Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-10-10
GREAT Fires.


fAgrations in the great Northwest. While
the broad pFairies Of Wisconsin have been
devastated by running Ere, and hundreds
offamiIies have been LET without food OF
shelter though its ravsges, accounts reach
US from Chicago that one of the most disas
troas CONGREGATIONS that ever visited city
is nov deyouFing the .'gArden city' of the
West. The stately business palaces, the
long rows of marble fronted dwellings, the
splendid abodes Of wealth and luxury, alike
with the rickety dwellings Of the poorest Of
her inhabitants have been wrapped in one
general destruction and are now shoulder
ing heaps Of ruiHs.s - F
To add TO the horrors of the scene, it
comes at a time when the biting
Machin&cwind sweeps down Lake Michigan
and fans the flames to fury, while it chills
the houseless sufferers like. the touch Of
death. Sad indeed must be the prospect Of
thousands in the great city of the lakes, as
they gaze on the ashes Of their former
homes, and think Of the long and dreaTy
winter that is even now upon them. In
that vast plain, where no friendly tree raises
its shelter against the inclement winds,
where the dry prair.e grass waves Ear as the
eye can see over an expanSe fat and chill
ing as the bosom of the great Lake It borders,
there is little TO cheer their dropping hearts.
Contributions WIN, no douht, pour in to their
relief from many city, and viii greatly
tighten the weight Of their misery; but
they viii be exposed to many hardships
and much suffering before the approach of
spring. "a -..-.---s.
From our dispatches il would seem that
the fire originated in planning mill among
the small wooden houses bordering the west
side of the Chicago river, between Clinton
and Canal and Van Buren, and jackson
streets. A fresh wind blowing at the time
spread the fire till it reached the lumber
yards bordering the canal, and having gain
ed this stronghold 1t rapidly pushed its way
in all directions, bursting through the little
wooden buildings in the vicinity and increas-
ing injury TIL It was whirled eastward into
the very heart of the business part of the
city and crumbled the magnificent blocks of
buildings, the pride of the "Garden City,"
to the ground, leaving them mere heaps of
unsightly, smoking ruins. Where each
building was a palace, and furnished with
regal magniicence, OF filed with costly mer-
chandise, the loss eau better be imagined
than calculated. It is doubtful if it can
ever be Appropriated, and with all the won
derfuI energy of Chicago, 1t viii take years
for her to recover her pristine wealth and
magnifcence. rr.e
Among the great tires which have devss-
tsted the cities of this continent and Of
Europe, the following are the most no
table:
80 THE NEW YORK FLEE. t
On Wednesday, Dec. 10, 1885, New York
was the scene Of conhagration unparalleled
for its extent and destruction on this CONT
nent, till the great fire which has so recent
ly laid Chicago in ashes. The fire in
New York broke cut in a store on
Merchant street, in triangular block,
at nine O'Clock at night. A bitterly
cold northwest gale was blowing
at the time, and aided the confsgration.
The fremen were prompt to turn out, but
their engines froze fast and refused to work.
In the meantime the houses, dry as finder,
after a hot, dry season, were wrapped in
flames before their contents could be re-
moved into the street Finding the engines
useless, the fremen suggested to
blow up block of buildings
to arrest the fire, but under
the municipal laws, only a limited quantity
of powder was allowed to be stored in the
city. The nearest supply was at the navy
yard, and while this was being procured,
half the business portion of New York was
wrapped in flames. Losing all hope to ar
rest the progress of the fire, the merchants
removed the most costly and portable Of
their wares to the Merchants Exchange,
which they regarded as secure place, but
the irresistible element swept down on it
and wrapped it in a fiery shroud. In half
an hour after the magnificent dome of the
building fell inward with crash, burying
number ofpersons who were endeavoring
to save their goods from the place, in the
ruin. Along Hanover Square and Pearl
streets, the citizens had piled their
property, but what the fire spared was
trampled in the mud by the rush of excited
crowds. The troops were ordered out to
protect the property thus exposed from rob-
bers, who then as now infested the city.
Amid the general destruction, the shipping
happily escaped, although Brooklyn was at
times thratened with destruction by the
showers of cinders blown by the
gale across the river. Fire bri-
gades were sent from Philadelphia and
other neighboring cities and rendered what
service brave men could in the unequal
struggle. About l O'Clock on Thursday
morning, the fire was subdued, or rather,
had exhausted itself, and was prevented
from spreading further. The loss by the
conhagration was estimated at 100000,
and $50 of the most costly buildings in the
city were laid in ruins. Luckily il occurred at
assessor ofthe year when the merchants had
disposed Of their heavy fall stocks, and as
the sales had been unusually large,
many of the wholesale houses were COM
paratively empty. Hardly had the debris
grown cold before an army of workmen
was set to work to clear 1t away, and within
two years from the terrible event, New
York arose from her ashes more stately and
beautiful than ever before, to continue the
empire city of America.
TIE PITTsBURG FIRE.
On the 10th of April, 1876, a most de-
s.ructive fire occurred in Pittsburg. The
fire broke out in frame building on Ferry
street, used as smOkehouse. The flames
spread quickly to adjoining wooden build
ings, and the wind which was at the time
blowing gale, spread it with frightful ra
pidity. Thesupply of wster was inadequate
and the fremen could do little to arrest the
a...t;nr Ti,a rr;rd ;,,rraa oad "