The avant courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1871-1872, 1871-11-23

5 4 writer in the New York Evening Post
sets up i rfmarkable theory in regard to-
great fires. He says: On the night q the
10Th Of December, 1885, was sitting with
literary friend, about o'clock, in one of the
private boxes of Hamblin''s magnificent
Bowery Theatre. Suddenly the big bell OF
the CITY Hall doomed loud and long over the
metropolis. and Fire Fire u echoed around
and within the theatre. We were off in an
instant, rushing out 'of the slamming doors,
and onward toward the scene OF the confla-
grafton, which was ssglaring on Nights star
tied eye'' away down town.
When we reached Wall street, near Water,
the Iontine Coffee House had caught, and
dark smoke, in huge masses, tinged with
f1ickering flashes Of bright flame, was burst
ing from all the upper windows. The night,
81 Ali who were out Hi it viii remember. was
intensely cold. There was but little wiiia,
hut as the fire advanced there was plainly
nerceutible the s,food Of fire. in the air, as !
firn,ly believe there ID in all great confiagra-
tons !. something mysterious as yet, ana un-
explainable. It was SO in our great fire; fot
/ / saw it's evidences myself, and see that re-
ports of the same evidences are mentioned az
features of the still more terrible and vasllss
greater confagration in Chicago, which has
reused the world. Science, there is little
doubt, will find out by and by what this mys
terious power is, and tell IFS how It Is WORKED
! and how 1t may be guarded against, II no
conquered. Whether it is atmospheric, o.
eleetic, or whatever else it may be, IS yet Z
| be determined. "A word or two more con
cernipg this a little further on.
Our great fire Travelled south and ives
faster than man could walk. Water frozt
| In all the cutters; thick ice coated the ny
i drants: crunched in the hose pipes that ell
numbered the streets, and lay in foes where
there was shadow from the heat and tn
flame. Engines were soon useless; ana n
energetic fs.Sykesy" was required to tax
tha bntt.,, Clouds of smoke, like dark noun
tains suddenly rising in the air, were sue sue
eeedeti by long banners of flame, rushing {
/ the zenith, and roaring for their prey. Stree
after street caught the terrible torrent, unit
over acre after acre there was rolling an
booming an ocean of flame. All OF thls
I saw. and part Of it / was" The prlntiFn
office Of the Knickerbocker, at first III sout
william street, was r,oved three times IA
beyond the prevailing fire, but was gradulall
followed by the raging enemy, ana hnall ~
!. devotired.
i AS we were standing upon the root OF tf
Exchange, looking down upon the seer
when in 1aid-progfess, buildings far beyon
the line of fire, and in no contact with
burst in flames from the interior. The san
: thing, observe, happened in Chicago, an
| was attributed to- incendiaries; but thel
: were no incendiaries suspected in our gre
!, fire. What latent power kindled the lnsle
i of these advanced buildings. while eXte
: nallv they were untouched? a scientlif
i writer at the time contended, think i'll q
D old Daily Advertiser. that at certain perie
: there is what he called an .sinf1ammable va
9 uurn,, in the air. Perhaps. a hundred yea
0 or 50. from now, some safeguard against tn
: mysterious element, now lying latent al
+ sleeping in nature, may be discovered. It
: not so very long since the old tea-kettle III
!, lifted its lid to the science Of steam, a.
V talking around the world under water IS
S much younger wonder.