, 1872-12-10

! which fortunately was open, and danger to row
Of fine buildings just below Ninth street Wea
eyerted
| GENERAL ALARM OF FIRE,
which called out the whole department, had been
/ sounded, land the numbeIlesB fremen battled for
the safety Of buildings in the rear of those burn
ing, ana succeeded in saving over II tifty IN
damaged condition. By dayb1eak, the fire was
under control; but how different the scene from
| that few hours previously. Then there stood
rows OF good, comfortable three-stoTy bI1ck
buildings, many Of them used On the first floor
| By their 1esidantR as stores; now all was deco
lation. Tottering remnants Of walls, amok
inc. beams, and piles Of bricks many feet
high we're to be seen On all sides. The fire had
swept from Washington street clear to Federal.
Nine-tenths Of the buildings were in ruins. and
Of those that remained there we're but the walls.
| The fire had also destroyed number Of build
ings On Ellsworth and Federal streets, and sew
eral small side avenues.
Thus had the fendlsh deeds Of tho incendia-
| Ties destroyed in buildings, goods, household
stut1s, DC, property tothe value Of
| THREE-QuARrERs OF 4 MILLION DOLLARS,
sacl1nced half dozen lives, and rendered home
less astss 5og persons many loaing their all Tho
| city the next morning, when the neT8 was
| spread. The sufferers had been accommodated
Ii charitable institutions in the lower part Of the
city, and immense contributions Of clothing and
| provisions we're made for them. Search was
made as soon as possible for the bodies Of tho
victims, and they we're found, with those Of two
other persons, Who had resided IN an adjoining
| house.
During the fire the incendiaries hnd been buBi-
y engaged in p1undering, all taking their share.
| Fleetwood had obtained entrance to the Waro
dwelling with one Of his colleagues, who made
his exit by the rear door somewhat hastily, 1eav-
| ing Fleetwood in possession Of q boz Of silver
ware, which he found on the lower floor, and
which he intended to carry Off as plunder under
the pretence Of savingit. The one who escaped,
who is supposed to have been Dougherty, did
| 41-nt t1---n
house, and it is not likely that Fleetwood did, as
they had broken into the dwelling from the rear.
At this juncture the oil broke from the depot,
and Fleetwood, In common with the Ware fani-
ly, found his retreat cut OF. While making the
desperate effort to escape with Mrs. Ware, they
fell in the stream Of burning oil almost in
each others arms, and the bystanders at
once concluded that Fleetwood had met his
death in noble and selfsacrifcing effort to sa7e
the lives Of others. The remains Of his
body and that Of Mrs. Ware we're found in the
| street, his corpse being only recognized by q
partly melted key that lay beside it. The sup.
| posed noble deed WaB re-echod from one end Of
the city to another. All classes we're lost in adj
ten On his death, and his funeral WAS attended
by large bodies Of citizens, the ceremonies being
performed with great pomp and solemnity- An
| association Was organized and adoptod his aame.
! His portrait, upon 3 large and splendid banner,
YVES often carried in procession by the Moya-
mensing Hose Company, and his memory eu1o-
Gized IN the most fattering manner BY the press
generally.
But how great was the terror Of the
| THREE SURVIVING RAscAIs,
| Morrow, McGurk, and Dougherty. There can
be no doubt that they never had an idea that
the fire would assurne the character it did, or
cause the destruction Of human life, and their
first impulse was to bind themselves by Holemn
| declaration to stand by one another and keep the
fatal secret. But little suspicion Of iucendiar-
ism, however, prevailed, and it was only limited
l foI
| to spontaneous combustion, and the agitation
| eliminated in universal demand for 8 law for
bidding the storage Of coal oil within the city
limits, which wes speedily passed.
Time rolled on, and the coal oil fire passed
from the public mind, or was only mentioned as
q deplorable visitation OF Divine Providence.
| The consciences Of the three incendlaries, how
ever, smote them often, although they indulged
| in new deeds Of Villany. A year or go went by
and McGurk could not agree With Dougherty
and Mara in regard to all their vilianous plans.
| Mara and Dougherty, being older in crime, tried
| to drag McGurk still deeper By the hold which
iahment he retaliatcd by suddenly threatening
to diyulge all he knew Of the origin Of the coal
| oil fire to the authorities, telling them that be
could do go with perfect safety himself, as he
would be States evidence and receive Tree par
| don.
| 4 WEAK CoEBPIRAToR IN DANGER.
! At first they we're frightened, and attempted
to cajole him but he was On his guard and re-
peated bis threats. At last the two determined
that, as there was no aafety for them from a
man Of his disposition, the only resort left was
| to mako away with him. Mara met him on the
street, and told him that somehow or other the
who started the coal-oil IRE, and. that
as no suspicion. attached to them he had
better leave the city at once. As
McGurk had been with them so long and was
ouch . good fellow they we're determined to
promised to leaye Philadelphia at once, until
the excitement. it any there Was, had blown oV-
er. Mara then proposed that McGurk should
meet him and Dougherty on the next night on
lot running from Fitzwator to Catharine and
from Seventh to Eighth streets, well known to
Philadelphians as "sweeney's lot" and scene
Of several murders and numerous bloody sf'
trays, 1obberies ete IN days gene BY: It is NOV nov
promised that they would give McGurk q sun
due him from proceeds Of certain thefts, and 81
so tell him how to act after- he had fed.
McGurk promised to be pnnctual in attend,
Doug gherty, whom he .soon found, and detailed
to him the arrangements with McGurk. He ther
proposed that he would seize McGurk and stife
his cries while DoughertY stabbed him. Dough.
erty dssented most emphatically from the lat
ter portion Of the plan, but upon Maras repre-
senting the danger to both # McGurk Was moi
killed, he consented.
The appointed night vas dark, there being nc
moon. At II o'clock Mara and Dougherty met
I
fences Of row Of small buildings. a rambling
conversation ensued, but the Would-be murder
ers found that their task wes not easy, for A1c-
Gurk was suspicious, and on his guard. Being
well built, he was match for either Of bis in
tended assailants, neither Of whom was aPower-
ful man.
TILE DEATH STRUGGLE.
At last Mara became tired Of waiting, and,
with Now come on " to Dougherty, made q
grasp for McGurk's throat. Dougherty's hear
failed him. He did not aid his companion as
promptly as WAS intended, and, with we'll
directed blow McGurk laid Mara out on thu
ground, and then struck for Do1gherty. Mari
quickly aroso, and with Dougharty,- whose
! Blood was now up. rushed at McGurk
The latter fought them veil, and N
; Aicted some severe punishment upon them; bu
Mara or Dougherty, which he did not know
drew a knife and cut him badly several time
about the arms and body. The unequal contes
could not last long without his receiving aeri
J. Gus wound, and at last he got fearful cut i
the abdomen, from which his entrails Prosrudsd p,
1,nfir. nt 1oet 11e sank inseusible from loss o.