Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1876-03-30

oouhoSo eoodo aoAA poot = " SiSSAAS 49, e'~'S
the fire originating in the store No. 6s1 King
street, and occupied by J. H. Greeber, who
kept dry goods store on the first floor. By
half past five o'clock, the wind having in
creased to furious gale, the fire rapidly
spread northward on both sides of King street,
sweeping every thing before it, crossing Line
and Shepherd streets, and was only checked
by want of material to burn, after consuming
a residence north of Shepherd street. In ad-
dition to the loss of property, which is estima-
ted at quarter of a million dollars, hundreds
of people are rendered destitute and homeless.
Speaking of the results of the calamity, the
Ne,rs and Courier says:
The fire yesterday swept more than one
hundred homes from the face of this city.
Earl ly in the gusty morning, as the flames ad-
vanced, terrified men, women and children
fed into the streets, leaving, too often, their
furniture and clothing behind. The open
fields were dotted with fugitive families. The
women and children crouched under tarpau-
lins, crowded into the street cars which were
stranded, so to speak, on the plank road, and
thronged every corner Of the railroad depot.
Only at that hour could some adequate idea
be formed of the terrible suffering that the
fire of yesterday will cause.
Later in the day the homeless wanderers
had found some place of temporary refuge
where they might lay their heads last night
But this is only the beginning Of their trouble
The persons who were burned out yesterday
belong, for the most part, to the poorest class,
dependent on daily labor for scanty daily
bread. The property that was insured will
be replaced. Better houses will be builded
than those that the fire destroyed. But most
of those who lived in the burnt district are
absolutely destitute. They are without bed
ding, and clothing, and food. And these
there is no insurance money to furnish. There
are to-day some hundreds more desolate poor
in Charleston than there were two days ago.
And the only fund on which they can draw is
that fund Of charity which exists, whatever
their trials, in the warm hearts of the people
Of Charleston.
The Centennial Opening.
- The general plan of the exercises at the
opening of the Centennial exhibition, on the
10th of May, has been agreed upon by the ex-
ecutive committee as follows:
The special guests will be the President,
the Vice-President, the Cabinet, the Supreme
Court, the diplomatic corps, the Senate and
House of Representatives, the leading officers
of the army and navy, the Governors Of the
States and Territories and their staff, the
Legislature of Pennsylvania and the board of
State supervisors, the foreign commissioners,
the Centennial commission and the chief sub
ordinates, the Centennial board of finance,
the government board, the women's Centen.
exhibition. the State Centennial boards, and
the city officials of Philadelphia. This list is,
however, subject to revision. AS the exercises
are to be held in the open air, it will be pos.
sible for great multitude to witness them.
At about halfpast 10 the persons invited,
having been conducted to their places, the Or
chestra of one hundred and fifty, conducted
by Theodore Thomas, will play the national
airs of all nations. The President of the Uni
ted States will be conducted to the ground by
Governor Hartranft, with military escort.
The following programme will then be car
ried out: The Grand March, written for the
occasion by Richard Wagner; the invocation
of the Divine blessing; an original hymn, by
j. G. Whittier; an original cantata, the words
- G: l. T,~;c-. ~ Gnar-in ~ -" 10
Dudley Buck, of Connecticut. A brief pre-
sentation by the president Of the Centennial
commission, reporting the exhibition to the
President Of the United States. An address
by the President of the United States, which
he will close by declaring the exhibition open.
Immediately the flags will be unfurled, the
artillery will salute, the chimes in the towers
and other great bells on the ground will ring,
and the chorus of six hundred voices will
render Handel's "Hallelujah." The foreign
commissioners will move to their respective
assignments in the main building. The Pres
ident of the United States, escorted by the
commission, the board of finance, and the in
vited guests, will enter the north doors of the
main building, and move, accompanied by the
music of the great organs, along the great ave-
nue. in such manner as to pass by each nation
al commission. The procession will then cross
to machinery hall, and walk down the main
avenue to the centre; then at signal from
the President of the United States the enor-
nous engine and its thirteen acres of machine
ry will be put in motion, and the exhibition
will be open to the world.