The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1872-11-19

| INK Yesterday ,sud MA hstzntly killed.
The company brought hin home on
this train to-day. 1t is wonderful that
amid 80 much of danger 80 few lives
were lost. ! suppose Jour reporters will
write letters about
T. THE DRUNKEN MEN IN BOSTON.
The city is fun Of drunken men but
I tell you men who were in the streets
wading through dirtyTwster. and suffer.
ing from fervent heat all night and day,
needed somethisg 80 keep them up.
The excitement Ola ,scene like that can
not be borne BY ordinary men without
something In the ,lwsy rof etimulsnts.
One great cause of the rapid progress of
the flames -was- the lack of horses to
run the engines. Itwas pearly an hour
before the engines were on the ground,
and then they were run by men. Our
Boston horses are all well now, except
those belonging to the Fire Department
Reporter-As I understand this
calamity, it is the rich men. OF Boston
only who are injured?. -
Mr.. ONeil-Wel), there were few
dwelling houses burned, though a good
many were damaged by water. Boston
Common is covered by household turni-
ture taken from houses, and bureaus
and bedsteads are floating among the
dry goods boxes in the sire cts. But the
poor people will be rather gamers than
losers by the fire. They will have
work all winter, for. OF course, Boston is
to be rebuilt; and this time we mean to
have wide streets. The wealthy man
has lost his property, and the working
man, so far as can zee, is going to reap
the benefit of it.
SALVAGE.
Reporter-Many OF the insurance
companies think that the loss to them
will be greatly reduced by salvage
money 1s that statement to be de-
pended on2 20.
Mr.. ONeil-Not at all. 1 tell you
there is very little saved, and that little
is of no comparative value. 1t is water.
soaked, and in most cases utterly
spoiled. | did not save cents worth
myself. But as l said before | have
been flooded, earthquaked and burned
out. have risen above calamity before,
and l mean to triumph again. l have
come on here to get all / can out OF our
insurance, and then we shall set out
again. The firm of Spaulding d Co.
isn't dead yet.
At this point the cars reached
street. and Mr.. O'Neil
bid the reporter cordial farewell.
THE EFFECTS OF THE HEAT ON GRANITE.
What is apparently the most marvel
lous work OF the heat is it's effect on
stone. Quincy granite, supposed TO be
.e most durable OF stone, was fairly
melted. The destruction Of more than
one granite building was timid from its
first ignition. and in many instances
twenty minutes sutficed for the total
demolition OF the building, and leveling
it to the ground. In some quarter
blocks OF stone weighing tons each are
scattered as though some giant tossed
them about. Huge granite pillars
which once were square have been
licked BY the flames until they were
round, and MANY square block has
been burned into the form Of a bowlder'
while some have been burned to Gin
der. In walking over the ruins
laborious and dangerous work-one
frequently steps on a granite bowlder,
which crhmbles and shells of like rot
ton sandstone. Wood in any form ls
rarely seen. Here and there a little
stick charred and blackened, but al
most everv atom was totally destroyed.
More complete destruction would be i'm.
possible unless the debris was resolved
into an atmosphere.
IRON WORKS TWISTED BY THE FLAMES
Nearly all iron work, such as COL
umns, cornices, copings, and 20 on, are
now totally devoid Of ornamentatlon,
the flames having licked them off as
easily as a child might lick particles OF
sugar from a spoon. Scarcely whole
column remains, and guiders, trusses,
floor beams, buildings are broken, bent,
twisted or melted out OF shape. But
few walls are standing. Here and there
along Washington street and IN few
other localities one may see an entire
front, but they are very rare. Brlck
seems to have best stood the test.
Ragged fragments OF brick walls are still
standing, and in a few instances the
foundations to the second story vaults
looking like old dilapidated chlmneys
AS a general thing safes built into walls
have been destroyed. Wherever one
of these safe chimneys stands there is
almost certain to be seen an open door,
warped and twisted. The vault is
empty, showing the fire has sucked out
the contents, and hundred OF thousands
OF dollars OF losses sustained in this way
will never be known to the public.
THE STREETS COVERED WITH DEBRIS.
So far | have touched but one spot
where the street pavement could be seen,
and that was fer a short distance only.
Everywhere the streets are covered with
a fine mixture of iron, stone and bricks,
obliterating landmarks as completely as
a deep snow in the country would. 1t
is simply a waste worse than barren,
for it tells on every hand 80 pitful
story o. fortunes lost; but l have yet tn
see a sad, that is, a downcast, face. Oi
course there are plenty OF men who
look sober, and whose facial muscles
witch little when they answer your
questions; and he must be q brave mat
who looks his own ruin calmly in the
face and takes it coolly, but the MAORI
ty of these Boston men take things with
eouauimity, and are not cast down.
They have already begun to dig in the
ruins, and common runner tells OF men
who, in the plucky American phrase,
will rebuild at once, but l have not yet