St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1872-11-15
THE GREAT CALAMITY.
The Richest Portion of Boston De-
stroyed by Fire.
Loss, Eighty Millions.

We gather the following report of
this great calamity from the Boston
JoH,ndl:
Boston has sustained the greatest ca
lamity recorded in her history Eighty
odd acres of territory. ninr-tentlIS of
which WAS occupied 10y the finest pal
aces of trade in this city, have been
swept 10y fire. The section of the city
which contained all the editicrs which
We're regarded with pride by every
business man and " hi"h c..,r,I.inc,I rho
modern commercial appliances with ar
chitcctural beauty. are Il mass of ruins
summer street and franklin street. the
locale of the largest dry goods firms in
the city. Pearl street and High street.
the headquarters of the leather. boot
and shoe trade. Washington street. from
summer to Milk street. and also Milk
street. Congress street. where the large
wood houses are located. these and 9th
crS enumerated below may he seen only
in sad outline of half burnt f;lcadcS and
skeleton side walls. The wcalthirSt
portion of the city of Boston exists no
longer. and since Saturday night at
halt-pa>t seven it i estimated hV the
city assessors that property. real and
personal, to the amount of between one
and tw" hundred million dollars has
been destroyed. Fortunately this heavy
blow has not caused 50 large an amount
of personal suffering as the great fire at
Chicago. a. there were but comparative
~ few hahitationS destroyed in Boston
In the vicinity of Fort Hill and to the
south there were some tcnrmcntS and
many families We're driven out to find
such shelter is they could among the
mass of goods which accumulated upon
the unimpIoved portion of Fort Hill.
The horrors of the dreadful fire at
Chicago were in Il measure repeated ON
Saturday night and sunday morning.
the same days of the week which wit
messed that memorable fire. The pros
pcctivc extent of the fire was at once al
most foretold by those who witnessed
the angry flames as they plunged from
wooden cornicc to Mansard windows
and ran along the tarred roof of the
five and six story buildings, dcfying the
efforts of the iircmcn to conquer or sub
due. Nearly all the buildings DESTROYED
were first ignited on the roof and burnt
downward. the roof falling in. and floor
after floor crImbling as the Iatters gave
way, thus intenSifying the material into
one vast combu>tible mass. BY twelve
o'clock at night the streets were crowd
ed with teams carrying merchandise to
places of safety. The Common. near
the central malls. was transformed into
one vast depot of rescued goods. while
City Hall yard and the interior of the
building. and also all the leading hotels
were made receiving stations. The
streets were alive with people, male
and female. and the rattle of vehicles
and the speculations of the hundred
thousand witnesses of the grand but sad
sight was a scene which we trust we
may never see repeated.
THE ORIGIN OF THE FIRE.
Is really not known. still all sorts of
coniectured reports are in circulation.
As fast as one theory is laid low by
facts which dispute them. another
springs into existence. There are two
almost equally popular. One is that
the fire originated in the basement.
from the furnace, and another that it
was ignited in the third story, of the
building corner of Summer and Kings
ton streets. The first seems the most
plausible one. The building was heat
ed by steam, and the fire could have
been ignited from the furnace under
the boiler and communicated at once to
the thlrd story 10y means of the light
wood elevator, and then making its ap-
pearance by the elevator doorway, so
that 1t could he seen from the street.
There is a gentleman who, while ON
Summer street. saw the light i'm the
third story of the building. while moth
ing was noticeable below, and it is
thought the elevator doors of the sec
ond were not open. And to this is add
ed the fact that in few minutes each
fiat was on fire. Therefore, it is rea-
sOnable to believe from the investiga-
ton made by the reporter last night,
that from an over heated furnace the
fire to the building originated; that the
elevator-way furnished draft that
the first light illuminated the windows