The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-02-01


part OF Ewing d Co.'s store, but the state
| nenfs of gentlemen who were sleeping in the
building do not corroborata this opinion. In
| the bedroom of the second story of Ewing
& Co.'S store slept George W. Fort and
George Wallace, clerks IN the house, and Ro-
bcrt Kirkpatrick, clerk In the house of Nor
| gan. Thomas s. Co. Mr.. Wallace was first
| aroused. and awakened the others. Upon
| rushing ont Of the room Dir. Wallace says he
| discovered the fire bursting out from the roof
| If Noel & PIater's building, and immediately
afterwards flames were to be seen issuing
| from tho rear portion Of his store. Els opin-
| ION is that the fire commenced in the adioin-
| Jag building and afterwards communicated
| % thc flour Of Ewing Il Co.'S house, and from
| the floor TO tho whiskcy stored on the second
floor. The jjoi,t! in each Of the stores Tapped,
and il was Therefore an easy matter Tor the
fire to rapidly spread from one floor to the
other. We dive these opinions rs they exist.
twill probably never Eo known how the lire
| originated.
The gentlemen sleeping i'll the store of
Ewing L co. had marrow escape. Nhcn
they were awakened the room was h!led WIZ
smoke. and thew were almost suiiocated.
Wallace and Kirkpatrick rushed down The
stairway without taking time TO gamer UP
their clothing. Mr.. Fort supposed his way
10 the lower floor cut of. and proceeded 10
the front window in his drawers and slIlrt'
| md, clinrn@ 10 one Of the iron Columns,
| sided down and reached the ground III
safety. Fifteen minutes after that tiinc tsie
| entire block was Il mass OF slnouideiiils
ruins.
The progress OF the flames was very rapid.
| As above indicated, there was whiSkcy III
- (, s., rfn
| ono thousand barrels were stored on TINS
floor. Upon communicating with one bar
re! the flames lcupt rapidly TO the next, and
| to the next. and so on until the entire guam
| tity Of tie combustible fluid was exposed to
the flames. Pop, pop, pop, went the barrels
| ~ they exploded, and streams OF burning
whiskcy in one continuous, easy flow of blue
and forkcd flames, rolled down the walls,
ana in its uninterrupted passage bounded
over sidewalks to cutters, .opening fiery cnilll-
ncis through the streets.
| The Cumbustible nature of. tho Thiskcy
| added fuel to the flames, which comnlunI-
| Gated rapidly with the store Of \. NJ. Pcrine
! i Co., adjoining that of Ewing & Co., on the
south side. Notwithstanding the efforts Of
| the fire department, it was matter OF I'M
| possibility TO check TIE progress Of the fire at
| tlmt stage. At this iuncturc it was probably
not over half all hour from the time the
alarm was first given, and seldom, if ever, i'll
the history OF our city, has fire ragged more
| fIlriously. From the house of Periuc & CO.
| the flames communicated to the rear portion
OF tic house occupied by Lumsden & Co.
| At first glance it was thought the building
could be saved, but now again, the explosion
! of whi>kcy barrels looScncd rafters and
weakened the buildings from their founda-
49, C,,1j l,- H., nlAli ,,sy
with 4 crash, and that between Pcrinc d
! Co. and LumSdcn e. Co. fell upon the roof Of
| tlc latter, resulting in general caving in.
and opening an avenue by which the fire
could more easily assault the interior Of the
Lumsdcn building.
| In Quick succession, The towering wall OF
| the Noel & Platter house tottercd and fell
with heavy weight upon the cnginc-room of
| Dickcy's mill, Immediately in the rear. Up
10 this time the mill had been running Is
usual, and men stationed at different points
Oh Tie roof watching the progress OF the
,ll,ncs. to prevent, if possible. the spread Of
the ire in that direction. The crumbcd
wall. however, suddenly checked operations
at lie mill; for by is taIl the cngine-room
was almost completely crushed, the steam
chest broken, and governors, valves, ETC.,
knocked otlt of place.
While the fire continued to rage in the
buildings fronting on Market street. build
u% On Front street, owned ty John COlt!Ee,
and occupied hya number OF negro families:
was Tic next point Of attack. The damage
from tic tire and the injuries sustained Ey
TIC falling walls left it III u completely de-
n0ii>hcd condition.
From il:lr sparks the ROOF OF tho Old
French warehouse. fronting OF Clark and
| :
before it obtained Roadway. The old Came
ron building, on The corner OF Front ana
Clarke streets, over q square distant, also
caught from Tying sparks, but through the
cycr!ionS Of Nj. StrAtt0D, a clerk il the
house Of W. 3. & Z. l.. Armistead, was cX-
tiuguished. y line OF hose WAS being
stretched to that corner to put out the rtirn-
) iny roof, but before il reached the point Mi.
ctrttou reached the roof from III aGJpning
building. and by act Of almost unsurpassed
daring sided down over TIC snowy and
slippery root. and succeeded in qGcncillng
the DANES with the snow which he gathered
from the roof.
: Oh the houses which were destroyed on
Market street the first in the block, occupied
by Nccl 6 Platter. was the property o. Mrs
Dr.. Lowe, OF Springfield. The one adjoin.
ing, occupied by Ewing Il Co., was owned
hy ". ). Eakin, of New York, ard that OF ~
IL pevine d Co.. the third Ill the block, was
the property Of G. II. Vessel, OF this city
The Lum3Qen house was owned by thi,
firm.
. The heaviest losers by the fire were Ewing
& Go. They had an unusually large stock
and although covered by 81, 900 insurance,
: their loss will, it il estimated, exceed $50, $50
= In addition to one thousand barrels Of Whls
| .al
worth Of SUGAR and moasscs in New Orleans
the greater portion Of which tad arrived
Their stock Of coffee Was fortunately reduced
to 100 bags, Or something like SG,Olo, market
value. st the time OF writing we arc moi
prepared TO give TIC extent OF their stock
/, which we have heard yariously estimated
from 600 to Sl40, 200. Their safe, con
; tanning all their books and papers, was res
cued from the rear portion OF the building
after the walls had given way, and opened
, on Front street. Fortunately they We're Ii
; perfect state Of preservation.
The loss sustained by Noel e. Platter vii
not be very large. Their stock consisted
principally Of flour, Of which there were
; something like six or seven hundred barrels
.. besides one hundred and seventy bales Of
hay, and small quantities of corn, hay, bran
oats, etc.
!, The firm of A. NJ Perine & Co. was heavily
stocked with agricultural implements, iron
seeds, etc, and the stock set down at $50, 600
most of which was covered by insurance.
The firm Of J. Lumsdcn d Co. took stock
on the 1st Of January last, which amounted
10 between $4,000 and S2O,OO0. Their OK
act stock just previous to the fire is not
: known, but it is estimated that it will moi
differ much from what it was on the first o.
the month.