The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1866-10-24
fFrom the Quebec chFolieis, Oct. 10. !
The Quebec O0niiagrati0n.

AnB XuDVgg AOHhhEEAtlDHs
Ii Is our painful duty to-day, to re-
cord one Of the direst GalamiIies thai
i'd has eyer been the will of provi
denee. in His all seeing wisdom, to
inlet upon our good city, already
more than once severely chastened by
visititi0ns or the same sort, Since the
memorable fires Of 1916, no more aw-
fnl disaster, nor one more attended
with greater destruction of propertv
or more Individual suffering, has ever
occurred 10 Quebec, and Ii Is melan-
oholy 20 contemplate the serious ef-
feets which ID viii have on the proxi-
mate future of the city, more par.
tieulhrly at period such as the pres
ent, AZ the close OF business season
almost unparalleled for its dizziness,
with trade In a state y. .s...s a..er
ktagnatlun, and hard winter fast APP
preaching, In fact, IL Ii doubtful
whether either of the destructive
fires Of 1916 equalled the disastrous
eontlagratl0n OF yesterday, either ia
extent or La the amount Of indi-
vidual misery entailed; but 10 is Ger
tain that on the present occasion q
much larger number Of persons, ana
persons less able 10 bear the loss, have
been rendered houseless, penniless,
and destitute, by one sweep OF the
destructive element, 10 IL estimated
that by this ealamit0ua occurrence
over threa thousand families, consist.
ing mainly of the poorer classes Of
our population, the hard working la
b0rera and artisans of st, Roehs 3, st
Sauyeur, aud BOisseauVille and num-
bering, ii ID believed, about $4,000
individuals, have been left without
roof 10 shelter their heads, or pro-
vision Of any sort for their numerous
wants. Owf1g TO the confusion and
excitement incidental to all great
oon1agrations, the rapid progress of
the flames, and the vast amount Of
property destroyed, it was almost i'm
possible to obtain any reliable data;
but il Is generally estimated that the
number OF houses destroyed will fully
reach $500, II not more, aud that the
total loss will amount to almost %j,
000,0O0.
ORIGIN or THE FIRE.
Like many other memorable ealam-
tiles Of the sort, the fire of yesterday
originated in the criminal careless
ness attendant upon the prolongation
OF orgies, of ear0using and drunken
ness, far into the night. Ii broke out
in q house on. ST. Joseph Street, i'm
mediAtely facing the Western angle
of the jacques Cartier Market Hall,
the upper part of which was occupied
by the proprietor, man named Lee
tarte, and tho lower part by one Tru-
del, who used IL az sort OF half gro
Gerry, half groggery, whore numbers of
the lower characters, who abound Ia
the neighborhood, were in the habit
of resOrting at night for the purpose
Of drinking and card playing. On
Saturday night in particular, We are
informed, number of them had con
gregated there, and, Notwithstanding
the civic regulations for tho closing
of such places at midnight, Trudel, ii
il said, allowed them to continue their
carouse far into the Sabbath morning.
There ii but little doubt, therefore,
that theawful calamity owed its origin
to drunken careleasneas, The police
at once faiaed the alarm, aud their
numbers being soon augmented by a
few persons who CHANGED to be pass
ing on their way TO church for their
morning devotions, the door was burst
in, aud an attempt made 10 stllle the
fire, but IL proved Intellectual, as the
opening of the door only served TO
give vent TO the flames, and before a |
few minutea had elapsed the whole in
terror OF the house, which was a
wooden one, was Ia blaze-the ia-1
mates having time only to save them
selves 500
THE ALARM. a,f4
At FIRST, except in the Immediate |
vicinity Of the burning building. the |
fact seemed unknown 10 any exeent |
the few mentioned, and this atate az |
things continued for almost half an
hour, AT length the fire brigade nm /
der command of their chief, Mr. Fer.
guaon, arrived on the ground, and aet
to work at once 10 endeavor 10 check |
the flames, and the alarm was eradr-
ally communicated to the neirhbor.
ing dlAtriots, which soon ponred
out their terrified inhabitants TO the
scene,
PROGRESS OF THE FIRE.
BY this time tho fire had made ran.
id Roadway, and was burning with |
great fury-helped on by northeast.
erly gale blowing at the time, aud the
total absence of water For fully an
hour il did not come, and by that
time the fire, driven before the heavy
wind that prevailed, had spread to
the wooden out-houses and buildings
in the rear of Trudel's aud the ad
Joining house, aud was moving with
lightning rapidity ia a southwesterly
direction across ST. Roeh's, When
the. water did arrive at last, the flames
had obtained too strong Roadway in
every. quarter TO save any OF the
buildings already attacked, aud the
attention Of the Fira Briende and