Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1892-07-15
ST. JOHNS FLAME SWEPT.
NEW FOUNDLANDS CAPITAL
PRACTICALLY WIPED or
Thousands Homeless and Many Lives
Lost.

A rrnnagration visited St. Johns, y. F.,
Friday afternoon which practically wiped
hat city out uf existence. At o'c.ocN 4
mau III nj, pipe Ia a barn on Longs bill and
,arrlcsSly threw the lighted match on the
iuor. In q moment the flame Of the match
gnitcd some straw AMI the barn was abia/''
A strong gale from the southwest was
blowing. 1t took the fire department, such
a. il was, some time To get up the steep hill,
and long before the engines got there the
wind had showerrd the live cnbcTs down
on the dry-as-du~t shingles ON the roofs OF
The houses below.
Water works had been provided at a cost
IF SIOO. 900, the interest ON which at per
cent. was guaranteed 10y the government
but the service was found defective ut the
high part OF the city, where the hre orlSl-
mated.
In half an hour from the time that fatal
pipe was lit in the barn, the drNourlnS ele
mcnt, flannel By the heavy wind, was
.gcrping down upon the heart OF the
doomed city. aud the tircmcn found them
sci, es utterly helpless.
The flames spread with raptdlty that ap-
palled the UeOylc. The SMOKE Wa sNHot1t-
ing and the heat was something hnrrib'c.
Instead Of saving their houses aud furniture
il soon became a question with the peop,c
how they could escape from the Ham's WIN
their lives Many lives were lost. Inc
number will probably never be known, ~
il WAS impossible to get the agtd and chill
rrn away from the fiery furnace. As night
settled down the scenes b fled description.
HINGE volumes OF deust smoke and lurid
fl mes asceuiei from tn raging fire,
lighting M the coat Tor a hundred mli's
md more on either sid. Messages from
Hart. Content say that the glare OF The lire
was iii tinctly visible there. but to the ter
ror-stricken people Of It. Johns the night
Will never be forgotten.
Compelled = abandon their houses and
property, they were force to flee To the
high lands back OF the city for shelter.
some managed To save u few articles OF ap-
parel. but The vas. majority had only what
N stood upright IN.
From III M.h ground the awe stricken
Icuplc whine SEED the utter destruction OF
.ECir Ii, me' aud everything they posi- sscd
II this world Meanwhile the flames were
.rsp,ug from hulldi g.: to bui ding AMI from
trcct to street, licking up everything III
heir path. HUE pies Of solid masonry
Ike the Church of England, Cathedral. the
va ionic Hall aad the All el,um buildings
40 arcntly yielded rs cary to the flames a
tn" iIimsest wooden shells. When the tire
reached the great stores on Water street il
was fed by vast supple 1t Kerosene on, sea
oil pork, Hour, turpcntlnc, dry goods and
/ powder, and was given great impetus
The wharvcs, too, caught fire, and those
vessels which could not get ont into mid
stream burned ut their docks. When It one,
took possession Of the grent warehouses OF
Wa.cr street the flames spread east and west
with almost equal raPi'ity until within q
few hours II hid devastated over 2DO stores
warehouses, shops, offices, dwellings and
/ private buildings. Stretching over a mile in
/ length. hv 4 third OF n mite In depth, al
| night long the IRE ragged " It'll unubatcd fury
When the dav dlUncl the scene that met
/ tie eve was indesCribnbC. Onc-hrll the
entire city lay in ashes with hardly ON,
stone upon another, and the fire was still
raging with undated turv aud tapping W
the remaining porlnn OF the city lying a
/ the foot OF >iInal hill
one O! the last Of the great buildings t.
20 down way Nhe pllatiaI Atlantic llotc
owned by ,ston and New York capital
i>t4. \ little east OF this place there i
large open space, and here, Mt ~ O'clo'l
the fire stopped for the want OF more build
| ings to burn. But this StOppage was only
! temporary. The high wind was still blow
Ing. and by noon the living emhcr- la,
started other fires still farther down. Al
/ the r. At par tn, had Their been dcstroy"I
or placed hurs tie combat during the night
and the brave lrcmtn, who had made
/ SuItTuuluull, bul WIN. ll-Nl WIN wv ~
1cud were now thoroughly exhausted.
The p,l OF wooden buildings used by til,
! Ncwfuun, land railway rs passenger dcpo'
/ and freight she'd We're soon a IN, s. # ruins
and many line structures in the Locality
were ablaZc.
! While the fire in that end Of the city va
| in progress flames also broke out anew n
the other end, but late in the afternoon
| these were got un Ter control.
| The streets so far wiped out are Waite
! street, Military read. Duckworih street
| Prescott street, Queens road, tOchrAat
street, Cover street, Kings road, Cathcdra
| Hi and Longs HUI.
The property loss is variously placed a
! from iifccn TO twenty million dollars, uroI
which there is an insurance Of al ont 500,
| 600
No conception of the disaster that ha
| overwhelmed the colony can be conveyed b,
message reports. 4 massage from cat
! Cove seven miles from Brlrus. says TIM
! the village, consisting OF % houses. ha
b en- wiped out Of existence. The tire tAnr
! caught from the woods, which were 81
! fire by ashes on tic railway tracks. Fire
are rug ng al around It. Johns The pco
| pie are SO completely icrrOr.strickcn and tie
moralilcd that no flint has been mad
against them.
Towns - mics distant are burning, an,
the smoke from the fires envelopes th
island for mile.
THE NATIONAL NAE5p