Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1871-10-12
GREAT FIRES.

conhagrations in the great Northwest.
While the broad prairies OF Wisconsin
have heen devastated by running fire,
and hundfeds Of families have been left
without food or shelter through its raw
ages, accounts reach us from Chicago
that one of the most disastrous coniia-
grations that ever visited city is now
deyouring thef" Garden City of the
West. The stately business palaces, the
long rows of marble fronted dwellings,
I splendid abodes of wealth and luxury,
I alike with the rickety dwellings of the
poorest of her inhabitants, have been
wrapped in one general destruction and
areShow sinoulderingi heaps Of ruins. y =
! To add to the horrors of the scene, il
comes at time when the biting Machl-
nae winds .sweepsdown Lake Michigan
and fans. the flames 20 fury, while it
l chills the house less 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
4 Of their former homes, and think OF the
long and dreary winter that is even now
4 upon them In that vast plain, where
no friendly tire G faises its shelter against
| the inclement winds, where the dry pral-
rie grass waves far as the eye can reach
over an expanse fiat aud chilling as the
bosom Of the great lake it borders, there
! is little 10 chner their dropping hearts.
Contributions will, no doubt, pour in to
their relief from many q city, and iwill
greatly tighten the weight of their mis-
cry; but they will be exposed to many
hardships aud much suffering before the
approach Of spring. r,-s--
From our dispatches il would seem
| that the Gre originated in q planning mill
among the small wooden houses border
ing Che 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 lire
ltill it reached the lumber yards border
ing the canal, and having gained this
stronghold it rapidly pushed its way IN
all directions, bursting through the little
wooden buildings in the vicinity and in
creasng in fury till it was whlrled east
ward into the very heart Of the business
part Of the city and crumbied the mag.
nifcent blocks of buildings, the pride ot
the Garden City" TO the ground, Ieay-
ing them mere Heaps of unsighilys snlok'
ing ruins Where each building was q
palace, and furnished with regal mag
niGcence, or filled with costly merchan-
disc, the loss can better be imagined
than calculated 1t is doubtful if it can
ever be approximated, and with all the
wonderful energy of Chicago, it will take
years for her to recover her prestlne
wealth and magniicence tkls ~
Among the great fires which have de-
vastated the cities Of this continent and
Of Europe, the following are the most
notable;
THE NEW YORK FIRE.
| On Wednesday, December lG, 1885,
New Yprkwas the scene Of h,con1 sgcsIr
ton unparalleled for its extent and de-
struction on this continent. till the great
fire which has so recently laid Chicago
in ashes. The fire in Now York broke
out in store ON Merchant street, IN a
| triangular block, at nine o'clock at
night. A bitterly cold northwest gale
was blowing at the time, and aided the
confiagration. The firemen we re prompt
to turn out, but their engines froze fast
and refused to work. In the meantime
the houses, dry as tinder, after hot
dry season, were wrapped in flames be-
fore the contents could be removed
into the street. Finding the engines
useless, the firemen suggested to blow
up a block of buildings 10 arrest
the FIRE, but under the munici pal laws
only a limited quantity Of pow
der was allowed to be stored in the
city. The nearest supply va 3 at the
navy yard, and while this was b eing pro-
Ill L. nf
York was wrapped in flames. Losing all
hope to arrest the progress Of the fire,
the merchants removed the most costly
and portable of their wares to the Mer-
chants Exchange, which hey regarded
as secure place, but the irresistible elo-
ment swept down on it end wrapped it
in fiery shroud In half an hour after
the magnificent dome OF the building
fell inward with crash, ourging a num-
ber of persons who were endeavoring to
save their goods from. the place, in the
ruin Along Hanover Square and Pearl
streets, the citizens had piled their prop
erty, but what the fire spared was
trampled in the mud by the rush of eX.
cited crowds. The troops were ordered
QUITO protect the property thus exposed
from robbers, who then as now infested
the city. Amid the general destruction,
the shipping happily escaped, although |
Brooklyn was ut times threatened with
destruction by the showers of cinders
blown across the river, Fire brig
AIDES we're sent from philadelphia and
other neighboring cities and rendered |
what service brave men could in the un-
equal struggle. About l o'clock on
Thursday morning, the fire was subdued, |
or rather, had exhausted itself, aud WIS
prevented from spreading further. The |
loss by the cOnhagration was estimated |
at SIS, 100000. and $50 of the most costly |
buildings in the city were laid in ruins.
Luekily.it occurred at a. season of the
year when the merchants had disposed |
Of their heavy fall stocks, and as the |
sales had been unusually large, mmiy Of
the Wholesale houses were comparatively |
empty. Hardly had the debris grown
cold before an army of workmen WIS
set 10 work to clear it away, and withui
two years from the terrible event, New
York arose from her ashes more stately |
and beautiful than before, 10 continue
the empire city of America.
THE PITTsBURG FIRE.
Tn the 10Th OF April, 1919, most de-
struetive FIRE occurred in Pittsburg. The
fire broke out in frame building on
Ferry street, used rs a smokehouse. The
flames spread quickly to adjoining
wooden buildings, and the wind. which
was. at the time, blowing gale, spread
it with frightful rapidity. The supply
of water was inadequate, and the ire
men could do little 90 arrest the con
1agration. The wind increased in force,
and the flames leaped FROM roof to roof
with amazing speed. The fairest por-
ton Of the city was, in less than six
hours, converted into field Of ruins,
from which arose tail, gaunt chimneys
and black, smoking walls, while the
ground was a perfect sea Of ERE from the
combustible contents OF warehouses.
The fre extended over a district one
mile Ia length, and twenty-four blocks.
containing Twelve hundred houses, were
destroyed The. loss Of property was