East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1863-12-02

Iupci, iit sioNlR ullii'u Al w ihc l'oN
der, when, alas. alas, instead of red
flames and beautiful coruscations, tho
powder violently exploded, and comu-
nicating with the large residue i'll the
paper, assembled in huge volumes OF
brilliant flame TO the ceiling; totally
extinguisling the lights in tho cham
dilier, and leaving the room in utter
darkness.
The first impulse of each was, Of
course, to stand notionlcss and aghast
with astonishincnt; the second, to rush
towards the door ns rapidly as possi-
BILE; which all doing simultaneously,
the pressure upon it closed il as eiiec-
tua]ly as though it had been barred
with hooks OF steel. In valn those
near it struggled and struggled to-
open it; they could scarcely move II
hand, much moro the door.
Conceive then, if you can, tender.
hearted reader, the uncomfortable sit
uation of three or four hundred peo-
pie thus Gagged together in utter dark
ness. Conceive, if you can, tho feel
ings, the ideas, the sensations, the
fears, the distrcsscs, and apprchen-
sions Of the many virtuous and deli
cate females present. Conceive, too,
the sudden alteration Of character; the
tantaneousexchangc Of all the fash.
ion of inertncss and listlcssness for all
the vrlgarity of activity and excite
mcnt; the squeezing of the e1egantes,
and the elbowing of the transcendents
in fact, imagine that, like fiat from
Heaven, extinction Of n few candles
tore from each the mask Of factetious-
ness, and laid her bare III all her MT
.;,s, Lea.,t t,,-.., lac .....:: T.
As to the sensations OF the gentle-
men, / will not attempt to describe
them they are too acute, too suscep-
tiblc, too sensitive, and too delicate To
bo Communicable to an unknown, who
might not duly appreciate the caifdor
of my exposition.
However, to increase, if possible,
this general scene of confusion and
misfortune, spark remaining i'll the
ashes of the powder lighted an un'
consumed portion of it, which slightly
exploding, brilliantly famed, and
then Disappeared; after having illu-
minated the room for few seconds,
and set fire to some drapery about the
table, to two or three gowns, and to
most ample, frizzy, oily, and inhama-
bio wig of the gentleman like Mr.,
Gibbon, the celebrated historian of
the Decline and fall Of the Raman
Empire.
The moment this unhappy gentle
ms m1Snr' ne uc'Sah 'ro' uoav 1t, an"
on o-J 4, l. ~ue o'ar;ot JdV'os''ifhs
did not succeed i'll extinguishing the
flame, like a maniac, he forced his
hcadlong way through the crowd,
kindly imparting in his progress a
portion of his superiluous warmth to
all the inilammable material within
his reach, until he attained one of the
windows, which being open at the top,
in the phrensied hope of escape, he
began to climb, setting instantaneous
ly the whole of the light curtain dra-
perry in one universal blaze. Finding
matters, therefore, rather hotter i'll
that quarter even than below, he turn
ed his mind towards dcscent when,
alas and again alas he became Mt
that moment beacon TO passing
fire-cnginc without, the conductors of
which, seeing flames and smoke issu-
ing from a window, began to pump
with the utmost promptitudc against
the body of the unfortunate circular
faced gentleman, who, after a duo
quantity of soaking, burning, kicking,
and screaming, was at length washed
hcadlong into the room, n miserable
addition to the comfort Of his compan-
ions, leaving ut the window n conven-
lent vacancy for the triumphant en-
franco of magnificent stream of wa
ter, of more than one inch i'll dame
; ter, and three in circumference
Tho moment the splashings from
: the body of the unfortunate circular
faced gentleman touched the ladies
and their clothes, those theorists who
were not Thoroughly acquainted With
the capabilities of the female voice in
formally pronounced the noise to be ut
its climax, concoiving that neither hu
man nor mechanical means could in
crease il; but when the water in tor
I, rents, and Il man into the bargain,
l wore raincd into the room, the afor-
! said theorists penitently confessed
themselves to be totally mistaken in
! their coniccturcs, and frankly and in
geniously added that they did not
! think nll hell itself could mako sueIl
, aa uproar.
Thanks So the discriminating selcc-
ton of the tiremcn, the window broken
4 was in the very centre of tho ROOM,
4 and thus commanded perfect range
j of the whole crowd within. Some of
them sought refuge beneath the ta-
! blcs, and thus partly escaped; somc
u got under the window itself, and al-
: lowed the torrent to pass over them,
: and some forcibly cndcavored to shell
: ter themselves behind others, Vain
: were threats, tears, and supplications
: TO stop the horrid spouting; the moro
they cried, the moro the men pumped;
Il for though the flames had disappear
If cd from the window, the inconceivablo
/, noise within convinced the invctcratc
n bumpers without that tho fire must
N still ragc somewhere. SO they con-
s tinucd with the most obstinate dill
is gencc, till every one of their unfortu.
l. nate victims was Utterly d-cnclied 10
the bone.
d 1t is hardly possible, indeed, TO con-
10 vey to the mind by description of tho
d confusion and disasters of that unpar-
ie allclcd scene. The fine statutes and
7 iellics, the diamond necklaces and
'r blanc-mangos, the bruised shns and
Il bleeding noses, the bottles, slippers,
re turbans, wine, and false hair; the
legs of women and legs of tables,