, 1872-11-11

| been wholly rebuilt With the most Eubseanti a
granite warehouses. Trinity Church atill stood
in Summer street, but arrangements had been
made for its reconstruction in another part o1
! town. The destruction Of
PEARL AND HIGH STREETS
has wiped out the largest boot and shoe mart in
| the world, for this industry in this country was
centred there. very large part of the
| LEATHER TRADE,
! Of the trade in Surroundings. and other trades
| connected with the boot and shoe trade, also
found their centre in the same locality. The
great establishments Of the New England cotton
| and woolen manufacturers are all swept away.
Within few years
NEW DETo SsH1RE STREET.
was laid out through the district burned, and
this thoroughfore seems to be the very centre Of
the periphery Of the fire. The noble warehouses
on both sides Of it, as we'll as those in Otis street
and Winthrop place, have perish ed. The prin-
.cipal
WOOL WAREHOUSES
were on Congress and Federal streets, and part
OF these streets is also in ruins. At this mo-
ment it would seem that the fire has been check
ed on the eastern side of Washington street,
and, although it has consumed the rear of some
OF the warehouses on that street, it has not brok-
en- through into the street itself. In Broad
street, kilby street, and nearer the water, are
large stores containing stocks OF iron and i'm
ported goods, but the fire has not yet reached
them.
FORT HILL.
Old residents Of Boston, who have not been
here for five years, should understand that the
whole of Fort Hill has recently been dug down
and carried away, and in its place is now level
plain not covered With buildings. The crowded
pauper population, which, till lately, filled every
tenement on Fort Hill, has been removed to
other and, at present, safer homes. The swarms |
OF the poor, which, till recently, crowded the |
cellars Of Broad street, hayo nearly all |
given room to the growth Of trade, and that |
street is no longer to be regarded as one Of the
1airs of this degraded population. To these
two facts isit due that SO few people are left |
houseless By this disaster. Not more than
FIVE HUNDRED FAMILIES
have been un1ouBed, The real sufferers
are the most active business men Of Boston,
They represent mainly that younger class OF
merchants, and to whom, in the last fifteen
years. the city owes its remarkable COM
nercial development, O development which, not
perhaps 80 noticeable to outsiders, has been q
marked feature of Boston growth. These men,
Of the immense advantages which the
city had for trade, had availed themselves Of
arge resources to construct
SYSTEM OF WAREHOUSES;
which had no superior in this country. perhaps
none abroad, and to open new streets which
should answer their needs. The old |
byWays in the more northern part
II the city had become crowded and
inadequate. They looked with pride upon Pearl
street, Franklin street, New Devonehire street,
md Summer street, as business thoroughfares
1oWhere excelled. Every new year the Develop
nent OF the manufactures and commerce Of the
country and of their own city had shown that
hey built On no false hopes in constructing such
oid and expensive storehouses.
Of this city. more than any other in this coun-
ry, it is true that the
DIFFERENT BRANCHES OF INDUSTRY
ked to remain together and work side By side.
% speak of Boston man of milk street and
rankin street was to call to mind the large
'holese1e and jobbing establishments OF the
~ goods manufacturers OF New England.
earl street and High street we're to him the
entries OF the boot and shoe industries Of New !
.ngland; Summer street was that Of the latest !
dVances Of domestic dry goods. These streets =
ere occupied almost distinctiye1y for these !
7spective purposes: .''''.' IT,.
THE BOUNDARIES OF TIE FIRE.
To strangers, the consolidation Of these dif- =
erent interests cannot be better explained than :
? saying that here, in the region bounded On ;
le water side, two-thirds of mile on WASH :
lgton street nearly half q mile, and on the =
orthern side and southern side nearly half 6
|ile each, lay the very :
RICHEST PART OF BOSTON. =
It was, perhaps. tue wealthiest section in the :
ount1y. In this district there were .
ow dwelling houses no hotel
Importance no theatre, no church,
zcept Trinity and the old South
hurch, which has as yet escaped the flames.
he Cathedral Block, which is destroyed, WAS a
lagnificent collection Of warehouses. The site :
as formerly occupied by the Roman Catholic !
athedral, the ground having been purchased a 9
w years ago for s21 square foot. 9
NO BANKS HAVE BEEN DESTROYED l
kcept the Revere. North America. and Con- ,
mental. The North Bank and the Bank of nIu- h
lal Redemption were in peril, but have not yet Q
1ffered.
It is ruInored that the
OLD SOUTH CHURCH n
destroyed, but have no reliable information a
the fact at this moment. The name Of the =
lurch indicates d period when Boston was con- q
ned wholly to what Is now known as the North y
nd, when this church, the third built in Boston, n
as regarded as the most southerly Of the tt
rec. It was established about the year 1860. Z
10 present edfce was erected in the early part =
the last century. With the advance of the q,
owth Of Boston, the old South Church long o
nee found itself in the northern part Of the
ty, and it is melancholy reminder Of the
igin of its name, if it be spared to-day, that it
at the southern point Of that part OF old ct
oston which remains. Opposite the Old South N
1urch, in the time Of the Revolution, VAS the Il
:oYince House, which was used by the English Il
overnors as their residence OF state.
hen the English army took possession of
'ston, finding, in the winter, no other ftee
ilding large enough for the training OF cav Ii
y, they seized the old South Church, and =
ed it as riding school. This insult to the az
ople WAS one OF the most bitter inflicted by