The New York herald., 1872-11-29

On the princtpie tnAt genius ana enterpnSe
should always meet with encouragement from
the press. we publish in the HERALD to-day two
interesting communications from correspond
ent signing himself Chemist, /" who with scien-
tifc diablerie. casts into the crucible of his
imagination oil sorts of horrible hints, fearful
innuendoes threats warnings and predictions.
and brings forth an infammable compound,
which, in the parlance of underwriters.
may be called ''doubly hazardous" to the
peace, comfort and enjoyment Of all the
elderly ladies and timorous children in the
community. One of these letters was intended
for the public-the other was designed for our
private information but we give them both
to the readers Of the HERALD in order that we
may free ourselves from the risk Of being
regarded as accessories either before or after
the shocking occurrences which they predict.
Our Chemist at once corrects history and dis
closes terrible secret He proves to us the
unreliableness Of human Judgment al the same
time that he convinces us of the futility Of
human precautions. The confagration that
recently swept away about one hundred mil
lion dollars worth Of property and destroyed
several lives in the city of Boston has been
commonly attributed to ordinary causes-the
tinder-box construction of the buildings, their
height above the reach of the streams Of
water, the high Wind which took up the flames
upon its fantastic wings and carried them
from Mansard to Mansard, probably, even,
some inefioiency in the fire department.. Of
course the New England explanation of the
Chicago calamity as a visitation upon the
Western city for it's sins could not apply to
their own staid and pious capital, and hence
the destruction in Boston has been accounted
for in this common sense manner.
We learn from Chemist that the en-
gineers, iremen, insurance agents, police
and high official dignitaries who have pro-
nounced this judgment have all been in
error. They have been humbugged hood
winked, imposed upon. The fire was the
work of the Missionaries of Benevolence,
the preachers Of the s'New Gospel to the
Race" of whom Chemist is one, aud who
have invented wonderful chemical ball with
which they design burning down creation,
unless that terrible tyrant Capital chooses to
stop the condagration by recognizing the equal
rights of its ill-used slave, Labor, and divid-
ing its property between "Chemist" and his
amiable associates. We are told that these
mischievous little balls small enough to be
clasped in the hand, were thrown into the
fire at Boston in the very faces of profound
policemen and wonder-stricken spectators,
and that from them proceeded the explosions,
the volumes Of heated air, &C., SO graphically
described in the newspaper accounts of the
our precautions against recurrence of such
confagrations in New York and other cities
are idle. Water supply, iron roofs, fire.
proof buildings, such as the HERALD Building,
the Park Bank, the Drexel building and the
new building on the old HERALD site on Mas
fireballs will shrivel them all up like shavings
and will care no more for water than does
Sixth ward politician The new Post Office is
to be freproof; but "Chemist'' can stand on
the steps of the HERALD Office and destroy its
opposite neighbor by means of these wonder
iui AlepaiiS' eF CONuu, ue CAL, Ao uouDt,
reverse the agreeable pastime, and henceforth
We must sit in the recesses of our iron-clad
offices with no more sense of security than if
we occupied pine-wood shanty, with cellar
full Of Guy Fawkeses underneath and Fourth
of Julys going on all around.
It may be that Chemist is practical
joker. If SO, he has well sustained the charac-
ter of practical jokers by indulging his pro-
pensity at the expense of decency and human
ity. Such persons usually trade on the mis-
fortunes and fears of their neighbors. 1t may
be that he is a monomaniac who religiously
believes in the fancies of disordered brain.
Such unfortunates are frequently capable Of
writing connectedly and we'll On the other
hand, it is just possible that Chemist is. as
he processes to be, one of those turbulent and
troublesome spirits who believe in that "NIis-
sion of Benevolence'' which seeks to tyrannize
over society in the name Of liberty and
breaches general destruction of all property
that does not belong to itself. Of course the
boast that the men who hold in their hands
the 'New Gospel to the Race had anything
" w Will CAo oPIedo VI tnc Do5toH
fire is all fiction. The 'lumber yard
in the air" piled up in Summer street,
Winthrop square and the adjoining thor
oughfares, did not need the aid of this
wonderful chemical discovery in accomplish
ing its Legitimate work. But the object of our
Communist correspondent may, nevertheless,
be to excite the fears of capital, naturally
timid, for the purpose Of extorting from it
what he is pleased to call 'co-operation' with
labor. If so, we shall deem Il our duty 10
reassure capital, to pat it on the back, to
strengthen its trembling knees. and to remind
it, first, that we haze policemen to look after
these chemical ball propellers, and, next, that
our laboring classes have no sympd-
thy with Communists, houseburners or