The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-05-18

sleen;no dep;zens of the city, and served
90 ou;cken the lazy movements oil the
boatmen.
ASLEEP AMID HURRY BURLY'
The occupant of the house, IN which
my property was stored, after sieepins
ouietlv through all the hurry buriy,
m 10 This time, was at last awakened
| NV a louder explosion than usual, ana
noking his night capped head out OF q
w;ndow. wanted to know what All the
firing was about | informed BIN
that 1.-THE devil was to pay, ana no
Mitch hot - which was bad for a leaky
boat. AT last he seemed 10 grasp the
ei,uotien. and came down with MS
'open sesame" aDglice Key, ana we
proceeded to load up the boat. for
want of labor and time | found IL I'M
oossiDie TO save the corn. which. though
Il escaped the digesting maws OF Inc
vankee stoeds, nevertheless fell VIC
lion 10 the no less ravenous flames. BY
this time day was breaking, and the
town was all aslir. -. o
The Confederate authorities, finding
il impossible to carry oil all theii com
missary stores. had ordered their ware
houses TO be thrown open, and invited
the public to partalse of what they could
no longer save. IL was a singular ana
lludicrous sight. All the lower classes
both whites and blacks. were rusnlnS
into and out of the stOre-houses ike
swarm Of bees about to hive bringing
ont the canned meats and soups. SIDES
of bacon. &c.: bursting open the barrels
lof -four and Carrying oil their contents
the women in their pettlcoats ana head
ketchiefs. and the darkles In tnelr
lcapqcions broad-6rimmed hats; and,
after emptying. claDpng them on theii
heads. powdered their woOliy skulls
until they resembled huge snowbalis
and the mingled flour. grease and sweat
daubed and streaked their shining VS.
ages. giving themsa close resemblance i'
the grinning clowns of a pantomlme
Backward and forward they hurried
diving into their poor shanties on th'
Basin bank, depositiug their plundei
aud rushing back for more. TIL they
had gutted the commissary storehouse
While standing under the woodel
sheds attached 10 the 'Crenshaw oulid
inps. y watching this laughable specta
Gle. and experimenting the snipmen
of nv chatlels. tail, iine-loOking Off
Ger. mounted on a housekeeping bay
war-hOrse, hurTiedly rode by me, drop
ming from hi- haversack some OF IN
camp equipments, tin plate, ana knli'
, and FORK. Calling out, | halted hun
handed them to him, and judging iron
his haste and manner, he was bound OF
some important mission. asked hin
what he was going to doP He rer Gu
"To fire the tobacco wa'Snou'o.
"Why 7" I rejoined. Il hrcru lnc au
thorities had abandoned 'n1lr ln'T ,i'i'
to burn the tobacco l l'u "eai,
50, too. " he rejoipeG; OuV L aul Jus
from Ge4s.~i Ewell' S headquarters
where General Breckenridge IS will
his foot in the stirrup. with orders iron
him 10 fire the Shcckoe warehouse,
and then he rode on.
WAREHOUSES; FIRED.
The tobacco warehouses had alreadl
been prepared for firing: large billets O
wood, smeared with pitch and tar, au'
other combustibles, had been madr
ready to give speedy combustion to thu
fragrant weed: and il only required thi
striking Of q match to get the who'll
pile in blazing mass.
HIGH TINE TO LEAVE.
Having heard this news. l thought &
myself. if this is so it is high time fol
me to leave the city, for the sight OF thu
burning town will cause the Yankees {,
hurry up to partake of the spolls.
here confess that | did them great in
Justice, for when they arrived. instead
! of adding to the general confusion
= they brought order out of chaos; they
also fought the flamss most vigorously
and if il had not been for their hercu
lean efforts three fourths, if not all, o
the fair city would have been laid II
ashes. aud the poor inhabitants would
not have had a shelter to cover thell
roOnass heads.
After the officer had left to carry GU
this Ubiquitous order. the fulfilment o
which caused so much needless terror
aud distress TO the poor residents; |
having seen my richly-freighted argos,
safety sailing over the tempestuOul
waters OF the raging canawl, hurried
up town. thinking il wise to take Z
speedy departure. Going into the
house. / approached window and saw
a huge column of pitch-black smoke
towering straightly to the skies ano
then spreading in umbrella-saape out
wards Ikea gigantic muihroom, strong
" reminding me Of the fisherman ano
genie 10 the Arabian story. Ts kings sad
farewell OF all. for | knew not wher
and where / would see them again,
) mounted my neighing steed, and desir
Gus of seeing the ravages OF the fire.
rode on down Governor street
10 Cary. and there found the ware
house a roaring sea of flame, and th,
single roofs of the Old brick buildings
called "Sh0Ckoe Sill" just ignting
Seated on my horse. | silently watched
for time the progress of the raging
fire, and then rode up Cary street, and
turned i'm on Twelfth street, scarcely
wider than an alley. Here were stu
ated the "Galiego Mills, colossal pile
of brick buildings, then the largest
Touring mills in the country, if not IN
the world.
A SIZZLING HEAT,
The heat from the burning ware
houses was just ignIting the easements
of the building, the flames licking the
glass. as if with the little flaming
tongues Of fiery serpents, and rejecting
themselves on its shining surface.
A well-organized effort might have
saved this building. for nothing but the
easements were infammable. the roof
towering too high above the warehouse
10 he kipdled by its burning, but no
preparations had been made TO stay
the progress OF tho fire, for the rumor
bad been prevalent that the CoDfeder.
ate authorities had abandoned
their intention to burn the ITO
bacco warehouses" Whether this
rumor was circulated Intentionally
or not by them to prevent the citizens
from making preparations to stay the
flames. no one who now knows will
tell. If the city authorities had been
warned that such was their intention
due preparations could have been made