Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1872-11-14
LOSS OVER 500, 600, 900 !!
FFrom the Cincinnati Commercial
The Details.


The Details.
New YORK, Nov. 10th.-A dispatch
from Boston at midnight says:
The greatest fire ever known in
New England is now raging among
the large wholesale stores in the very
heart of the business portion of the
CITY, and it will not cease until it
reaches the wharves.
There was hardly breath of wind
stirring when an alarm was sounded
about u O'Clock, followed by the
second, third and fourth in rapid sue
cession but the first engine was hard
ly on the ground when the fire broke
out from the fourth story of the large
four story granite store on the corner
of Summer and Kingston streets, occu
pied in the first story by Tebbetts,
Baldwin & Davis, Wholesale dry goods
dealers. 1t had caught in the engine
room, and the flames spread with light
ming rapidity up the large elevator,
and were first seen climbing under
meath the wood work of the roof. The
engines were fairly at work before any
other. store had caught. The build
ings in the vicinity were all of granite,
four stories high and each sur
mounted with a Mansard roof. none
of them being over five years old.
HOW THE FIRE SPREAD:
Detached splinters few rapidly, as
the air was heated by the terrible heat,
and soon flames began licking the
Mansard roof on the opposite side far
aI, FL ]F
ed upon it from all quarters. The
fire was constantly in the air, and one
building after another caught on the
roof, and the flames slipped lightly
along from one window sill to another
So that in less than thirty minutes
every cheek was blanched as it became
evident that the whole city, in one di
rection, was at the mercy of the flames,
which were leaping from roof to roof,
and from one building to another. The
second building to succumb was di
rectly opposite to that in which the
| fire first broke out, and was occupied
| by Mafin, Mullen & Elms, Harding
Bios. & Co., Bowen, Moore & Co.,
George L. Ide, Carter & Co., and Con
ant Bros, all wholesale dealers in dry
and fancy goods. This was at the
corner of Otis Place. The heat now
| being internal, the streets ran rivers
of water. and every moment was heard
the sound of granite blocks exploding,
and whole fronts falling into the
streets, making them impossible.
DESPERATE EFFORTS OF THE FIREMAN.
The firemen were driven from one
station to another, and many an en-
gine was kept nobly at work, while
the hydrant was wet down by hand
hose, and the engineer could only
hold his place while stream of water
was kept playing upon him. Blocks
of granite weighing tons were split as
if by powder and hurled across wide
streets, and planks wentf flying through
the air as if they were feathers.
The fremen erected barricades ano
worked behind them, but they were
burned almost as soon as erected. An
hour had hardly elapsed before it was
evident that Beebe's Block, the fnest
business structure in the city, built o
granite, five stories in height, acjth tht
cursed Mnns0rd roof over it, must go
coming out in fiery pillows from every
window and up the stairway leading
to A. T. Stewards rooms was per
feet column OF flames. This building
served but as fuel for the flames
Pieces of dry goods went whistling
across the square, lodging on window
sills Of magnificent stores on Devon
shire street. Beebe's Block stood
solid wall of granite several minute
after the inside fell, but the heat warp
ed it, 100000 soon lay heap 0
stone, brick and mortar. A hurrican
now ragged, and owing to the intens
heat drove everything before it. Ever,
building was now heated as if in a fur
mace, and caught like tinder. Four
story granite blocks seemed lil1
shavings, and deafening explosion
were constantly heard.