Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1872-11-12
Great Fire in Boston-Immense De.
struction Of Property-2oo Acres
of Business Blocks Burned.


IN q store at the corner Of Kingston
and Summer Streets. 1t burned up
tiercely, caught in the roofs ofneigh.
boring buildings, aud as there was a
strong wind loving, in half an hour
it had made such progress that all re-
slstance was useless. In one direc@
ton the city was at the mercy of the
flames, which burned all night and
all day Sunday, though il was con.
sidered at noon under control and
not likely to extend further.
The intense heat Of the fire caused
the great blocks Of granite to burst
into pieces with sound like rapid
firing in battle. Stones weighing
tons were split as if by powder, and
fragments hurled across the streets
Vast wholesale stores and other gran.
ite blocks of buildings seemed to 90
down in a few minutes. 1t was q
repetition ofthe Chicago fire in many
respects. The terrible scenes in the
streets, the vain efforts to save mov-
ables, the robbery and crime, thease-
less attempts to check the fire by
blowing up rows of stores with pow
der, all bring back the sensations in
spired by Chicago.
Fire engines were useless, under
most circumstances As long as a
fireman holding nozzle could stand
the heat by having another stream
play on him, they fought the fire
with water. But the dispatches say:
BosToN, Saturday, Nov. 1O.-The
scene at daylight at the corner of
Milk and Devonshire streets, and up
in the direction of Washington street
was terrible one.
Nobody could stand within three
blocks of the burning masses, 80 that
the fire had full possession of the
buildings within it's grasp. IA each
edifice caught fire from its neighbor,
the flames seemed to devour the con
tents in a single moment, and so the
torrent of flames grew in strength
and power with terrible velocity.
Falling roofs were sinking every
minute, and carried down with them
floors, one by one, until the walls be-
came isolated and also fell with
crash. Whole blocks Of buildings dis
appear in this manner, crumbling up
like so much cardboard Huge mass.
es Of material choked the streets, and
taking fire, created a solid body of
flaming fire. Engines were utterly
useless, for no human being could
stand near enough 10 send streams
Of water whore they were needed to
do service
The report of buildings being
blown mp is indicatory that gunpow-
der is being used to stop the fire. 1t
was heard at FIVE minutes past three
o'clock, and was most welcome
sound, for it betokened fearless,
honest, radical effort to save Boston
from Chicago's fate.
Three discharges were made in a
block on Devonshire street, and these
threw buildings partially down bu.
without apparent benefit, for the
flames jumped over the gap almost
instantly.
At o'clock this morning the fire
extended from Washington street on
the west TO the wharves on the east.
and from Milk street on the north to
the Hartford Il Erie railroad bridge
on the south, the area Of the burnt
district being roughly estimated at
200 acres. The estimate of a we'll
known real estate man is, that the
loss on buildings will average S12
per foot for this area, and therefore
we have q grand total loss on build,
ings of upwards of 800, 900 600.
CHICAGO, Nov. 10.
A Tribune extra says, Of the route
of the flames The principal streets
traversed by the confagration were,
Summer, Chauncey, Franklin, Pearl,
Devonshire, Milk. Congress, State,
Commercial and Washington. Sum-
mer, Chauncey and Franklin streets
were almost exclusively devoted to
dry goods and contained scores of
the largest establishments in the city.
Pearl street was the greatest boot
and shoe market in the world. On
Congress street were clustered all the
dealers in wool. Devonshre and
Milk streets were devoted to miscel-
laneous wholesale business, principal.
ly of the great manufactures of Low
ell, Lawrence, &c. Commercial street
was solidly built with granite ware
houses, for the sale of grain, ship
chandlery, fish and other articles.
State street was the Wall street of
Boston, and contained its banks, in
surance offices and the great ship
ping and commission offices. Wash
ington street was occupied by whole
sale and retail business, and in this
throughfare were located some Of the
most elegant stores in the city.
None of the business firms burnt sui
fer as much as the boot and shoe and
the hide and leather trades. All the
residences in the Fort Hill section,
so called, including Gridley, High,
and Broad streets, have been destroy
cd, rendering hundreds of families
homeless or destitute.
The horse disease largely prevent
ed the saving of goods.
This is a calamity which like that
of Chicago, will injure every portion
of our country to greater or less
extent