Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1871-11-18
The Great Fire of London.s

To find parallel to the confagration
which has desolated Chicago we must
60 back to the great fire of London, the
most graphic account of which is pre-
served in the diary of John Evelyn. 1t
originated at two o'clock Sunday morn
ing, September I'd, 1866, and ragged for
FIVE successive days aud nights. AT that
time London's houses and stores were
built chiefly Of wood, with pitched roofs;
and in the vicinity where the fire broke
out, which was close to the riverside,
the stores were mainly filled with mate.
rials employed in the equipment of ship
ping-mostly, therefore, of highly
combustible nature. The supply OF wa
ter was defective; and through the
weakness Of the Lord Mayor, who de-
climed to allow buildings o be blown up
without obtaining the consent of the
owners, the flames soon obtained fearful
headway. All through Sunday the wind
increased in fury, and the fire spread
with almost inconceivable rapidity. Mr..
Evelyn writes in his diary
September 3.-The fire continuing,
after dinner took coach, with my wife
and son, and went to the Bankside, In
Southwark, where we beheld that dread
full spectacle-t the whole city in dreadful
flames near ye water side all the houses
from the Bridge, all Thomas street, and
upwards towards Cheapside down to the
Three Cranes, were now consumed.
"The fire having continued all this
night Gt may call that night which was
as light as day for ten miles around
about, after dreadful manner,) when
conspiring with fierce eastern wind in
a very drie season, went on foot to the
place, and saw the whole south part of
ye city burning from Cheapsides to the
Thames and all along Cornehill-for il
kindlcd back against the wind as well as
forward. Tower street, Fenchurch street,
Gracious street, and so along to Banard's
Castle, and was now taking hold of St.
Paule's church, to which the scaffolds
contributed exceedingly. The confagra-
tion was SO universal, and the people so
astonished than, from the beginning-I
know not from what, dependency or
fate-they hardly strived to quench it,
so that there was nothing hearde or
scene but crying out and lamentation,
running about like distracted creatures,
without at all attempting TO save even
their goods, such strange CONSERVATION
there was upon them-so, as it burned
both in length and breadth, the churches,
public halls, exchange, hospitals, monu-
ments, and ornaments, leaping after
prodigious manner from house to house
and slreete to streete, at create distance
from one ye other for ye heate, with
long set.of fair and warme weather, had
even ignited the air, and prepared the
materials to conceive the fire, which de-
voured after an incredible manner, houses
furniture and everything. Here we saw
the Thames covered with goods floating,
all the barges and boats laden with what
some had time and courage to save, as
on ye other, ye carts, ETC., carrying out
to the fields which for many miles were
strewed with moveables of all sorts, and
tents erecting to shelter both people and
what goods they could get away. Oh,
the miserable and calamitous spectacle !;
such as haply the world had not seen
the like since the foundation of it, nor
to be out-done till the universal con-
fagration. All the sky was of fiery
aspect like the top of burning oven,
the light scene above forty miles round
about for many nights. God grant my
eyes may never behold the like, now
seeing about ten thousand houses all in
one flame the noise and cracking and
thunder of the impetuous flames, ye
shrieking of women and children, the
hurry Of people, the fall of towers,
houses and churches, was like an hideous
storme, and the aire ali about SO hot and
infamed that at last one was not able to
approach it, SO that they were forced to
Stand stille and let the flames burn on,
which they did for neere two miles in
length and one in breadth. The clouds
of smoke were dismal, and reached,
upon computation, neere fifty miles in
length. Thus I left it in the afternoone
burning-a resemblance to Sodom or the
last day. London was, but is no more
September 4. The burning still RACES,
and is has now gotten as far as the Inner
Temple, olde Fleete street, the olde
Bailey, Ludgate Hill, Warwick Lane,
Newgate, Paule's Chain, Waiting street,
now flaming and most of it reduced to
ashes the stones of Paule's few like
granadoes, ye melting lead running
downe the streetes in streeme, and the
very pavements glowing with fiery red
nesse, go as no horss or man was able to
tread on them, and the dsmolitione had