The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1885-11-14
"A Terrible Blow to the Prosperity
OF a Thriving Lite City.

avail. The heat became so intenss that
the fremen had to abandon their posi-
tiops, and the wind rose and carried myri.
ads Of sparks 10 the premises EAST oi
Avenue A. a general alarm was 81 unded,
and In half.h0ur two blocks we're burn
ing tiercely, AMI by O'Clock everyone
saw that u col higTation was upon the
city. The people n tquaned around on
either side OF .hs burning bIocEs became
panic stricken, and the piercing cries ol
the frightened Noufn could be heard
above the dim cf the frs and mournful
wind.
At halt.past 8 o'clock the Gre hsd leap
ed two blocks disaut from its starting
point, but In perfectly straight line, be,
ing confined tothe blocks bounced by Six.
teenls and Seventeenth srcets.
TuR FIRE SPREADING.
About 4 o'clock the tire began TO spread
to the east and to the west Of Sixteenth
and Seventeenth streets; the wind rose to
a gale, and pandemonium reignCd. For a
time it seemed as though the entire east
ern half Of the city was doomed. The Ere
spread rapidly to the sou.hwsrd, licking
up the blocks OF elegant residences,
hastily abandoned by their inmates. By
5 o'clock 1t had reached Broadway, which
threads the center Of the island, running
east and west.
Att O'Clock the wind gave signs Of
dying awsy and shortly it began to Ebift,
then TO decrease, until by o'clock only a
fair Drecz- wRs blowing. But by this time
the fire had eaten It's way 10 Avenue Y,
where at $50 o. clock itEegmed 10 exhaust
itself, and the 6remen coming up checked
its further ravagts at this point, or within
two blocks OF the Gull. The burned dis.
trict covers ft;y.tWo blocks, seven Of
which are not swept entirely clean. Il Is
sixteen blocks in depth, and averages q
width ofIhFee blocks.
Sarn from q house.iop the smoking,
burned district resembles huge, black,
halt.opened fan, lying across the island
from the Bay nearly 10 the Cult. The
island at that point Is nineteen blocks, or
one mile and quarter wide. The fire
started on the norih ride Il Avenue A,
better known as the Strand, which is one
block from the Bay, and is stopped with
in two blocks OF the Cult Sixteenth
street Is nine blocks west OF the extreme
inhabitable end Of the island, tho first
resident street being Sixth. From
Avenue A 10 Avenue d, the fire was
confined 10 strip bouuder on the east by
Seventeenth street Ths buiiuesI part ol
the city begins vt Twentieth street and
runs west ten blocks.
OUTLINE OF THE FIRE.
This outline locates the e, which be-
gan to spread rapidly after 1t had passed
Avenue D. By the time 1t had resched
Avenue ], or Broadway, it vas sweeping
neatly three blocks in width, from the
wts. side Of Seventeenth to the eas. side
Of Fourteenth street. About three bum
dred houses we're burned, which were oc'
cupicd By fully five hundred fimi'ies.
From Avenue A to Avenue L, for four
squares, the burned dwellings were occu-
pied almost entirely by the poorer class,
and several families were crowded into a
single house in this strip.
From Avenue L, however, the burned
district includes the wealthiest and most
fashionable portion Of ne city. One huns
dred elegantly furnished mansions are in
ruins. Many OF these residences had
beautiful gsidCnB attached and tho mon
eyed loss does not represent over hall
their loss. ,
All manner OF estimates are to he heard
at this time. The City Asscsscr says the
taxable value Of the dwellings burned Is
$3.50 COO. This makes the actual value OF
the property Sl,50J0OO which perhaps
represents the loss in money. The lL.
surance is estimated at SGG0 600, although
some insurance men who have walked over
the district place the Insurance. at saGO,'
600.
So far as can be learned pot single &C.
cident occurred. The ECens during the
pTogTess Of the fire WAS simply iighulul-
so filed with misery and terror that who
ever witnessed ii must bear its vivid i'm
press for a lle.timB. The wird rose 10
a screaming gale in the vicinity Of the
fire, and awept through the burning bslt
in terrific whirls. carrying millions OF live
cinderB high up in the cir and raining
them dOWna mite diatant over the wooden
city and its paniC.slriCken inhabitants.
| GuAHAITktk VI llL uAhNEb PtNAhARt'
The entire east end Of the city scarcely
contains dozen brick g0llings. All Ia
wood-Texas piue-aud i. burns with ar
indescribable fury. Five minutes after q
hou,a had caught It wouli be wrapped In
one mighty flame. The alley-wpys and
streets for ten squares on Gi'hCrside Of the
burning belt were filed with the blanChed
faces Of helpless men, woman and child
rem, who could do nothing in such gale
but crouch down for shelter and watch the
flames lick up tho iruitR Oi u lifetime
Although the victims number many o
the wealthiest residents OF tho city, whose
individual wealth runs up near tho mil
lionR, yet the great DajDTity Ol those burn
ed out lose the better pDrtlOnB OF Their for
tunes or their little all. SlmG families
saved good deal Of furniture. others are
left without thG clOthes on their bGCks, &c
confident were they that the fire would
not reach them. The loss in personal aud
household property can never DO cstlmat'
ed and is not included In the previous os
innate.
The hotels are filled with homeless pco
pie, and citizens committee Ia now Rt
work appoHioniDg iamilGg 10 rooms and
premises vacated for their use. EyeD
vehicle in the city is at work carrying tho
streWn furniture, bedding and pictures Il
secure places, Thousands oi people hRun
tho burned district, looking among thu
smoking ruins for valuable keepgRkcH ol
lsgelry, hOpingto fad something left, bu
ali IA "A black and barren as q desert, ever