St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1871-10-20
SUDDEN EETEIEUTION.

~ btll'NC
SUDDEN EETEIBUTION.
Seeing the cashier OF one Of Tn
banks rush into his office rs the flame
were beating almost upon the building
the thief watched his exit. 1t was no
long before the official appeared will
his arms full of money packages a.,
bonds, and no sooner had lac appcarc,
than the thief proslratcd him with ;
blow upon the side of the head. an,
grabbed portion Of the treasure. !
policeman i'll an instant saw what wa
done and grabbed the william, who drew
Il pistol and shot the faithful officer
through the heart, and then Spran:
through the excited crowd, brandishin.
his pistol and cndcaroring To make goo,
his escape. But the sight, with ak til,
surrounding circumstances, had madden
ed the hystanders to frenzy, and they lcl
upon the wretch like 50 many tigers,
tearing him limb from limb, and literal
ly discmbowcling him"
y Mr.. Stevens, returning home from
hi, burning store with sad heart. say,
the spectacle that presented itself to hin
in many OF the SIDE streets was one that
he Will never forget. | he smoke wa,
dense, and hc had TO place Il handker,
chief over his mouth to escape smother,
/ i'm. lie saw. lac thinks, no less than
twenty men. women and children expire
around him from exhaustion, and some
war, .,;la,l In I.,1 ;,,r I.I,;,J a.. l.
was hurrying away, lac SAW the flames
gainin" on him, and above the uproar OF
all he could sometimes hear the piercing
scream Of some unfortunate being. Mr.
Stevens remained the whole morning
around the fire, and WAS driven from
one place TO another.
For mile and Il halt along the river
the scene was one of awful grandeur
Tie shipping. public buildings, ware
houses, hotels. and coal and lumber
yards were in one vast flame. The air
was tull of flying cmbcrS.
Another merchant, describing his mar
row escape from the flames, relates the
following:
Just now occurred Il scene that fruzc
our blood. At the intersection Of Ran
dolph and Market streets was Il largc
buiIdin" (CalIom'>) used Tor offices.
, The irnitor resided on the fourth floor
with his family. consisting of Il wife and
four children. i;y some means they
Were unable to escape Surrounded by
the fire, they assembled TO the root. The
babe was i'll the mothers arms. and an
other child, Il little boy, clung TO her
skirts. Two girls We're clasped in the
arms OF the father Their shouts were
but family heard over the howl OF the
winds and thr roar of the flames. Al
last the heat became 50 intense that the
woman waS overcome and fell 10 the
roof. The father wildly threw ont his
hand and staggered, wrilhcd and sunk
| by his wlie's side. That was all Of that
tragedy. We sickcned at the SIGHT. and
hurried down TO the street, which by
this time was pretty well deserted. Then
along the banks ol the lake we wander
ed, more like dead than living men. We
heard and saw mourning and agony and
suffering that all the books in the world
could not hold the account OF. Wcwcrc
comfortably fixed in life one week ago
and now we are pcnnile>s We have no
doubt that inccndiaricS did part of the
work, and for robbery and rayage.
At the fremont House the elevator
became useless, and the sleeping guests,
4 large number being babies. hurried
down stairs. The clattcr Of the remov-
al Of trunks and the hurrying of domes.
tics lmpcdcd the passagcways. Several
persons in their cagerness jumped down
the stairs and limpcd away Others,
in their haste, left beneath their pillows
watches and money, only discovering
their losses when they had reached the
Michigan Central Depot-thcn supposed
to be Il perfectly safe place. y crowd
Of persons hastcned thther, some carry
ing beds, some sewing machines, and
one lady had six canary birds in Il cage
i'll one hand and IN immense family B-
| bic in the other. She said Il was de-
termined to bring these off if lost all
the rest" Another young woman was
seen carrying two large paintings, evi-
IDENTIFY those of her father and mother.
She was but partially clad, and amongst
all her household wealth sought to pre-
serve these filial memcntOcs as being To
her most precious
| FIENDS INCARNATE.
Advices show that in some quarters
pillage became the order Of the day and
night. From this to direct and open de-
fiance of the law tie distance was but