Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1871-10-25
THE GREAT FIRES OF THE EAST.
How they Compare with that oE Chi
cage.
From the N Y. World. 10th.

7 the past that of London in September
g 1866, will always stand pre-eminent fo
Q It's terrible destructiveness. 1t follow
9 ed upon the great plague, which hat
/ carried off one-third of the populatio,
: in the previous year, and swept owe
t nearly ive-slxths of the space includ
t ed within the city walls at that date
v It lasted four days, and the ruins GOV
| cred 436 acres. It destroyed eighty
, nine churches Gncluding st. Paul'sl
the Royal Exchange, the Custom house
Guild hall, Zion College, and many
5 other public buildings, besides 13,
> 200 private houses. -Four hundred
streets were entirely laid waste, and
: about 200, 900 of the inhabitants of the
city were obliged to encamp for some
time in the open fields of Islington and
} Hlghgate. The most disastrous fire
IN London since that occurred on the
25th of March, 1912, when 200 houses
in the Cornhill Ward were destroyed.
Many destructive fires have occurred
IN British metropolis at later dates,
the most recent worthy of special note
being the burning of the cotton and
other wharyes of Tooley street in June
and July, 1861 The fire continued
raging with greater or less fury for
nearly month. Several persons were
killed, and property was destroyed to
the value of 60, 0O0,OO
On the 5th o$May, 1S42, fire broke
out in the city of Hamburg, Germany,
which ragged with great fury for four
/ days, destroying about one third of the
| city. Sixty-one streets, containing L.
| TAT houses, were utterly laid waste and
thousands of people were rendered
homeless. There were few public
| buildings of value destroyed and that
portion of the city was quickly built
! in much more substantial manner,
than before. Il sas-
In this country great fires, especially
before the day of improved fre-engines
have been comparatively frequent, and
New York has had her full share In
September 1776, soon after the city
came into the hands of the British, 500
houses were destroyed, forming at that
time a large part of the town The
buildings were rather huddled together
at the lower end of the island, and were
mostly of wood, and the district west
of Broadway and below Cortlandt street
was swept bare. New York was visited
by another great conhagration, the
greatest in its history, on the 10th of
December, 1886. Six hundred ware
houses, and property to the extent Of
over $40, 600, 900, were consumed. Our
Oldest inhabitants still remember the
horrors of that terrible disaster On
the 9th of September, 1889, the city
had another severe visitation, when
forty-six buildings and property valued
at $4,000, 900 were destroyed. The
next confagration of large extent in
this city took place on the 10Th of July,
1045, when 302 dwellings and stores in
the lower part of the city were destroy
ed. These, however, were of compara-
lively inferior value, the whole loss
amounting to &c. 600, 600. Four lives
were lost on this occasion. Since that
time. owing to the increased efficiency
of the means employed to prevent and
extinguish fires, they have generally
been confined to single building or a
small group. a sHeE5s5
In the same year of the last great
fire in New York, 1916, Quebec suffered
terribly from the same destroying ele-
ment. On the 28th Of May fire broke
out in the Faubourg St. Roch, which
destroyed 1,5OO buildings before it
could be quelled. Several lives were
also lost Exactly one month later
1900 buildings were burned, and by
these two confagrations nearly two
thirds of the city was laid in ruins
The pecuniary loss has been stated at
So, 900, 900. In the same year, on the
18th of June, nearly the whole town of
ST. Johns, Newfoundland, was destroy
ed, and 5000 people were rendered
homeless.
Albany suffered from great confa-
grafton on the 9th of September, 194S.
Six hundred buildings, besides steam
| boats, piers, and other property, valued
altogether at $1,000, 900 we're burned.
Twenty-four acres of land within the
city limits were covered with ruins.
ST. Louis had great fire in May
1849, when fifteen blocks of houses and
twenty three steamboats, were consum-,
ed, causing a loss of over 53, 600, 600.
Philadelphia has been fortunate in
having few great fires, but one occurred
in that. city on the 9thof July, 1850,
which destroyed $50 buildings. These
were of inferior value, and the whole
loss was but 81, 800, 600, though twenty
five persons were killed, nine drowned,
and 120 injured.
A large portion of San Francisco was
| destroyed IN 1851 On the Sd of May
a fire broke out which consumed nearly
! 9. 500 buildings, causing loss of 3d.
! 500, coo, and several lives. A little over
/ month later, on the 22d of June, 500
more buildings were burned, valued at
| $4,000, 900 or more.
! Twelve acres of land in Syracuse were
/ burned over on the 9Th of November,
1856. About one hundred buildings
were destroyed, and the loss of prop
erty amounted to 81, 900, ,000 p
! The scene most naturally recalled by
this fearful disaster In Chicago IS the
terrible celebration of the Fourth OF
July in Portland, Me, in 1866. The
leading facts of that great event are
still fresh in the public mind. The
fire, beginning in a boot shop on High
street, swept north, and destroyed IN
its course nearly one-half of the city.
The peeuniary loss was about SIS, 600,
j 600, and one-fourth of the population
we're rendered homeless. ST.. -t. s'a
1t seems probable from the reports
thus far received that the terrible fire III
Chicago has no parallel in modern his
tory, unless in the confagrations kind
led by war Even the great fire in Lon.
don, though relatively more destruc-
tive, did not equal it in absolute ex-
tent. The London of that time was little
more than one-thirds the size. of the
Chicago of to-day, having less thar
4 $50, 900 inhabitants; and if, as report
! ed, two-thirds of Chicago is in ruins
the desolated territory is far greater
than the fve-sixths of London said tt
have been LAID waste in 1866.
The craft upon the Rhine deserves {