The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-11-13
equally as much az Boston, being sd Init.
lnaleiy eiated With Rostpn In bsissnesss
THE BcSToN PRESS ON TILE FIRE
sef AND THE E0ss. =,
j The Hnsurv 20 Fytssfs.e ss 20. ) So,

4 isSom the Boston Advertiser, November Ill .
Ine fire to the business community Is ont
OF the most severe and disastrous that 'evel
occurred In this country, and while but few
dwelling-houses. were burned and but com
pafativeiy small number IF families ief
| honsciess, The? finest warehouses md store.
OF the city and the entire space occupied b,
tue Wholesale, dry goods dealers, wool mer
chants, boot and shoe and hide and Ieathe:
aealerss and ciothing-bouses, were entirely
DESTROYED. Not woolhouse Is standing ir
the city. The whole Of Pearl and High
streets, which were devoted exclusively 10
the BOOT and shoe and hide and leather trade
afe heap of ruins, Every wholesale cloth.
lns.l,oGSc. with single exception, is burned
and but three or four dry goods commission.
houses are left Standing, The loss in
buildings IS immense, and, together will,
the large stocks of imported and do.
mestc fabrics that were burned. can.
rot be estimated at less than $50, 900 Gao,
All the domestic wool in the city has been
| burned, and the total number Of pounds OF
foreign and domestic, fleece aud pulled. de-
Stroycd by the fire, cannot tall short of 9 900.
| 600 pounds. while the entire stock rcnaininr
in this market cousists Of foreign wool, und
is less than 5000 bales, The destruction CT
boots, shoes, and leather has been quite as
complete as that of wool, although the stock
OF boots and shoes in warehouses is much
lightera at this season than it would have been
| but month later, ind the loss will conse-
quent!y be less to the owners. Besides this.
large dtiantitics Of boots, shoes, and leather
| were saved, which will materially tighten
| the loss to the sufferers. The wholesale
| clotblu2-houscS, with one or two executions.
were completely burned, although consid-
erable quantity Of goods were saved and
the stocks on hand were not very large.
With very few exceptions all the
| commission dry-goods houses are burned
to the ground, not even the walls of the
buildings being left Standing. The destruc-
ton Of the lobbing- Houses has been nearly
complete, and the agent Of the largest mill
III the country says that but one out of all his
customers in the city has place left for his
business. The fire did not reach that section
of the city occupied by the provision,
produce, flour, and grain trade, nor were
there any losses to the fish or salt deal
ers, and but slight damage to the wholesale
grooets. None Of the hotels have been de-.
stroyed, and the railroads, with the excep-
ton Of the Hartford and Eric. have not sui
fered. as the tire did not extend In that direc-
ton. There is not likely to be any such seri-
Gus interruption to business as il view Of the
burned district would at first suggest, and
with characteristic energy large number Of
the merchants Who haze been btjrDhd otit
have secured rooms and offices, and will re-
sumo business at the usual hour Oh Monday
morning. If those merchants who are in
debted to those who have suffered by the fire
will meet their payments promptly, or when
convenient will anticipate the day of pay
ment, it will very materially aid in putting
trade on aprosperous footing, and business
will soon run in its customary channels.
Che Loss. Actual md Comparative.
From Boston Advertiser, Nov. II. edItnrial.l
The region covered by the fire was en-
tire!v !sitbin wards Five and Four, includ-
ing about one-half of the territory Of the
former aud some two or three acres Of the
latter-a SPACE in all very nearly the same Us
that occupied by ward Three. The area of
tie burnt district will be found, when care
fully estimated, slightly to exceed siXty-four
acres, or 2.I9I $40 square feet. Deducting
the space covered by streets, the area occu-
pied by buildings is little less than two
million square feet. Tile structures did not
cover all the remaining space, but assum.
ing that they did. and that they were worth
80 per sausre foot; the entire loss in
buildings will amount to TWENTY NIL
LIONS OF poLLARs--an estimate TO the
correctness Of which we have the
testimony of many sagacious holders
of real estate. The total number of build
ings consumed may be roughly stated
at abont seven hundred. The loss in MGR
chaEdise is Sc. down by the mos; competent
experts ii not over three tunes the amount
Of loss in hui!dings-it beiilg borne in mind
| that on number Of streets the structures
were used principally for Offices and con-
tanned nothing very valuable. and TINT in
many warehouses the stocks Of merchandise
| were low; some Of the dry goods commission
| houses, for example, having hard!yany goods
in store. Our estimate, therefore, sets the en-
| tire loss ut EIGHTY MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
| d prodigiUus destruction in itself. but by no
| means one 10 lnnict i crushing blow upon The
| prosperity of Boston. All the old boot and
shoe manufacturing and commission firms a:c
! solvent, and even strong as before the fire.
and by their Solvcncy will preserved to i'O=ton
uniMpair"d their Very, valuable lire Of bu.i-
ness. Very many Of the iohbinr firms also.
! in the same line, came out Of the fire with
llrec losses. it i true but able 10 meet all
| their engagements aud - continue their bust.
| ness. The SANG may TIC said III general terms
Of the large manufacturers and dealers in
clothing. Their stocks in hand are con-
sumcd, but their surplus Of assets in bills
and accounts receivable, together witt! what
Insurance. they will he uble to recover, will
save them. That there will lie fixtures III
several Of the lcadin. lines of business Is
probable; but in the ease of many firms we
| believe il will le found that after q suspen.
sion Of payments until they can ascertain
how much Of their insurance can he realized
they will resume payments and so on us be,
fore.
The INSURANCE Losses.
| From the Spectator-the leading New York III
! srrancc journal
1t Is too early to state. or even estimate
the insurance losses in Boston. Enough
! however. is known to warrant the assurance
that while the companies have received Il Sc.
we're hluw the uE,iority OF them will withstand
| the shock. The Chicago fire was a greater ca.
lamity than the catastrophe at Boston. More
over, the losses were distributed over fewer
companies. Now, as then, the strong compa.
mics will emerge with approved credit and dis.
| tinction. They have been improving steadily
since the Chicago fire, and, having received
increased rates all over the country. are now
IN a better position 10 sustain the blow
AS for the smaller companies, 1t will be
found in most cases that the proportion
of their losses to their resources is smaller
than that of the companies which transacted
an agency business. The lists, which are
given elsewhere, show the names of all COM
panies which are regularly admitted to do
business in Massachusetts,. OF course, the
brunt of the disaster falls OH them. But, in
addition to the companies which were regu-
larly authorized to write risks in MassachlI-
sets, it will be found that there are many
other companies, not so authorized, which