, 1874-08-30

lnteu6lty OF movement anu the uea121lnS up
roar my battle-yisions are mora than realized.
Every feature OF the panorama-tEa hoarse words
Of command, the incessans play OF the engines.
the lelmeted figures running and scEambling
under the red glare. the crash Of falling timbers,
the masses OF men looming shadow-ike through
the rolling snoke-ls in grim harmony with the
idea It is the escalads Of Badajoz over again !
As yet the great warehouse in the centre OF
the wharf nAs escaped unscathed, though en-
vironed on every side by perfect wall OF hamo !;
but 1t has evidently not. long to live now.
Flakes Of burning 1omp fail upon it Like rain,
and a long jet Of FIRE flom the nearest of tho
blazing buildings keeps dart'ng yiciousy out at
it, in stroke after stroke. like the arn OF 8
boxer. One blow ewifter and hercer than the
rest, at length gets we'll home the dark mass Is
suddenly Lit up from within, sparks and pieces
Of wood fly in all directions, and in few Sec
onds the whole building is in flames. And now
the destruction has reached It's height. From
tins head OF tho bridge to the fartnest store
house. the whole wharf Is one great roar
ing blaze. the floating sparks Of which shoot
athwart the black SKY overhead like tho
fiery rain OF Dante's - Inferno;" and. in its
CHASTITY spiendor, the whoo length OF the quay,
the dark woods that cluster along the farther
shore, and even the golden domes OF tho
churches fax away beyond the Great Neva, stand
out in a weird, unearthly picturesqueuess,
Al this nomen-how or whence no man can
tell-a fearful whisper ruos through the crowd
that there are men shut up i'll the great ware
house-probablJ stnpetied by the smoke, and
unable to get out The ruruor speedily reaches
tho d1emen, and tho bare suggestion il enough
to stimulate thom to redoubled e1er,ion. Half
dozen stalwart volunteers, with their clothes
stepped in water to keep OF the flames. dash
into the glowing mass. tlinying aside the half
consumed timberB with the strength Of giants;
out the sitting heat eoon overpowcrs even them
they staGeer, scorched and gasping, out of tho
furnace, and sink exhausted on the ground Ono
man actually plAuts ladder against the burning
building. and mounts it with hose-pipa under
h's arm, N tho hoRo OF givin. IT surer aim
flaming background like statue OF bronze-aod
then 40 ill-ained jet from one Of the other
engines atrlkes the brave fellor full on the
body, aud sweeps him Like feather into the
very heart Of the fire Not . trace Of him was
ever ever % again; and his sy ssFy nan naMa y y
not be ? he was neither grandee nor General
"Oniy au houcst man
Doing his duty :"
aud human life, like human labor. is cheap IN
Russla.
And 10, through the long night, the frs roars
last there is but little left for the destroyer to
feed on. Slowly aud su1lculy his rage dies away
to hoarse growls and gasplngs, and the si'ence OF
utter desolation now sinks upon that great viii
derpess OF ruin.
Whilo the ire ragged, the indescribable magnid-
ceuco Of the spectacle made one half forget it's
horror, and the ruin which it cutailed but in tbs
gray Of carly morning, when ths uproar and g1-
citehlent ara over, it is dreary and
hideoos eight Oyer the uhols place broods
guilty silonce, an air of hopeleslmess and LIFE
1essness, blank unseeing stare from the
gaping windows, which makes one feel like the
accomplica OF some my8tcTlous crime. The
great warehouse. where tue fire did it's worst, IL
:,ut;ed from roof to basement only few
blAckened beams, like the ribs ct skeleton,
htiira hs Er7.ra hafEeef thn HmGuf1arinp yyalTa
Overhead, the clear sAJ is blotted NTH creeping
smoke whi1e the ground Is covered far and wide
with half CONSUMED bales, mounds Of singed
hemp. nassos Of iron plating bent and twisted
blackaned rafters floating in pools Of water; and
around the chaos stand groups of curious spec
tators, not noisy excited, but with cool. sci
entiic appreciation which seems to say, We
have tho like often before, but it is always
worth seeing again."
It needs Gt:lo imagination to transform the
whole scene into great battlefield; the black
ened ruins OF the contested ont1enchment stand
ing g1imly up in front-tLo clarred bales aud
broken plankng stre%ing the ground like heaps
OF slain, amid which the strips OF SCARLET cloth
show like trickling streams Of blood-whlle the
helmeted tiromen who toll amid the chaos might
we'll pass for the few survivors OF the conqutrlng
army caylne the last honors to their fallen breth
ron. And tLat nothing may be wanting to COM
plcte the tragedy, amid tho thickness Of the ruin
ueH 6lEAu1E- loEIl1tso HcAp UoEAtfs od@ +A4ilh-
white, nousoous s.noke,-a kind OF unc:uoas,
pitcny cinder, from which the most case-lIaro-
eued veterans Of tho tire-brigade avert their
ewes in horror. There are five men missing this
morning from the gaug OF the Tooschkou Wharf,
AMI this ia all that is left OF them!
Turning away in disgust, suddenly come face
to face with the Russian acquaintance mentioned
at the opening OF my story. who is surveying the
dismal sceno xith the mir Of . conno,sse,r.
swell remarks ho With quiet snaie (ao is
. man uho would make . joke upon anythins},
~ one advantage Of al this is. that after auch
destruction Of hemp it will be simply impossible
for men Of moderate means to hang themselves
for some time to comei"
So goes the march Of events. i catastrophe
unparalleled within tho memory Of man, the
destruction Of S3,O00.0,}0 worth OF property,
ha]f dozen men killed by the crslelcst OF all
deaths-and all this is summed up in ten or
twelve careless lines Of pint and the passing
Jest of dilettanto! But the counter-obBerva-
zion OF IN old fireman who is working near US
sends me away somewhat comfo1ted.
"Poor fellovs!" muttcra the veteran, CROSS
ing himself, AZ he looks askanoo at the shapeless
mass into which five living men have boon
melted down, I" "thores little enongh left of
them now, but God will know them when they
come to Him.
4 SOCIAL REF0RMER'S LEGACY.
rhs Romantic History Of Fanny