Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1866-07-13
THE GREAT PORTLAND FIRE.
2OOd BUILDINGS DESTROYED.
IOSS SO -nnn nnn-
LOSS SI0.OOO.OOO.

The tire in Portland Is, with the exception
Of the great FIRE in New York, the most sweep
i-s and disastrous c1naasration tina, ever
occurred in the United States no American
city has ever received so severe a blow from
The same cause. Two hundred acres. COM
IEi-ins the principal business houses in the
city, and a great many fine dwellings, have
BEEN oiiwas'c.
NJ les than three thousand families have
been rendered Lom,les1. aaj from ten TO
twelve thousand men, women and children
are sorrow.uily wandering about the city.
fed hy clarity and sheltered BY tents
Tie IusuIercc agent estimate the total
loss at nom 'sp 20 ftleea millions # dollars.
Tie AREA turnod over is larger than the en-
tire aIoa Of the city when it was DESTROYED
by the British in the Revolutionary war.
Tie two end. o. the ,ity only are preserved.
with hne Of buildings merely ,n1agh to
show connection OF tie ilout and rear
water lines. ltlsa yoi1eless city. for its
newspapers ore al destroyed. All Of Its
banks, seven in number. are burned 1t Is
believed that their vaults have preserved
their contents. Several branches u business
are completely ohiiteNitI By the conllagra-
tila, a.-Ong the.a the wholesale boot and
shoe trade. the whoie.ale dry goods houses.
with oHe exception, and the iewelry stores.
Seven hotels We're destroyed, the Interna-
tiOnal, Freeman, Commercial. American,
Sailors Home. niagsoury's and the Marble.
Ihe two principal ones in the city. the
Preble and the United States. escaped, al
houst The latter was several t,Ines on fire.
OF the tvea,y-eight churches, eight are
destroyed, including tie Ola Second Parish.
associated with the memory OF tie .ainted
Paysou
The Ere commenced at bali Iast four
o'clock on Wednesday afternoon, and burned
with uueJpIoilable lury for twelve hours,
when At had swept across the city. At
twelve O'Clock next day many buildings
were still burning.
We copy the Cellowing facts and incidents
from o@r aoston exchanges
The fire, as all accounts ag1ee. Commenced in
pile Of shayings on the outside Of a cooper
shop CT boat shop, which vas lighted by a boys
irccraoker.
Ip t4s vicinity Of the spot where the FIRE
originated there were nothing bu: dry wooden
buildings, which furnished the best possible food
for the fames, and lie water, Of which, unfor-
iunately, tAeIs vas scarcity, had 10 effect
whatever upon it.
The scene when the fire WAS az its hight was
one Of fearful terror. The flames, famed by
the high wind, leaped madly from building TO
builliag. The air was filed with live Goals,
and shingles and other fragments, Ike devAstat-
ing torches, we're borne onward o. bl5cks be-
yond the present boundaries cs :Ae conhaga-
uon, and thus hurried qa iis TayagCs with fear
tul rapidity. Unusually little confusion occurred
as GeArly u! WAC we're in its path had after the
.rss twa hours time to pack their furniture and
get cut Of its way.
Jno. b. Brown * Sons loss is estiuAiel at
81 ,2OO, 900; insured for $500, Goa Mr. Brown
next morning set mep - work clearing away
the rubbish e g,sSild his sugar refinery.
tine -Fi- offered draymen 81 900 for teams
TO carry goods, but were refused. The draymen
we're making 500 dollars an hour.
On the morning Of the 5ih a distressing
spectacle Was preseatsd a the Grand Trunk De-
pot IN India 1tFesL At least 1000 homeless
So.nen aad children were weeping bitterly at
their desperate condition. Many were but half
clothed and had lost their all.
DaQuIe laxfpo, IN -.
large numbers, with hoop-skiris, chairs. stoves,
be1s;eads, and all descriptions Of household par
aphernalia bundled ;ygstAer promiscuo ssiy.
Near by are va-ap-hEes IN plenty
Ihe suffering 0i these thus turned out Of uc0rs
Is increased by the fact that for long time houses
have not been in proportion with the population
of the city, and hundreds Of families cannot by
any possibility be sheltered. Nearly all the pro
vision stores were destroyed. and this renders it
very difficult to gsoCare the necessaries Of hie.
One lri-k shild EGs burned to death in a house
psAE the water.
John Broughtv. having lost his alJ, hung him
self on Commercial st On the essniug Of the 4th.
\ man died from exhaustion.
These are all the .athentic accidents roySrtel
The firemeR were almost pOwtriess. While
they ssre calamity fighting it in direction it
held almost undisputed sway n others. Build
ings were torn down and blown up far in ad-
vance Of the FIRE, but the Aameswould oyerlesp
the chasms thus made and go on to further
conquest.
The amount Of insurance is quite large, but
fears are entertained that in instances Off
ces may have so large an amount a. 10 render
them insolvent. The New York and Hartford
Offices are large sufferers.
The Methodist Church, on Chesnut street,
the Eaost valuable in the city, was saved by the
iron shutters to the windows, which il IS said
many of the Society opposed when the church
was erected. 1t is worth about $4,000. By
the destruction Of the Natural History Building
that corporation will lose $4,000 besides val
liable collections which il contained.
Mr.. Beecher, in So Pulpit Pungeneies,"