, 1865-06-23
THE SARATOGA CONfLAGRA-
TI0E.
United States Hotel and Marvin
House Destroyed,
G5taf Excitement Among the Guests.


NH@
About haltpast four D. m. Yesterday. th
quiet den!zens Of Saratosa were startled b,
me TT OF fire. Smoke Was seen to issn;
rom the north wing Of the Unitcl State.
Hotel, and In Iew mcmeats, that portion
of the hotel Tas enveIoped in damcs The
t;e me companies r. EeIe promptly On hand ; buI
they were rot able to operate with saficIcnt
Vfeor TO arrest the progress of the deypurlng
element. But rs the fire was confined to sec.
tion Of the building, it was believed for some
time thst tue main portion OF the vast edldce
might be eaVed. 90 strong was the expecta.
ticn that the guests In the front and central
part Of the house did not leave their rooms
Or pack up their effects.
But suddenly second fire seemed to break
out In another part Of the hotei-at ieas; ifty
feet from where the first was discovered.
which spread with fearful rapiJi.y. en7eloping
tte entire front IN 2 sheet ct flame. The
pan!c.stricken from the house; the Officers
and attaches sta1npeded for their llYes liz
furniture WAS thrown out Of the doors and
windows and piled In miscellaneous masses
On tie street. Ordinarily cool men seemed
to lose their wits. They rushed ftantica1ly
first came to their hands, and f11ng it out
threw 1ookingg-E1aeses, mirrors and Tasss out
Of ibid story windows and Ignored, OF ao.
peared to ignore, all distinction batwrfn
what WIS valuable and what was compsra.
tiFely worthless. a few, more discreet than
their neighboIs, devoted themselves to nat
trcsees, carpets. &c. AID thus o considerable
pct,icn Of what was really most expensive
snd portable, was eaved.
But soon the fire demon expelled even the
ncst TeIturesome. Vast tongues Of flame
darted out Of tic front doors and windows:
lapptd d the colnice ; nbuuted the roof, and
tuTeloped the entire ediaee Ia a hldeous dru-
n fire In d a1tF.r| tfrs,a
!ell IN W1sh cFnsh and made the air SILVER,
Twenty minutes after the font swayed, top.
pit d abd came down, 3lling the whole horiznn
with mass Of sparks and cinders. Tha rear
and Southern portion soon followed; the
names q licked up the cottages On the grounds
Of the hungry moustes--and before seYsn
o'clock the United States WAS IN undlst!n-
gu'shable ruin.
A. this time the fire seemed to be "mastcr
o. ne sliaa.lon." The 1Icmcn worked brave
y; but they were helpless ngainst tho w
rant. The tnginea worked necessarily, but
their feeble streams appeared rather to add
fnel to the flnme than to quench 1t. A con.
siderable wind was blowing, and the fire had
y" moFEse fs Its W. toward the sdjeinlng bank
House On the other. The trees were wreathed
in flame the zoofs Of the buildings In the VI
cinlfy were repeatedly In bla &c water wns
scarce; the fremen were exhausted. aud IL
1eoked as If good portion Of the town was
doomed. People were seized with panic,
m a1d ocgsn TO carry their goods Into the street.
Tie connection between the hotel and bank
vas IN aa:oes; TIC Marvin House Was burn
Ing vigorously the telegraph Office was "cs-
topped" from iurther btlainess
Jnst linen cheer went up that made the
Welkin ring. and the next instant the BatIston
ire company cane numbering up the street,
1hty went to work with will ; stu the Ore
swept onward. More goods were dumped
out into the street; more men and women
rushed ssantlcally hither and yop, cryioe.
geHtienlatinE, Wringlng their hands. Afiot1.
CT period OF doubt md danger: when the
arrival Of steam engine from TroY settled
Tue dreadful duel between man aud The blind
Hames Of nature, The Marvin hotel was
@ uestr9yed: out the bank was saved so were
me adjoining buildings; 80 we're the private
residences Of Mrs. Marvin, property Of The
United States, md Mrs, Hawthorne. nrn,er-
II OF Congress Hotel.
Several persons we're prostrated bv hent |
ano 9yer-exert'on, while one Or two we're ss-
t11ousiy o)a1ed oy accident. We cannot learn |
that any one persisted in the flames.
All sorts OF Stories are rife as to the orie1n |
OF Inc hte. One Is That man was actualiy |
seen applying mach to mass OF combus-
uble stuff; another, that = colored employee !
vas detected sstttng fire to mattress au-
191anef, mat MI. Marvin received notice on
wednesday last that bis house would be rob. I
bed, II not destroyed, Sunday cYenirc-but
re cannot trnce them to any reliable source.
The common impression Was that The flre was
The work Of an incendiary; bus our own in
prcsslon ls, from what We saW and heard an
tae ground, that 1t wa tho result Of accident.
However this may he, ample precautions
,gamst tires have been taken By the pronrie-
'ors Of Congress Ha1l and other hotels. and A
'pecial domestic police torres Is kept On duty
light and day: Saratoga was never more al.
tact1ye than It 1s to-day and none but the
nost hopelessly tIuid will stay away becanse
i the fire vi hich happened yesterday,