The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-11-21
LONDON L0SSSCALED
ACCORDING TO LATEST ESTIMATES
1T WILL NOT EXCEED
S1O,OOO,OOO.
THE INSURANCE MEN EASY.
DOZENS OF THE BURNED OUT
FIRMS HAD NO FIRE PROTEC-
TION.
CAUSE OF THE BLAZE UNKNOWN.
Engines Still Playing on the Ruins
Which Mark the Scene of the
COnfiagration.

LON DON, NOV. VA numDer u
fire engines are still playing upon the
smoldering ruins which mark the scene
| of the great confagration near the
| general postoffice yesterday. Walls are
falling every now and then. 1t is i'm
! possible to accurately estimate the dam
age, but the direct loss will probably
be below 100000 The last flames
disappeared by II o'clock this morning,
but water Is still being poured upon
the red hot mass Of ruins. The burn
ed district is surrounded by enormous
crowds of people, and the railroads
/ are running excursion trains from the
/ country. In spite of the magnitude of
the disaster, only two firemen were
slightly injured during the work Of ex-
! tinguishing the flames. About 200 firms
are seeking for new offices. The esti-
! mates of the amount of damage done
range from $4,000, 900 to $30,000000, but
/ according to the best opinion the loss
! is about $4,000, 900. The official report
says the cause of the fire is unknown.
A large number of warehouses from
| five to six stories high have been burn
/ ed and have partly fallen, the whole
covering an area of 200 by $50 yards,
/ bounded by Nicholl square, Edmunds
( place, join crescent, Australian ave-
nue. anC Paul's alley.
The il urance agents take an opti-
mistic Wv of the losses, their esti-
mates ranging from 81, 100000 to $4,000
600. 1t is a fact that dozens of the
burned-out firms were not insured, in
I some cases because they were consid-
cred to be undesirable customers, and
in others hpc1nSa tho locality no
been considered dangerous by insur-
| ance companies. The latter assert that
the sensational rumors regarding the
losses have been promoted on the stock
! exchange in order to influence stocks
All the historic treasures of Cripple
gate church were removed, including
( the records of Oliver CromwelPs mar.
| riage, Millions burial and the deaths
! from the black plague in 1868.
Ihe reason why the fire assumed such
/ gigantic dimensions was, first because
of the highly infiammable character of
the contents of dry goods and tobacco
mist warehouses, where it originated;
second, because of the extreme diff
Guilty of handling it effectively, owing
to the exceptional narroWness of the
surrounding streets. Few of these
streets permit two vehicles to pass
abreast and the fire brigade had there
fore great difficulty in manipulating
! the engines and getting them into po-
sltlon. The delay thus caused gave the
fire tremendous Roadway. The flames
leaped through windows and across
these narrow thoroughfares and
caught houses on the opposite side The
heat then became so frightful that
the fire engines had to be withdrawn
+ and worked from a stance.
In the early stages of the fire. the
9 m FOR
elevator shafts of the warehouses
and spread over each successive floor
with incredible rapidly; then bursting
out through the windows, they roasted
the fronts of the houses on the opposite
side, which smoked and cracked, until
their woodwork broke into fire. The
conviction is general that the London
fire brigade is entirely too small to
deal with a great emergency, though
the energy and resources of Chief
Wells and the courage of the men are
fully recognized.
LONDON GOSSIP.
William C. Fielding, the Canadian
minister of finance who is about to
return to Canada, in an interview with
a representative of the Associated
Press, reiterates that Canada strongly
desires friendly relations with the
United States. He expressed the belief
that the visit of Messrs LauEer ard
Davies to Washington had afforded
| a desirable opportunity OF cultivating
such relations, and he expected a good
outcome from the discussions, although
he added: Neither Lauriers nor any
future government of Canada will
agree to any policy involving discrim-
ination against Great Britain. I be-
lieve this is we'll understood in Amer
lea, and l hope that Canada's desire
for improved relations is reciprocated
in the United States, as both countries
would reap much advantage from
greater fl eedom of trade"
There is considera BILE interest in court
circles in different parts of Europe
as result of an announcement from
st. Petersburg that the health of the
cZarina is such as to warrant the be-
lief that she may yet present her hus-
| band with an heir to the throne be-
fore long.
Although the conference between the
employers and the striking engineers
| has been arranged for Wednesday next,
| the prospects of an agreemnt between
| them is remote The employers will
refuse the demand for eight hours
work per day, while the suggested
compromise, forty eight hours work
| and fifty-one hours pay. will proba bly,
share the same fate. 1t is said that
the Amalgamated Society of Engineers
has expended 100000 ($2,5OO, OO0) in
strike pay
Juliet Nesville has returned from
New York, where she had a part in
| Edwardes' musical comedy, "In Town."
| ard has resumed her old role of Juliette
Diamant in THE Geisha." The Shafts
| bury theater, whose doors have been
| dark since Adele Richie ceased to sing
in the Wizard of the Nile" there, was
1 l.,