The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-11-16
Elemental Forces.


been impuied 10 the oil.stone or petroleum
rock OF which the buildings were said To De
m ldc. 1t seems. however, that such stone
was not common bu lding material, ana
that only one large building, church, was
made with il. The walls Of thi, church are
still standing Ms proof that The oll-stone is
not more combusli1le than other stones or
bricks.
No oil.stone, Mansard roof, petroleum.,
cone, etc, or lumber theory, is wanting 10
account for the intensity Of tho heat OF That
fire. The horr-books of pneunatics lay
down the theory of the motions of cold ana
hot air, of which the smoke in every CHM
ney is m Illustration. Heated air rises be-
cause, like everything else heated. 1t is
expanded In bulk without increase OF
weight. The surrounding air flows IN TO
supply the vacancy, creating drait pro-
portiOned to the ascending column. mus
at the tine Of the great fire. some where,
hundreds of miles northeast of Chicago,
vast column of expanded air was rising,
which created IN immense aud !ap'd cur
rent, probably from all directions, and GER
tainly from the southwest, sweeping over
the vide prairies and lakes from the Aio.ls-
sippi to Hudstn's bay, and Whistiln9
through the streets OF the city with the Vio-
Inpce of 81 GALE. The motion Of this cur
rent was horizontal, and when it struck the
column Of ascending heated air there was
a resultant, compound rapid motion OF The
latter upward Dy its own force, ana I"r-
ward by the force OF the Gale.
4 single burning building, where nun
bred tons OF wood arc consumed III IN
hour, will cause in Il dead calm concen-
trio current Of air from all directions. IL
there are ten such buildings all burning at
once there will be far more than ten times
H. much disturbance and flow OF wind, be-
cause the heat Of each building viii he Gil.
mulated with the heat of those which sur
round it, and the combustion will be for a
r,rcu lime much more than tcufold az great.
The ascenGiu" column Of heated air in
creascs propoltonatviv III sped and
power. II The ascending tifc-wlud over
one building il sufficiently strong 10 carry
UP Il burning brand or board weighing icn
pounds TO the height Of a hundred feet, the
current shooting from 4 lire ten times aa
great would carry UP masses three times
US heavy TO five times That height. Aad
where hundred buildings mlu5ie their
concentrated tlamcs the central Column
Of ascending air would be swift ana strong
enough TO carry up masSos Is lafgc and to
rs great Il height Is those shot INTO III: sky
bv :, cold Will is lad, which dart, enormous
forest trees torn from their ROOFS 4 thousand
Yards a. If they were arrows from i'll III
uiau's how. In the treat fire not only Il
hundred, bat live HUNDRED, and perhaps
thousand, buildings wcrC all burnloS at
once, and the perpendicular blast Of heated
air. shooting up with yo-canlc power Lbrce
thousand yards high, carried w into the
rky punderouS masses OF burning timber
and stone and iron heated ID whltcnc>S by
tie fierce and concentrated fire. Ibis up
ward column was pushed forward AMI bcut
Nv M hnrlynntIl
rated by the fire 10 speed Of twenty
miles an hour, SO that all its volcanic
pruicctllcs tell and kiudled new fires
fur III advance Of the columns base.
Tuus for thousand yards in advance
Of tue foremost line of burning buildings
there was heavy and inccssant shower Of
brands, Goals, crQecs, and burning lumber.
The cold gale did not blow through the
1ite, but blowing iIto The field Of The tie
it rolled up The movable heat towards the
front of the marching H. mes, while the gale
winds became heated and mounted up Us
they went forward, losing none Uf their
own force While combining with the ascend
ing column OF heated air from the fire.
The field OF fire vas necessarily and rapidly
changed TO new materials, While the re-
| morsrlcss gale brought up tie heat from
| the rear to increase the vchcmcMce Of the
| heat in front. LII action tie wind and Il .mcs
| formed rushing and mighty hurricane OF
| ti:e; in effect il WAS like = tidli wave of
flaming molten hrimStolc. What wouder
can it he that II few hundred iaded fire.
men, with few feeble engines, could not
stay this mel:iDg Of the elements, or that
stately palaces faded before it like stu5ble
before the wind OF fax before the fire ? The
elemental power Of wind and heat cyerteI
during that short season OF terror over the
city of Chicago was enough TO raise tho
whole city to a perpendicular height OF 4
| Thousand feet and move it Il mile into the
lake. What was burnt would be fuel enough
| to propel The largest steamer that ever 1oSt-
cd n thousand times across the Atlantic,
while the wind which blew across the
doomed city would huve filled the sails Of q
million ships. The slime combined power
would in the same period have rolled
across prairie hundred miles wide solid
sphere OF granite II thousand yards in d!ain-
cter.--N. o. Picaytlae.
I