, 1865-03-03
Horrors Of the Evacuation Of Charles
fOns

aorr0fs OF tne EFacuAtto0o OF CHARLES.
ton.
From the Charleston Courier, Fab. 20.1
The terrible eccnes through which this conamu-
nifty has passcd since our last issue can only be
conceived By those who Witnessed the dreadful
which occurred between eight and nine O'clock
saturday morning from an accidental explosion Of
ggoTder a9d The blowing up Of The Northeastern
ifa1lrood dcpot+ About one hundred and fifty per.
eit5er Instantly tilea Or pe1ishsd n tha a%es.
mense destruction Of property no estimate en- be
formed, but twill amount to several miliions.
E91ly Saturday morning, before the retirement
o4 eoca oH d
guard detailed for the purpose. The engines
were brought ont; but with the small force ai the
t.i:R9sa A Of The fire pspattment veIy little s'se
city tie cohiagration ragged with great fa1y. o.
the wharf Of the Savannah Railroad depot several
hundred bales OF cotton were awniting shipment
on 1he blockade runners; also eeyeral Thousand
bushels Of rough rire. On Lucas street, leading
d. bs9Rs SRH a saon hsS %bsS tws & ha
eral other eheds and buildings 11Ied with cotton,
belonging to nriystes, parties, tell prey to The
ihouaand bushels Of rice, and III. R. +. Walkers
warehouse at The foot Of Broad street, filled with
commissary sto5ee were also destroyed.
the Northwestern Railroad OCCUR d. The e1pio ion
was tremendous, and shook the whole city. 1t ap-
pears from all accounts that this dreadful cata-
powder by some boys, taking handfuis and throw.
me It Into the cotton ara at tho depot. In doing
this they nnWittingly laid tram to the apartment
lowed vas horrible. In an Instant tho whole
building was enve1oped IN smoke and flames. The
cries OF the wounded, the inability Of the spec.a-
tshing IN the Ere, all rendered 1t scene OF inda
scribable terror. The flames spreat with great
1apiolty, communicating to the adjoining 6nlld-
:e2naan Dsas, On the northeast corner Of Chapel
destroyed. The buildings On the opposite
Sd sde in Of a,, The ssSt snS II. sFs s soon
unmanagcable. All the buildings embraced n The
area Of ionr squares on Chapel, Alexander, Wash
with few exceptions, wele destroyed. About 10
O'Clock IRE broke out In the large Iourstory brick
building Of Madam DuRee, at The northeast cor
H. sdenne al 5adnr n lie f noli6east e a n
Minority street. was MI burned. Another fre
broke out about II o'clock IN range Of buildings
co9 Heuse E1 70
walls only were lett standing. The alarm Of Dire
Saturday nlcht, In Ward four. was caused bJ the
burning Of the inside Of a millinery establishment
In adaiton 70 the abore fire., the new bridge
from the city to James island was set On IRE, and
WIS still burning on Sunday night
DESTRUCTION OF TIE auNnoArs.
The burning and blowinc.up Of the lron-eEods
Palmetto State, Chicoro and Charleston Has .
magnificent spectacle. Tho Palmetto State w2s
The hret 10 explode, and was followed By the Chi
cora, about o'clock. and the Charleston about II
q. The latter, 1t Is staicd, had twenty tons Of
gunpowdcr on board. Pieces Of the iron plates,
red bot, fell on The wharves aud Get them On dre.
b the active cxerdons Of Superintendent Thomas
Turner, the Caa works were snyed. The expln-
elons were terrific. Tremendous clouds Of smoke
went up, forming beautiful wreaths+ full Pal
metto tree, with It's leaves md stems was noticed
By many observers. as the last wreath Of smoke
disappeared the full form Of tho ra,esnake in the
centre was remarked by many as it gradually
faded AWAY.