Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1862-01-03
1he Situation of Charleston.

CHARL LEsToN, S. c., Dec 15.-Our peo-
pie scarcely yet awakened from the trance of
horror aud dismsy into which they we're plung-
ed by the great disaster Of Wednesday night
and Thursday morning. The more carefully
/ survey the psth of the FIRE the more shock
ing is the sense Of utter desolatlon and distress
which creeps over me. The newspapers here
have published long and elaborate accounts of
not aud cannot picture tithe Of tue public
aud private losses, the keen, individual suffer,
ing and general gloom which hsvei fallen
upon the noble old city of Charleston. To
give anything like full history Of these would
require book of very respectable size.
There is no doubt whatever that tbs fire
was purely the result of accident. 1t prob
ably originated from the sparks of a eamp fire
which MAS lit to the windward of the large
sash factory where the flames first burst forth.
A furious gale had just arisen, and in less
than an hour the lower portion of the city was
on fire in a dozen places. The wind whlrled
about crest cnurks of burning wood for dis
taace- of mauy blocks from the blazing tene-
n,epts. and The vast multitude of these RED
fakes, lighting up the air, gave to the scene
ihe aspect OF a fiery snow storm. 1ho combs
grafton attained its full width among the Org
aud ancient liuder box shanties of State anu
Market streets. Erou that naighb0rhood It
swept rapidly and ressilessly forward, spread
ing neither 10 the LETT nor TO the right, but
borne by the wind 10 straight line; diagonal
ly through the city, until it had cleaIed its
road OF ruin from the Cooper to tho Ashley
river. It is soma what singular TO mark the
clearness With which the broad line pursued
by The Ere is defined. Indeed, go furious and
unchauging was tbs gale that blew during the
whole OF that fearful plight; that | think ii ac-
tually served "a protection TO the houses
situated on either side of the line of the fire. |
inasmueh as it kept the flames surging aud
roaring steadily onward and gave them no OPP
portunny TO turn, or 70 bend, or to sprsad.
Tie most irreparable OF the results Of this |
awful calamity Is the Wholesale destruction Of
the antiquities Of our city. Great numbers
Of those grand old mansions Of revolutionary
memory, which have given to Charleston tho
paresiige which, hssattaches to every city of tue
ancient regime, low lie blackeued aud smoul- !
during heaps of ruins. The stately halls in
which the Rebels of '76 were won't to live |
and move are lost to the Rebels of '6l. The |
ancestral homesteads of the Heywards, the
Laurenees, the Pinckueys, The Middletons, the |
Haynes, and os many other families whose |
names are entwined with the history of the
State, aTe leveled with the ground. 1t Is now
impossible 20 go from that portion of the city !
in which are situated the Battery, tho Post
Office and the City Hall, to the neighborhood |
OF the Charleston Hotel, or TO any part of
WentworIh street, without passing through |
wholeblooks of the de=olated tract encumbered !
by huge piles OF stone, brick and Charred raf-
ters. Those who are nnacquainted with these
localities will be able to fern some idea of the
extent Of the FIRE from the fact that its sweep
embraced about q quarter of nile IN width
aud fully a mile in length, through the very
heart and Oldest quarter Of the city.
Much Of the movable property which had
been taken from tie houses was consumed,
owing to the fact that it was foolishly placed
in the street some distance ahead of where the
Ere was raging, but at q poiBt over which the
Ere swept little later. II is appalling to
think Of the immense quantities Of rich and
old fashioned luroiture, the accumulation of
rare and costly libraries, the well stored cell
lars of old vince. beyoad all price, aud the
mass of household relics and effects of every
kind which have been swept away, aud which,
In the present state of affairs, it will be found
quite impossible to replace.
The 6remen worked with all the energy of
desparation; bat their efforts, 10 the face Of
the fierce gale, were of very littlo avail. The
enly really etfectual check given to the con:
lagration was due to the resolute and prompt
course of General Ripley. Mounted and ac-
oompaned BY bis staff, be rode swiftly hither
thiiher, often through streets over which the
flames we're already madly archiDg, his
face and person backened with smoke, giving
hls orders with his Characteristic elearness and
decision.
In the earlier period Of the Ere he saw its
fearful character, and gave orders to blow up
the entire limo Of buildings next in front of
those which were burning. Had this order
been promptly carried out, perhaps the extent
of the confagration might have been very ma
terially lessened; but some delay CT hesitation
occurred, and the auspicieus moment passed. |
Subsequently, the General himself supcrintend
ed the work of blowing up the endangered /
ranges, and there can be very little doubt that
the safety OF the Orphan Asylum, the Roper |
Hospital, containing two huLdred end forty
sick, and tSe Jail, 10 which the Yankee prison
era were confined, is due solely to his ready
assumption of the grave responsibility Of blow.
ing up the intervening houses.
cannot attempt,to pariieularize even the
principal losses. The ST. Andrews Hail was
the scene OF the solemn separation by the /
0onyeution of tha State Of South Carolina |
from tha United States The Instisute Hall, T
tsIiss .'Seeession ualt,s')in which the act was
enthusiastically ratified bY.tbe people, is to
Charleston, what Fanne;l Hall is to Boston =
Tho Cathedral Of 81. FiubAr, built Of brown
stone, was structure equalled IN grandeur