St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1872-11-15
The Boston Calamity.

all before this heard of the dreadful ca
lamitv which has uVcrtakcn Boston IN
the cuntlagIation of last Saturday night
and sunday. The particulars are given
cl~cN here. and are in brief these: On
saturday cVcnin" about : o'clock. Il fire
broke ont in Il large granite hmilding on
Summer street. corner of Kingston. and
getting hcvnmd control. before il WAS
stayed swept through the business heart
of Boston. burning over in u few hours
about Sjrty acres of the most compactly
built stone and brick Warehouses and
stores III that city. OF perhaps in ANY
other in this country.
The fire is believed to have caught
from an over heated furnace the flames
communicating with an elevator. the
passage of which made Il dr;lught for
the fire which soon appeared near the
roof of the building. From the top OF
this building it soon spread to others.
and before the fire department had fair
~ got at work Il comtlaglatinn of such
magnitude had got under WAY. that
there was little hope of stopping it,
progress 10y the usual methods known
to fire departments. And it WAS prob
ably owing To the use of powder in
blowing up dozen nr two of stores ON
the outskirts at the cnuiiaglariun. thai
the fire was stopped where it WAS. For
the efficiency with which This was done
and the immunity from loss of life in
using 80 dangerous Il weapon. too much
credit cannot hc given t" the military
men who volunteered thcir services T."
the Mayor and the chief of the fire de
partmrmt.
OF the appearance of the burnt dis
trict. one can have Il very incomplete
idea from Just reading about it. unless
he has Witnessed other great c"nlagr;t-
tinnS The dr>"latinm crccp> over one
10y degrees ~ he waudcr~ from one
point to another and sees the dr>truc-
ton the tire has caused. In the night
time the spectacle WAS particularly
virrd and fearful. The dcbrj> was
burning sufficiently all Monday night t"
Iiyht up the heavens. and the light of
the fire could he seen fur miles IN ANY
directions y walk about the ruins III
the evening WIS sufficiently exciting T."
he interesting. The clare at the flames
~ they shot upward from som" unr"m-
-umrd cumhu>tihlc>. made TIA" ragged
solitary chimney. stand ont like dim
~prctrc> against the lnld smoke which
every where prevailed. And the smells
too were various and mot pheasant. | he
woulcm goods. the leather. oils. fish.
ETC.. all combined. made II PrrtnmcIN
which Lubin never dreamed of.
When Chicago burned B">touiau>
said that their city could NOT lac burn
ed. and gave what Appeared good r"'-
sons for their belief. Their city WIS
built more substantially. y" one sup
posed the granite stores of Pearl street
could ever hr consumed. And in fact
the burnt district ah"undcd III What
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