Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1871-11-02
From the Hartford Tim es.
The WOrld'S s.Graat EiraSD

The confagration of Chicago
prompts people to ask what other
great fires have equaled this. One
precedent, frequently cited, is the
great fire in New York." which oc-
cured on the night of December Is,
1885. That was a terrible fire; the
intense cold, which by freezing the
hydrants and the hose, incapacitated
the old hand labor engines, and re-
suited in the disastrous spread of the
flames. The fire swept the compac-
ter business part Of the city, embrac-
ing all the First Ward east of Broad
way. below Wall street, destroyed
about $50 buildings; mostly business
structures and warehouses filled with
costly merchandise. 1'he city is in
debt to- day, if we mistake not, near
Iy half million dollars for liabilities
contracted by the city authorities in
ordering the destruction of buildings
by plowing them up by gunpowder
on that terrible night of December
16. 1885. The total loss was s1S,-
100000, which was practically equal
to S30,000,000 in these times. Many
insurance companies failed. The
great Few York fire Of July, 1S45, in
a portion of the same tract, caused a
loss of S5,000.000.
The confagration Of moscow, Oc-
tober 10Th, Goth, 2Ist, 22d, 1912 by
order of the Governor, Count Ro-
stoptschin, not only succeeded in its
object of driving out Napoleon a1d
his army, to perish by piecemeal on
their dreadful forced march out of
Russia and its early winter storms of
that memorable year, but also burned
down, it is said, nearly or quite three
quarters of the city. Moscow at that
time was highly picturesque city as
large as Chicago in 1871; but it did
not contain nearly so many valuable
buildings-and though the confagra-
ton may have destroyed several
thousand different buildines, their
number was far less than that which
Chicago has now lost, and not one half
as valuable.
Constantnoble has mad several en-
ormous confs sgrations during the
past and present century, but none
equal to this of Chicago.
Hamburg, in May 1912. suffered by
confagration lasting four days, and
which burned down 81 streets and
1,749 houses.
Portland, Maine, and Troy, N. Y,
to say nothing of the city of Paris
have suffered heavily from fires but
not so severely as New York.
The greatest of all fires, prior to
this of Chicago, was the historical
conflagration in London, which oc
cured in Millions time, and which is
now distinctively known as the "Grea
Ere" That, however, occurred at an
age (1666) when London, crooked
and poorly built, contained no sucl
valuable structures as hundreds or
hundreds OF those which have jus
been converted to ashes in the hear
Of Chicago. 1t, however, lasted from
September Sd to September 10th, ant
destroyed between Is 600 and A.
900 dwelling houses, 81 churches
chapels. bridges, 3 city gates, tn
Exchange, the Custom House, OLE
Newgate, Guild Hall, and other pub
! lie structures.
This awful confiagratlon Of Chica
go, lasting practically two days ant
two nights, has burned down 1900
} buildings-several thousand bein;
elegant and costly-and destroyed
) property amounting in value to pro
bably) 100000, 900.
Nothing like it has occurred in any
part of the world-so far as destruc-
ton merely by fire is concerned.