Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1872-12-28
VIRGINIA ME- ~ =.

virginia $ESts.
On Thursday night the large tobacco factory
of K. G.. Osborne, in Petersburg, WAS destroyed
by fire. with its stock and fixtures Mr.. Os-
borne is insured III the London and Liverpool
and Globe IusuranceCOm pany.a IN the Peters
burg Savings and Insurance Company. Thrcc
tenement houses adjoining the factory, and be-
longing to Mr.. Osborne were also destroyed.
The Lyuchburg Vrginian in its notice Of
Christmas, in that place, says: "A worse day
for enjoyment than Christmas was, We have
never known. The SHOW fell all day, and late
in the night it was still coming down. The
atmosphere was very sharp. Fewer people
were on the streets than we have ever seen be-
fore on Christmas day.
A fine specimen Of B.:owu llcmatite Iron
Ore has been discovered % the land Of Mr..
Thos A. Brown,-a portion OF the old Hare
wood" estate Oh the Smlthh:ld turnpike, with
in about . miles Of Cl:arlesnwu.
At a meeting Of the Board OF Supervisors Of
Rockbrdge county, OH Monday last, action on
the proposition to Wit lraw the county sub
scription to the Valley Railroad was postponed
till the first Monday III March.
The Amherst Enterprise says 1--WE under
stand that number Of the coior;d caok> about
this place, to crafty an ovcrwccing desire To
get an education have resolved 20 make gen
cra strike, quit work and 20 to school.
The Fair held by the ladies Of The Harrison
burg Memorial Association, notwithstanding
the extreme incclneucy Of the weather, was a
success. The receipts amounted to $40.
The Female Schools in Staunton, it is said,
Accommodate nearly COO pupils, and they are
to be enlarged.
The Lexington Gazette says: There is a
deep SLOW on the ground, thick sicet Oh tj.al
and another SLOW falling Oh thar.
Petersburg, ships Christmas toys to Scot
land.
Senator Lewis is at home in Rockingham,
quite ILL.,
THE BURNING OF TIE WED AMI
MAILS IN BARNUM's CIRCUS. In a coEvrr
sation with the property-man Of the cir
Gus, the writer asked :-"What VS. the tir>'
iutimatiou those in charge of the animals had
Of the ire?" SWELL there are several men @ho
took care of the beasts. and about four O'Clock
this morning the tanner, Lion Charley we call
him, who sleeps directly in front Of the lions
cage was awakened by an awful roaring. He
raised himself up on his elbow, aud saw the
lions wide awake, and one OF them daShlng
against the bars OF the cage and shaking them.
Shut up, says he; what are you making all
this noise about He was just turning over to
go to sleep again when he saw The fire c,mlng
out Of the builer-room. SO he jumps up aud
calls the other mcn-they were all 10 their
81, Il i bnp ~ no thnr
end of the building When they got there
charge of these animals, anu Coon-he's
darkey that takes care of the snakes, and sleeps
every night on the top Of the cage where
they re kept-trying to put out the fire. which
by this time had reached the giratfe's cage.
While they were doing this, two went to work
tearing down the bars so as to let the animals
loose. You Can imagine how much the fire
had gained when tell you that even the
names and tails Of the giraffes were on fire.
Well, they got the bars down and persuaded
one of them to come out Tommy, he was one
Of the incest, gcntlest little fellows that ever
was; you could lead him all over town with one
end of pocket handkerchief in his mouth.
But lust as soon as be saw the flames he wheel
ed right round and rushed back INFO the cage,
and there they had to leave him. 1t is curious,
but all animals except elephants are like horses;
fire scares them SO that they don't know what
they're about, aud it's the hardest work in the
world to move them away Then the fire ran
on to the cage of the happy family, and all
>them vert lbbcring and jumping and flying
around inside, making a tremendous row. You
see, the cages were made Of pine wood, and
the flames rushed o7er. them in an instant. |
was on he ground within ten minutes after the
first alarm was sounded, and aided to the best
of my ability TO scuc the animals, but the
building burned too quickly for us. Would
you have let the lions and tigers Nose in the
streets?' 'Certaiuly, though | don't know
about the tigers, they are SO trcnchcrouS that
you never can tell what they will do. As to
the lions, you know we have nets ready to catch
them in as they come out of the cage, So We
should have had no trouble with them. But
we had not time enough to do anything. and
some of US had to run for it pretty hard to save
ourselves.
A CONTROVERSY has arisen in England
over decision of the Bishop Of Lincoln regard,
ing the right of clergyman TO omit portion
of the burial service at funeral. rector
had declined to read over deceased parlshlou-
err of immoral lite the words OF the service
which cousign the body to earth in sure and
certain hope of joyful resurrection, as he did
j Al,