, 1865-12-12
Fourteen Thousand Fires In HuxsIa
Inst Tenr-DAuEeEB Of Tea drinking
@nd Smoking.

A st. Petersburg letter 10 the London Hert
aid gives the following interesting accoun..
Of the disastrous fires that have occurred ia
Russia:
The Northern Post has published an elab-
crate article with annual returns Of the num-
bcr Of fires that have taken place In Russia
during tho last twenty-fhfee years. Al
though the statistics quoted only include
the returns from 1872 to 1864, 1t is evi-
the present year will not materially Affect the
conclusions drawn from the reports already
received. The figures refer to the fires which
have occurred In Russia proper, exclusive of
siberia, Finland and The Kingdom Of Poland.
1t Is stated that in 1872 there were 1000 fires,
$500; since which time the number has gone
on increasing till 1874, when it nearly reached
l4,cCO. In 1SGa there were 1900 moro fires
than IN 1851, though this Is not considered an
actual increase, the augmentation being ac-
counted for by greater accuracy In the re-
tutns.
The greatest number Of fires in proportion
TO the population occurs II the governments
of st. Petersburg and Moscow, In the for
me1 there are 3 to 1000 houses, and In the
inter :14 while In s0mc governments the
average fs fire to 1000 houses. The num-
her Of incendiary fires has Increased very
much Of late Jcals. From 1850 to 1874 the
per cent, while In 1SG4 it was 611. The aug
mentation In the number Of fires Is partly ac-
counted for By the increase OF population.
which, for the whole of Russia, Is estimated
at twelve millions md q half, or eight mil
lions for that part OF the empire Included In
the returns published In the Northern Post.
Allowing million Of houses for this In
crease and assuming an average Of sixteen
fires to ten thousand houses, this would give
m additional sixteen hundred fires j; hut This
is not enough to account for the fact that the
number of tres has more than doubled within
twenty-three years, Other reasons are given,
refer Ing principally to certain changes In the
habits Of the people, which, together with
the proverbfal carelessness OF the lower Or
ders, may undoubtedly have caused great
many accidents
It's remarkable that fires are Of very fte-
quent occurrence in those provinces through
which the volga flows, and In these govern
ments ten is now In such general use that
there is hardly PEASANTS cottage without
sanlcr1r or 1nssian tea-nru, which, being
heated with charcoal, Is dangerous vessel,
unless properly managed. If used indoors a
lte Is often causcd by the burning Goals fall
irg from the uIn on TO the table OF the floor.
,mer, a spark blown BY the wind easily sets
fire to the straw, which Is sure not to be very far
of, Accidents also frequently occur from the
use OF cigarettes :, the fire which DESTROYED
the buildings used for the tairnt Mini Novgo-
rod, In 1861, was attributed to this cause.
Many fires are reported to have been caused
BY Children playing with luc.fsr matches, for
there Is no one 10 look after them at hay time
and harvest, all the able. bodied men end wo-
men being in the fields: Another reason given
Is tie vast fncrease OF drunkenness since the
spirit trade was thrown open In 1865.
All these ca1ses combined would not per-
haps have much weight anywhere ont Of
houses ere huddlcd together, md tie mate
rails Of which they arc constr ucted, rcnder It
difficult to prevent accidents from taking
place, and to hinder fires from spreading
rapidly from house to house. a Russian
village usually consists of one long street,
the houses being built close together,
seldom any trees, In front the material used
Is almost invariably wood, and the roof Is
generally matched with straw. In summer
It usually happens that there are several
weeks Of DRY, hot weather, so TINT the least
spmk Is sufficient to Cause an accident nnd
should there he any wind It frequently naP7
pens that whole village IS destroyed or
The Northern Post considers the Fcpo1'9 "