Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-11-14
Gl1yEST0N FIRE SWEPT.
.oo ACEFs CLEARED OF ALL
'OV THEIR BUILDINGS.

'm.irrougand seven Blocks Wide-One
m,a,sand Families Made homeless
a,,,o aerregate Fully S4,O00,0OO-The
In.inssa Centre Exempted.
c,rvEsroN. TEX, Nov. ia destruc-
,eo fire ragged in this city to-day. The
broka out at 40 o'clock this morn
I'm a small foundry on the north side Of
strand. near the corner of Sixteenth
.,ot The flames spread rapidly under
I'm north wind, and immense clouds Of
'.orts we're carried for many squares
,rar the roofs of wooden houses. The en-
..o fire department was soon on the
mound, but the men seemed paralyzed
s,d unable to fight the flames because Of
ro f.rce wind and sufocating smoke.
al 3.45 o'clock this morning the fire
AZ ,od spread over seven squares, and had
iocor1e a great conflagrati0n. Fully 90
5waIIings were burning tiercely, and
,o natn of the fire as it progressed
mn ward was filled with the finest resi-
E 5onces i'm the city, all OF which were OF
wood.
INCREAsING IT'S BREADTH.
Far five squares South from The starting
rout fine fire was confined to a width Of
a 6oo eouare. between Sixteenth and Sew
e o1tea1th streets, but when it crossed
a Winnie street. six squares from the start
q inc Doiut. IL jumped diagOnally to the
n SN,t6past, into the next block.
Afout o'clock the fire began to spread
a :, the east and to the west Of Sixteenth
ond sayenteeth streets. The wind rose to
81 yale and pandemonlum relgned. IL
seemed as though the entire eastern half
Fl og fine city was doomed. The ire spread
RAPIDLY to the southwark, licking up
hIlcks of elegant residences, hastily aban-
doned by their inmates. BY O'Clock it
81 Ind reached Broadway, which threads
tbe centre Of the island, running east and
west. At T O'Clock the wind gave signs
nj diving away. Shortly ii began to shit
and then to decrease, until by s O'Clock
q ouly fair breeze was blowing, but by
tbis time the ire had eaten Its way to ave-
nue. o.
NEARING THE BEACH.
AT Q o'clock the fire was still burning
fereely. liz was then about four blocks
from the beach and was raging on avenue
IN. twas also still spreading on both
sides and had cut a sWath of six blocks,
which had already been destroyed. Hun
dreds of families had lost everything and
great distress prevailed.
AT 10 O'Clock this morning the fire. had
reached a point within three blocks of the
each and was still spreading in that d.
rection. The firemen were pOWerless to
check the flames.
At 1880 O'Clock the fire reached
the beach, which is q distance
Of about a mile and d half from
2 where it started. In some places, the path
Of the fire is six or seven blocks wide.
81 Over 700residences were burned. Thewind
at that hour was again blowing a terrific
*# OnI fHha fro = fiII hT1r GnranlU
and was not yet under control.
40 BLOCKS BURNED.
The burned district covers 40 blocks,
seven Of which are not swept en-
trely clear. 1t is 10 blocks IN
depth, and averages width
E oi three blocks. From hOusetop the
smoking, burned district resembles a
huge black bal-Open fan, lying across
the island from the bay nearly to the gulf
The island at that point is ten blocks or
one and One-fOurth miles wide. The fire
started on the North side of avenue a,
better known as the Strand, which is one
+ block from the bay, and it stopped with
ID two blocks Of the gulf Sixteenth street
s seven blocks west of the extreme in
labltable end II the island. the first resi-
lence street being sixth. From avenue A
% avenue ID the fire was confined to a
sup bounded on the east by Sixteenth
street, and on the west by Seventeenth
street.
THE BUSINESS CENTRE.
The business part Of the city begins at
l#enteth street, and runs west ten
sqlares. This outline locates the fire,
men began TO spread rapidly alter il
ad passed avenue ID. BY the time it had
reached Broadway it was sweeping near
tnree blocks IN width from the west
l!ue Oh seventeenth street 10 the east side
Fourteenth. From avenues = to K,
oT four squares, the burned dwellings
we're 0ccupld almost entirely by the poor
eI class, ana several families were crowd
tu Ia "a single house in this strip.
IN THE FASHIONABLE QUARTER.
From avenue ", however. the burned
es,IcJ includes the wealthiest aud most
AsnI0naole portion Of the city. One hun
urea elegantly furnished residences are
ruins. Many of these residences had
eaaliul gardens attached, and the mon
loss does not represent over half the
'@ue. Ine city assessor says that the
te1Aa0le value OF the dwellings burned is
tyyAWO. This makes the actual value OF
-5 property $l,500,0JO, which perhaps
splesents the loss In money.
NO LIVES LOST.
30 lar as can be learned not a single
s,oi0ent occurred, Notwithstanding the
99t,lul panic that prevailed.
iue scene during the progress OF the
T,a was simply frightful, and so filed
v, ,,I mI.ery and terror that whoever
,'ue-sed 10 must bear its vivid impress
lleJlme. The wind rose TO q scream
.die ln the vicinity Of the fire, and
through the burning belt in terrific
iIs' carrying millions OF live cinders
I SUI up IN the air, and raining them down
mHe distant over the wooden CITY and
er, panic stricken inhabitants. The
ta.r east end OF the city scarcely con-
w 0oIan brick dwellings. An was
Co. ieNas pine-and IL burned with in
'''cf'uable fury.
BURNING LIKE TINDER.
,gt.,e minutes after a house caught IL
AMI ' Oe wrapped In one mighty fame.
ss, W. centre OF the burning pile gave
de- nnlle neat, while the flames on the
were htlully splitting high and far
r-l,'I! slde. The alleyways ana streets
m. 'luares on either side OF the burn.
III, 9el We're dlied with panic-stricken
.1,.n and children, and strong men who
er,,.u 40 nothing in such a gale but
s Nor,suI uoWn Tor shelter from the piercing
fm,s ana watch the flames lick up the
1s-', VI tneir labor. Although the suf
fa.,f number many Of The wealthiest
Pr,."'5 OF the city, such as julius
H., Leon Blum, aud a score OF others.
|cu, ..e great majority Of those burned
|fen,.se tne greater portion Of their for
'"e7 or their little all.
HOW THE PEOPLE PARED.