The Greenville enterprise. [volume] (Greenville, S.C.) 1870-1873, 1871-10-25

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to set it in flames, and when that
spark came. It came in that quarter
|'of the city which, more than any
other, was ready to be acted npon
by it.
Then the scene in this quarter
was terrible, but only the beyin-
ming OF horrors which we:e soon
to come. Tho wind had sst in
from the southwest early in the
evening. and just about the time
when the conHagration began it
freshened, and soon increased in
violence till it became q furious
gale. The city fire engines came
to the scene with all possible dis.
patch !; the firemen were almos,
worn ont with their exertiuns in
snbdneing the fire rrevivus even.
ing, aud even had they been fresh
they could have beeu of little
avail, tor the flames had got under
headway and were not to be stop.
ped. In a few minutes they had
extended to adjoining houses, and
spread like wildfirc 10 a northeast.
erly direction. The poor people
W no occupied til Q teneu,ents
sprang in alright from their beds,
and with cries of terror ran down
into the street. Beds and furni.
ture of all descriptions were
thrown from the windows, and lay
in heterogeneous confusion on the
sidewalk, obstructing the passage
to and fro of the fire companies,
and thus preventing what little
chance there had been of imped.
ing the onward rush of the fire,
and soon the whole district, as far
down as Van Buren, street, was
one sheet of flame, roaring and
kissing and licking about piles of
lumber and rows of dwellings,
which cracked and tell crashing
to the ground. The sky was light.
ed up for miles around, and the
river looked like stream of blood.
Hardly had 1.-The families which oc
cupied the district time 10 escape
with their lives, and as to saving
their household furniture, which
to most OF them was their all. il
was thing not to be thought of.
Women, half.clad, ran screaming
through the streets, a baby in one
arm, while little children clunc
to them and whimpered with ter
ror. AT every attempt to stay
the flames the firemen were driv.
en- baff1ed and disheartened, yet
they worked manfully and disput,
ed the ground inch by nch.-
Over the furniture which strewed
the streets all went running in the
widest confusion, each person
bent only on saving himself and
his family and caring nothing tor
his neighbor. Many in their wild
endeavors to escape were knocked
down and trampled upon, and
some even killed. Many of these
laborers-tor the quarter was
mainly inhabited by people of
that class-were cartmen and
draymen and naturally they strove
to their utmost to save their hor.
ses, But in cases of fire, horses
seem to lose all the instinct which,
under ordinary circumstances.
would save them from danger, and
stand stock still in their stables,
their fianks and sides shaking in
the agony of terror, and utterly
refuse to be taken or driven from
their stables, which, POOR beasts,
they have always considered their
place OF safety where no harm can
reach them. On this awful night,
above even the roar of the flames
and the crash of falling timbers,
could be heard the shrieks of the
horses ringing out on the night
air. They would not be driven
away, but, stnpefied with fear,
fell down in ther stables and were
roasted alive, and the sickeninp
stencil of burning flesh was added
TO the indescribable and nauseat.
ing odor which always accompa.
nies burning buildings when water
has been showered upon them.-
Seeing that it would be impossi.
be to save the city with the force
at his command, Marshal Will.
liams telegrapl,ed to neighboring
places, asking for immediate aid +,
which was given with all possible
dispatch. But il came slowly-at
such times every minute is an age
and before engines conld arrive
from Milwaukee triple work was
to be done, and, to add to the hor
rOrs Of the time, it was feared
that the water would give out
In three hours over twenty blocks
OF houses had been burned to the
ground aud lay smouldering in
ruins. The fire had spread more
than q mile from the place at
which it had started, and was
making directly for the heart o 1