The sun., 1889-11-29

Other losers the amount OF, whose risks can.
not at present be aScertained, are London and
National OF Hartford Long Island. Mutual Fire
Of New York. Commonwealth, Armstrong Hec-
fremont. Milford Mutual Fall River. German. n.
Northeast National. Mercantile Firemens' OF
crushing blow to many Of the smaller com
panies. and 1t s not at all unlikely that II will
Brown, Durell 4 Co. carried goods in stock
to the value OF upward OF $500. 900. and the
stGsk ss IS wiz b tSA 81 WSb Sf T6S r e ,
eiRn companies. Jordan. Marsh & Co g shirt
factory, in the Clsfin, Larabee building was In
compaHys Comp my % stock for si5S oo0 TSylor BSSl BrotSE
ers. hats and caps. were insured for $4,000:
loss 100000.
THE GREAT FIRES OF 1872 AND 1873.
The location OF to-day's fro makes q con-
necting link between two previously lame
swept districts in this unfortunate town. The
the
and. indeed. the alarm was sent from the Same
box. No. 80. that was used to signal the calam:
fly OF seventeen years ago. To-day's fire spread
in a southwesterly direction until it almost
touched the boundary REACHED by the Globe
about as serious as that Of to-day, and 1t led
Boston to e9uip herself with as efficient fire.
cure. The fires Of 1871 and 1878 ind Eced, also
complete change In the architecture of the
Part Of the ty roofs
tion became the ru rather than the exception.
But to-day's experience was only ant nother dem
no such thing as fireproof construction with
great fire Of, 1879 solid granite buildings with,
cred and fell in powder whom the fierce blast of
the contiagration touched them. There Is a
heat SO intense that granite seems to feed 1t
about granite fed flames. but three times % Bos.
ton has watched them In terror. Chicago and
two or three other cities have seen the fearful
Most oi 5hs buildings destroyed to-day were
comPsra,tiively new RsCw and Of the best modern
building, where the fire originated. was ap-
parently better ttted TO resist hre than similar
Structures In New York city. such; for instance,
to.day,s disaster makes 1t clear that The ex-
ire Is not 10 be found oither in an ineiiIcIentt
fire, ,department OF faulty construction OF
IhH sS OF S18 SDfd
discovery, and fire department crippled by n
horse distemPer WHICH made prompt response
that ttRR the - water supply Was inadequate,
for the, mains were all OF them too small. That
@ d fs al 1aa
portion OF the buildings consumed In 1872 were
more intiammable A strange feature OF the
the % buildings @ attsefed By the spreading flames mes
began to crumble before they actually burst
orSnsry H % ire sppSratus Is po%essss t 70 SSPs sSPs
with It. itis bound 10 burn until the fuel is
exhausted or q boundary Is reached across
which IL cannot leap. Boston has few such
boundaries. and therein lies her peculiar dan
ger. The narrow streets OF the solid old town
are her greatest menace.
In the great fire Of 1879 the flames Rrched
the streets with greatest ease; No sooner
fare in tho Vicinity of High, Federal, and
FRANKLIN streets, than tho firemen were com
PEELED TO ny for their lives. In most
New York tGorouGhiares there. would be
opportunity for making hight against
2 hrs hSwsveT fierce . even n " u L DID
are so narrow that the burst Of spreading