The Portland daily press., 1897-10-18
Property Loss Roughly Estimated
at Three Millions.
DISASTER APPALLING In EXTENT
AND CONSEQUENCES.

lessness or Worse of Drunken Toughs-
Aid for the Sufferers Arrives from Hal
ifax-No Lives Were Lost.
Windsor, N. S., October 16.-Historic
Windsor, one of the most beautiful towns
in the provinces, was devastated by flames
this morning. For six hours beginning
shortly before a. m., the fire famed by
a violent northwest gale, ragged SO fercely
that the local fire department was abso-
| lutely helpless to cope with it and within
half an hour after its discovery the mayor
began to call for outside assistance.
Long before noon the town had been
almost completely eaten up, the area COW
cred by the flames being almost mile
square and of the 400 Or more buildings
occupying this section, barely half doz-
en- scorched structures remain. All Is a
waste OF ruins, the buildings that escaped
the Windsor cotton factory, Kings col.
lege, the Anglican church, Edge Hill
school for girls and the Dufferin hotel.
The latter is the only hotel left standing.
No Nova Scotia town has ever been visit
ed by a confiagration of such dimensions.
OF the $500 people inhabiting the place
there are very few who have homes of
their own tonight Over 5000 haye been
taken in by the residents of; the outskirts
of the surroundingscountrya and neighbor-
| ing towns, while the remainer Of the
sufferers have gone to Halifax or are
sheltered in army tents erected in the
| vacant plotssthis evening by a detachment
of British troops from the garrison city.
! The disaster is appalling in it's extent
and dread consequences, to recover from
which will be a matter of many years.
| marine block. in the heart of the bust
ness district. The high gale prevailing
| carried the flames to other buildings
before the firemen had time to get to
work and in short time the showers of
sparks carried in all direction, had ignited
score of buildings
The occupants of dwellings had time
enough to hurry on some clothing and to
drag some household goods into the
| streets, but there was no place of safety to
which anything could be removed quick
enough to save 1t from being destroyed or
damaged. The flames cut clean gap
from the waters edge on the business
by Ferry Hill ON the south side and by
Fort Edward on the north
During the past few years many hand
some brick structures have been erected,
but these were generally speaking con-
| tiguous to old wooden buildings and all
went down together before the furious
flames to stay which was beyond the
power of man.
The origin Of the fire is somewhat mys-
| terious. A severe lightning storm passed
over the town before the flames burst
forth and some think the barn in which
they started may have been struck by a
flash from the clouds, but many strongly
suspect that the confagration originated
through the carelessness, or worse, of one
or more drunkenstoughs.-- ssWhen;morning
broke the city of Windsor was a scene of
desolation, with hundreds of frantic.
thinIy-clad and destitute men and wo-
men and children rushing back and forth
through the smoking streets.
Fortunately no lives were lost, although
the streets were perilous with flying
bricks and states which the fierce hurri-
cane drove like thunder bolts from the
roof. In the hurry and excitement horses
and cattle In the stables were forgotten
and many perished in the flames or suffo-
Gated from smoke. Others were turned
adrift and they are tonight roaming the
streets almost mad with GOLD and fright.
The ruins of the fire are ablaze tonight.
The smouldering embers have been
famed into blaze, catching the.piles4ot
coal which are lying all around the burn
ing premises and the heavens are lighted
with the flames which cast their ref1ec-
tion across the river as far as the eye can
see on either side. No effort has been
made to quench these fires and naturally
the occupants of the few houses that re-
main are afraid thatsthe, fire will spring
up again. The wind has moderated some
what and there is no likelihood of further
disaster. Relief measures were started in
Halifax at an early hour, and this after.
noon a train load of provisions, tents,
blankets, etc., arrived from the provin-
cial capital. Aboard the train were Gen.
Montgomery Monre, Gov. DAILY, Mayor
Stephen and 100 men of the Royal Berk
shire regiment and Royal engineers,
who were brought to attend.to the erection
Of the tents and in the relief work.