American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1872-11-30
THE BOSTON FIRE.
Correspondence of the n. Y. Heraldl-
Boston, Nov. IL, Is 2.

sadly celebrated. The story has beer
told, so far as catalogIIing the losses goe'
and sketching under the fearful pressure
OF the moment the impressions left by 1t.
splendor and its awfulness. Now. thanh
God, that the we'll worn phrase that tn,
:" firemen have got it under control ha:
become reality, may be allowed to leat
you back over the track of desOlatiOn
On Saturday evening, as night began Il
fall, nothing had occurred to alter the
easy way of things in this staid city. Sat
urday night in this city of the Puritans il
the gayest, the most care-forgetting o.
the week. In contrast with the holiday
OF rest which the Sabbath is. Saturday
night means cheerful household cares in
some cases and light-hearted hilarity III
others. 1t had been a delightful day. and
the sun never shone on Boston in pleas
auter mood. 1t sunk away in the west to
the music of a light breeze and the life
hum OF the city. Boston, as America
playfully knows, is a city of narrow.
quantity crooked streets the two which
may be called principal are Washington
and fremont, as they run generally east
and west through the greater length OF
the city. On the north of Washington
street are the dwellings of the middle
classes ard those of the richest lying be-
yOnd fremont street and the far-famed
Common. Along Washington street are
the fancy stores, iewelry, millinery, re-
tail dry goods, boots and shoes, and all
the other business which create and are
created in turn by the fair promenaders.
who in the bright afternoon, in all the
cities Of the world, go shopping. On it,
too, are situated most of the daily news
paper Offices. If fremont street is the
more fashionable Of the two. Washington
Is close rival. though more tinged with
commercial activity.
fremont street may be described as the
Regent street or the Boulevard des Ital-
lens, while Washington is the Oxford
street or the Rue de Rivoli- Running
from Washington street south in the di-
rectiOn of the water are certain streets
Summer, Franklin, Milk, Water and State.
These are crossed irregularly by other
streets-Hawley, Kingston-a short street,
but not to be forgotten-Devonshire Fed
eral, Congress, Pearl, Oliver, Kilby, Pur-
chase and Broad, which latter running
down In southwesterly direction from
State until it reaches the wharves. contin-
ues along the water front and behind the
wharves. Within the limits have men-
tioned-that is. bounded by Washington,
State, and part Of Broad on the north
and west. and by Summer, part of Bed
ford and the water front portion OF Bos
ton on the west and south-lies the great
Wholesale trading portion of the city, and
this Is where the fire ragged, devoured and
conquered. Fortunate it is that the great
beehives, where people of the poor and
struggling classes nestle and huddle, lay
tar to the east and west of this circle 1
have marked, which, too, was indicated
for q destruction second only in American
annals to Chicago, or perhaps to Port
land. On the streets within this circle
were the proldest and costliest struc-
lures which the hard tOiling city had
reared-great palaces of granite, piled up
so as almost to shut off in their very am
bition to reach the skies the daylight
nom the narrow pavement beneath. 1t
would be useless to detail these buildings
or their thrifty owners in a sketch. l
merely wish to set the scene in the CAPT.
tai Of the Bay Island State, the so-called
Athens or the Hub of the Universe, as in
half-jest, halfearnest, its denizens love to
style it. When on last Saturday evening,
bells pealed out to ring up the curtain on
its greatest drama in nigh one hundred
years. clang, clang, they sounded;
but Boston, outside the Ere Depart
ment, little needed. All! it was in tones
that would not be denied. In large
granite building, on the corner of Sum-
mer and Kingston streets, some hand, in
thing called accident, had kindled little
hungry flame. Inside the massive gran
lite walls it fed fatty on the timbers, roared
up through the elevator shaft as through
q furnace chimney and ieaped up to the
Mansard roof, tapping it around and glar-
ing redly out to the gaze of the silver |
moon, as fiery Sappho. pulsed with hot,
passionate blood, would glare and gloat |
beside the ice-cold chasteness of Diana. |
Cracking, Kissing and roaring, it poured |
its burning passion forth and piled dense |
clouds of smoke between it and the clear, |
cold light above. 1t would have all the |
great piles around for its own or none. 1t |
was the work of but few minutes. Men |
steam fire engines along came
rushing down to the spot, and the Kissing
of the water, the painting of the engines |
and shouts of the men soon mingled it all,
but the hungry flame had grown into a
giant and upon high rolled scoffingly |
along the parapet, clapping its huge
hands In giee. That pigmy man below
it. Out of every window it came peeping
till the thick walls glOwed with its fierce
embrace. The men below still came troop
Ing In to beat it down. 1t only roared the
more, as it would say, ''We shall see.'' 1t
called to the light northwest wind for
help, and the wind rose responsive at
every breath. An atmosphere of black,
binding smoke, interviewer and inter-
laced with living fire, was swept upon the
now brisk breeze over the streets at hand,
burning the wooden housetops and seem
ing to scorch the very air. All this while
it was only playing. Crash after crash
was heard within the pile of glowing
granite. The firemen fled before the port
emit, and only in time, for, putting forth at
once its m0nstrOus force. it hurled the solid
walls out before it and behind it, sending
them trembling In a thundcrOus rumble
all around its feet. Then in the naked
majesty of hell it leaped forth a very Lu-
cifer upon the city around. Itwas scarce
~ half an hour from the booming of the
bells that this happened, and happy Bos-
ton only turned and gaped and passed on.
1t was not for long, hDweve5. Once re-
leased from its prison of stone the fire
crossed Kingston STREET with bound to
the westerly corner of Kingston and Sum-
mer streets, then over Summer street to
the corner OF Otis street, taking the whole
block bounded by Otis. Devonshire am!
Summer streets and Winthrop square,
known as the Beebe block. Then it passed
up Summer street towards Washington.
on both sides of Summer street; on the
south side of Summer street it was STOP
ped by the large store of G. F. HOyey 4
Co., few doors west of Chauncey street;
on the northerly side of Summer street, it
passed up to Washington, taking in Trim
lty church in its course, and only leaving
the building on the northeriy corner of
and Summer streets, occu-
pied by the Waltham Watch Company,
and then it took the whole of Washing
ton street on the easterly side down to tile
corner OF Washington and Milk streets.
The water was reached by the flames
about midnight, taking all the stores on
the southe-ly side of Summer street, the
new block of buildings at the junction of
tsedford and Summer streets, ending in
the destruction of the Boston, Hartford
and Erie Railroad depot. At the same
time rho n 70 avrood m thu viuhf apI Iaff