Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1875-05-07
gaE OSHKOSH CALAMITY.
Es.i, O. ted Loss VVO Millions. OF
which One asalf ts Supposed 80
Have gseen fusured- Greed is said
TO be the Cause of tae Fire

Which One ssaIf ts Supposed 60
Have gseem s.sHrea- Gree ii is said |
TO be the Cause of tae Fire.
We Civ below some additional in.
g estiug particulars OF the terrible
confagratlon that last week destroyed
he CITY of Oshkosh, Wis:
CHICAGO, April 3G-A special dis
.atch to the Inter-Ocean from Oshkosh
ays: There is no possible way of ar
-ivIUg At the loss to III Surance cOmpa
nles By the Oshkosh fire, since all tie
geucles but ono have been burned
,ut aed the books are in confusion,
While the books of one agency are
burned The total loss by fire is
bought to be greater than was frs'
reported, and is nowpnt at s., 500, 900.
it Is estimated III general terms thai
he Insurance is 80 per cent Of the loss.
About three hundred families are
burned out, and relief is much needed.
There is no dlscouragemeDt among
business men, and the feeling il
strong that rebuilding must commence
It once.
CITY DOOMED TO THE FLAMES.
A dispatch from Fon du Lac to the
Times says: A deep pail hangs over
The city. Five times since its foun3n-
ZION has corhaSration visited it, but
the present calamity is the most crush
leg of all. This IS the third time within
i wear that fire has desoiated it. This
ire has taken most of the fine resi-
,lences and homes. The citizens seem
ut.eriy hopeless, and walk the streets
| With sad faces. The ruins are still
Smouiterirg, and while the former
onwners are asked what they viii DO
they reply that they cannot tell at
| present.
| THE tBSTINACY OF ONE MAN DID IT.
! Oshkosh lies on fiat piece Of
! around, and there Is almost u cOntlDu-
| Gus southwest wind, which, Oh this
occasion, was blowing with great vlO-
| !tnce 1t has been the custom IN OSl-
| aosh latteTy, " nGu Il heavy westerly
| .stnd vas blowing. for the mills, which.
are ,iuntcd III the westerns part of the
! city, to stop work to prevent fires. "A
lumber of mills shut down on We'd
.t-s,iay noon, but Spauiding aud Peek
! -,fu-su 10 work and wien Mr.. Nor
! ,au A. ts Il hit. l., OK 10 60 50, lie was
answered abruptly that he (P.ck) in
ended - iilit al, avn business. Shor' =
" i,fEeC ttr,s4 Vi ,rgau Bros IN Ii was
OlpServ, Il to be GA fire, anG III a few
| tnl.tut>-,, the whole iu.id ng was IN
HaGi 6. The fire cnHpdnI' aud thou
sands OF citizens were promptly on
| hand. but the gate WAS 81 fierce aud
tue maEeriai OF tue mills SO cOmbustI-
| bic that the fire could not be stayed
| and speedily drove them from place
to place, advancing to the heart of the
city.
ROASTED TO DEATH.
Mr. J. n. Davis, a clerk in the en-
ploy of Morgan Bros, attempted to
save some books from the mill, but
becoming bewlldered, was nearly
roasted to death before he could find
his way out, and expired soon after
reaching the open air. The air was
filled with shingles and ciuders, which
bore destruction to no Uses at great
distance from the actual fire, and as
the flames advanced rapidly toward
the principal thoroughfares even tie
most sanguiue gave up the hope of
checkin2 them, and the city Was de-
vastate /, as already described.
RAPID SPREAD OF THE FLAMES.
New YORK, April 30-A special
from Oshkosh, after abiding t. the
fact that Spaulding u Peck refused 10
smut down wht requested TO do so by
Morgan, and tine general belief tina;
Morgan Bros mill was fred by Peck :
smoke stack, says the fire d partment,
consisting of three steam and one hand
engine, was on the alert, eXpe ctlEg a
couhagration. Upon the breaking out
of the fire they We're ready, but vert
compelled to retreat as 1t advanced
The fire was spreading with great IA
pidity to ali the lumber yards. Wicn
the tile got into the brick blocks they
went down ike butter. When stores
had stood but five minutes before,
nothing remained but heap of rub
Dish. Once beyond Division and Main
the fire spread north, south and east
streets, with the sped of race horse.
Thu people had but tine to look at tle
advancing enemy and fly. Hundreds
had to abandon everything they pos
se3sed on earth except life. The entire
distric. east of the brick blocks was
one sheet of flame.
\ WARMING TO OTHER CITIES.
No tempt was made to save it
The use of pJwd r, which had been
advocated, was resorted to, there be-
ing no powder at the disposal of the
chief Of the fire department. As there
! is not hook and ladder company IL
the city, houses could not be pulled
down or destroyed, aud the fire had tC
he left TO take its course. When once
1t passed DIVISION street it quietly ex-
hausted itself, af er IavaginS all with
in reach. between midnight and
o'clock Thursday morning Assistance
II the way of steam engines came from
Fon du Lac, Ripon and Neenah. The
, statement tuat the powder magazine
had exploded had no other foundation
than the explosion of a quantity al
blank cartridges in the store of Mr.
, Percy, on Main street, which he had
been unable to remove.
BURIED UNDER THE RUINS.
Charles Dunn, the spectator of the
, fire on Main street, who was examin,
ing the walls of Hardings opera
house on that tn rouShflre after the
, fire had burned itself out, had impru
IDENTIFY approac he'd close to the build
ing, when the wall still standing
fell and buried him in the ruins. The
corpse was dug out much dlsigured
It is claimed by those present at th,
time that two others were buried un
der the debris, but there was no rea
son to believe this was true, as close
examination has been made, anG
there appears no possibility of any
, bodies being buried out OF SIGHT
Some five or six persons are reported
injured by falling walls and burns
but the cases are not believed To be
serious.
WIDESPREAD SUFFERING.
There is scarcely man or member
; of a family in Oshkosh who has no,
lost his homestead or house full of fui
niture, or stock of goods, or who has
not a relative in that position. EST
mate places the Insurance at 81 600,