The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1898-03-03
NOTABLE FIRES.
Those In the United States Have
Proved the Least Serious.


Proved the Least Serious.
The largest fire of the year 1897 was
what has come to be known as the
Aldersgate street fire in London, the
damage from which, variously estimat-
ed at first, has been put officially at $780,
100000. Tenmillion-dollar fires are
very rare nowadays in countries
equipped, however imperfectly, with
apparatus for the eXtinguishmen of
fires, and in the United States confa-
g1ations of such dimensions are prac-
tically unknown. In former times, how
ever, such fires were not so rare, and
what is known as 1.-The great New York
fire" of 1885 involved pecuniary loss of
100000, 900, which represents, of course,
a much larger amount, relatively, than
would such fire to-day, the purchasing
power of money being probably greater
at that time, and, moreover, the system
of insurance being such that by the fail
ure of large number of companies the
insured were practically left without
any compensation for the losses which
they sustained. The number of build
ings burned in the great New York fire,
which started in what was then known
as Merchant street, in the Wall street
district, was 700, and it was not the fire
men who put stop to it, but the United
States sailors who came over from the
navy yard and blew up a number of
buildings.
The Chicago fire of 1871 entailed loss
of $190,000,000 and covered an area of
more thar 1000 acres, consuming ! 900
buildings. The Boston fire, with which
it is compared usually. which occurred
little more than one year later, entailed
a loss of $S0,000,00 and destroyed 500
buildings, but these were of a much
more substantial character than those
burned in Chicago. Only about 20 per
cent. of the Chicago fire losses were
paid. but more than 60 per cent of the
Boston losses were met by insurance.
The aggregate losses in New York
city from fires of all kinds occurring
during the year, are now about So, 800
600 and in any recent year they have
never been so large as S7,OO0,0O0. The
nearest approach to that was in 1891
when they were $6,o0OOOO the largest
item of which was supplied by what was
known as the Bleecker street fire at the
corner of Greene and Blocker on st.
Patrick's day, the loss from which was
81, 900. In the same year fire on
South street in September entailed a
loss of $264,OO and another on Fulton
street, one week later, caused by the
vapor of benzine ignitirg from the heat
of a stove, 100000. Such fire losses,
however. are so rare in New York as to
become exceptional, but those in 1891
were unusually large. and further in
cluded the burning of the Fifth Avenue
theater on January at loss Of $17O.-
coo; a fire in Franklin street in May en-
failing loss of 100000, and a fire in
the factory of the New York Print
works in Jane street in July, entaiiing
a loss of $225,OOO.
The largest and most serious fire of
which there is authentic record in Ger
many was in Hamburg in 1912, the loss
resulting from it being $35,00O,000. The
great fire" of London took place in
1866. and consumed about two-thirds of
the city, but there has never been any
very accurate computation of the loss,
ard perhaps no such computation was
possible. There have been many seri-
Gus fires in France. but no one of them
large enough to take rank in respect to
loss among the notable fires of which
there is a record.-N. Y. Sun.