The Republican journal., 1875-10-28
Terrible Fire at Vireinia City.

Dispatches from San Francisco, dated
Tuesday, give accounts of great confla-
grafton at Virginia City, Nevada, which
destroyed nearly the whole Of that flour
lshlng mining town. The dispatches say
Owing to the destruction of the tele-
graph Office and the press of private de-
spatches over the lines, it has been difficult
to OBTAIN any connected information con-
corning the Virginia City fire The fol-
lowing, however, is undoubtedly correct
as tar as it goes. The fire broke out at
daylight in dwelling near Taylor street,
in the southwestern limit of the business
and thlckly settled portion of the city 1t
spread rapidly, extending east toward the
ravlne III which are situated tie works
and mills and several prominent mines
and reaching as lar as / street northward.
The flames crossed Union and Sutton
streets, covering :; space Of 10 blocks
comprising in the words Of one despatch
almost every decent building in the town
As the fire worked up { street the offices
OF the Territorial Enterprise and Chronicle
were destroyed. Piper's Opera House
was next in flames and it became evident
that the railroad depot and the hosting
works Of the Consolidated Virginia Col.
were in danger
The water supply was Inadequate aud
the engines OF little use, so recourse was
had to blowing up buildings 1t was too
late, however, and in 4 few minutes the
depot and hosting works were III flames,
the latter We're recently built at an expense
OF several thousand dollars, and were Tie
finest ON the Comstock lode
Continuing to the north and cast the
partially completed mill OF the California
mine and consolidated Virginia were soon
in flames, which spread still further north
to the Ophir hosting works DESTROYING
! them also, which is about the limit III the
destruction in that direction, the fire DIV
ing out for want of fuel. From Taylor
street near which the fire originated, it
spread southwark against the wind de-
i stroying the Branch office of the Bank of
California, Wells, Fargo 4 Cos Express
office and everything else in its line. At
this point the could < Curry Works were
lii danger, bnt fortunately We're saved, in
short nearly the entire business portion is
| in ashes The hotels. churches, county
buildings, newspaper, telegraph and eX-
press offices are all swept away.
Over 10, 900 personsare made homeless,
the wind is piercing and much suffering
Will be experienced before temporary shell
ter can be prepared. 1t is impossible to
conjecture the amount Of loss, but the de-
struction OF mills and hosting works above
referred to will probably entail II loss of II
million dollars within radius Ola few hun
dred feet. Fortunately the shafts OF both
the Ophir and Consolidated Virginia were
bulkheaded and the fire was kept out OF the
mines. The Ophir men say possibly their
loss may be less than at first supposed The
building was Of light frame and may have
burned without destroying the machinery
The loss on the buildings and merchandise
in the city must be very heavy. although
covered to a great extent by insurance. 1t
is not known TO what extent the mills and
hosting works We're insured, except in the
| case of the Ophir, where the loss is placed
from SlJ0, 900 to $500 600. with an insur-
ancc of $50, 900
In san Francisco the news created the
greatest excitement. Owing to the contra
dictory nature OF the news, California street
was full Of wild rumors and the telegraph
and newspaper offices were besie9ed by
people anNiouSly seeking intelligence. AS
might have been expected, stocks felt the
effect OF the disaster. The fire is unques-
tionably a serious disaster. but the effects
on the financial interests On the coast Of
California will be but limited and tempo
rary. On the street aiterwArd stock rallied
and the feeling in business circles was
greatly improved.