
It was a relief to get out Of the dreaIy splendOr
Of st Petersburg into this cor cOrdiHal of the
city-this lively, bustliDg, cheerful, shabby
characteristic and unparalleled Apraxin DYOr
which, by the way, has no special claim to its
unpTepOssessing sOubTiquet OF Louse market.
On Whit-Mondsy last, 10 accordance with an
old custom, all the poorer peOple-shopkeeper
and mechanics, but particularly the former
dressed in their best clothes, and wearing all
their fnsTy, came ont to the Summer Garden,
partially to attend the almost obsolete wife
show, but principally to show themselves off.
The Summer Garden, long park, cut up by
rectangular walks, shaded by luxurious trees,
bounded on one side by the Nevs, and On the
others by wide, stOne-faced canals, was so
crowded that the wide avenues would scarcely
hold the moving and polite sssemblage, every
male member Of which had his hat half the
time off his head, in his frequent salutstiOns to
other long coated, sleek-hsired, polite old Rus
SLAMS like himself.
1t was just at this time that q terrible rumor
was waited 10 the gay crowds a. the Summer
Garden. The Apraxin DVOT was on fire, and all
that part Of the city was threatened with devas-
sation. In hot haste the garden was deserted.
The men leaped into the drOschkies waiting TO
be hired, and the bearded drivers drove Off to
the Nevsky PrOspekt, with fury surprising in
even a Russian Jehu- The women came run
ming on after almost fainting with fear and
ah5isty Bot all arrived too late. The old ba-
zsar was destroyed, together with rows and
rows Of stores in the adjoining streets.
The great government building, occupied by
the minister of the interior, was m flames, while
the soldiers and police were dashing around to
rescue human beings rom the names; IOr IL was
useless to try to save property. Up the wide
streets dashed the great clumsy FIRE engines,
drawn by horses three abreast, and manned by
sturdy men dressed in short frocks, wearing
helmets and carrying heavy axes in their hands
These engines would excite the unuttersbe con
tempt Of the "FOrty-two's men," or any other
of our red shirt gentry, for they are merely
green barrels Of water on wheels Along the
canal were crowds throwing over rich earrisges
and furniture to preserve them from destruction
by fire. The FIRE engines from Moscow, five
hundred miles distant, were sent for, but only
stayed one day, being needed in their OWE city,
where four fires had broken cut.
Towards evening the priests came out in their
rich robes, flashing with gold and purple, and
with banners ndGreek crosses marched through
the streets, the ehoTisters chanting the magnih-
cent chorals of the Greek church At night the
church porticoes and the halls Of the palaces
were crowded with homeless people, who would