The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1872-11-15
BOSTON'S GREAT DISASTER.
A GRAPHIC HISTORY OF TIE CON
FLAGRAT1ON,

evening, Wnon tne uameS were uisCo'oioo
bursting nom the fourth floor of a large FIVE
stcr3 granite building on the corner Of King
ston and Summer streets. The building was
occupied by Tebbetts, Baldwin & Davis, dry
goods jobbers; A. K. Young & Co., msnufac
turers of stays and corsets; and Damon, Tenn
pie d Co., dealers In fancy goods. 1t stood In
part of the city which Is as desolate alter
dark as Broad street ls In New York. The
heavy dealers In domestic and foreign drI
goods had their headquarters near here
A. 7. Stewards great branch concern wa!
within stones throw. Jordan, Marsh Co
have their wholesale and retail houses close
by. JRmes Ii. Beebe Il Co. gave their name
TO splendid block in which they have car
rIed,on magnificent establishment. Nearly
everybody In this district, where there are no
dwelling houses and few retail shops, had gone
away for the night, and the fire might have
been burning long before 1t was discovered.
Il Ia supposed to have caught In the engine
room ana crept up the hoist way. This is q
very probable theory, for in few moments
from the time 1t was first seen, 1t was bursting
from every floor In the building. The edifce
.wasscfowned by that curse Of all our cities-a
Msnsard roof. Instantly the finder box orna-
ment was In blazea and the name was leap
Ing across the narrow streets to meet similarly
InHammable roofs on the other side, while
showers OF clnders and burning fragments,
borne sloft BY the blast created In the hatch
way, fell upon the lower buildings on either
hand.
FATAL sI,owNEss OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
The alarm was promptly sounded, but here
occurred one Of those fatal mishaps which
nobody knows exactly how to account for IL.
t was thirsy.slx minutes before an engine mr.
rived upon the ground. The Boston Fire De.
partment has the reputation OF efficiency, and
rhe last Two DAYS have proved that its mem
bera In general are men OF the true heroic
stamp, who face danger and do their duty
silently, and as q matter OF course DAY ana
night until they fall to the ground through
sheer exhaustion. The reason given ior the
DELAY is that the horses were all sick and the
steamers had to be drawn by hand. Even 80,
the delay was unreasonable. Besides, there
were we'll horses enough in Boston, and II
hacks and horse-cars were all running, II can
only be through grave mismanagemenG tnat
steam fire engines could not run too. BY the
become confagration. Both sides OF King
ston street, and both sides OF SUM
mer street were blazing, making TWO hery
lanes In which heat was absolutely insupporL-
able. Then the corner building fell, scatter.
ing tie In every direction, and the disaster
began to assume the most threatening aspees.
Alfthe engines in Boston were summoned,
and yteleerams were sent for aid from the
neighboring towns. The great height OF the
warehouses and the narrOwness OF the streels
proved serious difficulties. In hardly any case
could stream OF water be thrown upon the
back part of the roofs, aud 1t was on the FOOLS
that, after the first outbreak, the fire almost
: A-v .f.h n In IL n04at0ia 10 an
proech In those lanes very near the buildings.
The fremen put up barricades for their pro-
tectiou. but THE barricades were soon con-
sumed: They carried. hose up to the rools,
but the height was 80 great that very lltue
water could be forced through them. Aiter "a q
be in the path Of the flames, were blown up.
This did no good.
THE PATH OF THE FIRE.
The flames followed no particular path.
There was.a moderately strong wind, but they
travelled right In the teeth OF 1t. They made
their own current of air and followed that,
now to one side, now to the other. wherever
they went they found Mansard ROOF 10 leeo
upon. Wherever q brand was shot into tne
air II had q good chance OF falling on man
sard root. To-day 1t Is the common oslief
that Mansard roofs have cost Boston $260.O0
OO0: From the corner OF Summer and Kings
tom streets the fire travelled simultaneously IN
all directions. Southwark 1t burned aDouL
half block. Eastward 1t took both sides OF
Hawley, and thence ran diagonally to
near the northeast corner OF Summer
and Washington, sparIng the corner
SaiidIng Occupied BY. Robbins, Apple
tofi. & Co., OF the American Watch Com
panyi and Andrew @. Nudge, fancy goods, but
taking everything at the rear ana elge 0lH.
Thence it ran along the eas5 side OF Washing
ton Etreet, as far north as Milk, that ls to say,
within q few feet OF School street, the Parker
House. the city hall and the Old Corner o0ok
Store. On the west side OF Washington street,
nothing was burned, but many of the shops
were scorched and the glass was nearly all
broken. From Kingston street, east and west,
the fre took both sides of Summer and Bed
ford streets, sHd never stopped until 1t reach.
ed the water, destroying the wharveR and
depot or the Hartford and Erie Railroad.
Meanwhile it had swept northward along De.
yonshire, Federal and Congress streets toward
the water. There were here some tenement
honsas. LIQUOR shops and other buildings
of the poorer class, and before midnight
the wretched occupants were turned In.
to the street. The general direction OF
the flames ut this time was north
west, and from about Congress street 10
Washington street 1t formed an impassaoie
State street, and the great financial centre OF
New England. Milk street was destroyed oy
tan O'Clock. and toward morning the fire
reached the rear OF the postof6ce, the front OF
which is on State street. The malls were re-
moved to the customhonse, and thence taken
last night to Faneuil Hall, where the dlstrlou-
ton Of letters began this morning, nothing
having been lost. What stopped the flames In
this quarter nobody seems to know. The
bulldogs were not whit more substantial
than those which had crpmbled to fragments
behind them; but they were not seriously me-
naced until everything elsewhere was mere
heap of ruins and ashes, and the hremen were
able to concentrate their efforts here. At any
rate, Nothing was Injured except the postofice
and the Merchants Exchange, on the corner
of Warrington and MILK streets.
MARVELLOUS ESCAPE OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH.
Two currents of flame, one sweeping north
from Franklin street, the other westward
along Milk street, encountered one of the
choicest historical bindings of Boston-the
Old South Church. Sober citizens who had
borne the loss of their own fortunes without
word, were seen absolutely frantic with dis
tress as the confagration approached the ven
cradle pile. It is modest brick building with
wooden blinds, and 1t seemed Impossible that
It should escape. But here the fire, which mad
destroyed stone and iron as II they had been
straw, was strangely stopped. Save tor q lew
broken windows and little blistered paint,
the old church is unhurt. Soldiers are quar-
tered there to-day, and battered sale lies IN
the door.
Further along on Milk street the fire en-
countered another barrier. This was the new
s,naniohod noatnf3cn occunvinp the block be-