The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-02-16
A CHINESE FIRE AT CLOSE QUAR-.
TIERS.

IEftS.
The third watch of the night had just
peen announced from headquarters by
the firing of three large squibs, and the
watchmen, who are not so sleepy in
THESE times as they used to be, had
started once more on their rounds with
the cry:-"Take care Of fires and can
dies! Use no foreign oil!' when, hard
by the city wall--a sudden roar and a
glare; the pale moonlight warmed into
orange everywhere, and a great pillar
or smoke expanding over a hundred
houses. Shouts of "Fire!" Screams of
sleeping children. Every one slipping
into their clothes Every one at the
door. with HAL val" or "Hai vol" or
Hal yen' according to the distance
from the volume of fame-the first
sound uttered in tone of philosophical
surprise; the second as a long drawn
sigh of sympathetic wonder, the third,
a staccato of agonized alarm
CLOSE at hand, and soon to be upon
us!' is the next cry--variously worded
4 from the latter speakers, interlarded
with swear-words by most of the men,
and with "O-mi-t'u-fo!'' or Ancestors
protect!" or "P'u-sah protect" in the
case of the women. Then a general
| gatheringup of belongings, children
| knocked over. sworn at, picked up,
| dragged to the street; then boxes, bun
dies, everything portable dragged there
| too.
| Triple gong beats sounding in all d.
rections, from the various depots of the
little ater-dragons" A babel of
voices everywhere. Fire more distant
than was imagined, or "Hal-ye" as
near as can be. Lantern bearers rush
ing along the streets, asking or answer
ing hurried questions as to the precise
spot Bearers of burdens hurrying
about, colliding, a spill here, broken
rope there, a lantern-bearer upset,
child trampled on yonder. Boxes miss.
ing from door-ways. Thieves by the
score on the alert-snall fortunes to be
made tonight!
Clear the way! Here comes the "wa-
ter dragon" with it's uncouth band of
firemen in gray. Clear the way! A
mandarin in his chair Crowds damned
against shop shutters, into houses, any
where Room for the water carriers!
Soldiers with halberds enforce that cry
as the scene of the fire is neared
The river is too far off. The long
closed perfect-peace tank is officially
opened. A torch is lit within. 1t is
barely half full! No other water on
hand! Who has a well? The foreigner
perhaps. And so a rush is made to
his gate. His men have already been
f,..,r h,,o 1rofe, 10
the fire leaps over the few houses be-
tween, or the big sparks fall there. A
touch of nature such as this common
danger, and there is no foreigner. Wa
ter is carried out; babies, bundles,
boxes are carried in The man with
compound is everybody's brother now.
Happy thought! Carry the engines
on to the city wall! They cannot get
near otherwise And so they are car
-ried up from inside the gate. The men
behind are drenched, but never mind.
Only swear a little that so much water
has been split. The wall is mass of
lanterns. And now, the little jets spirit
forth. To what purpose. upon flames
fifty feet high? Only brick walls can
stop The flames in this crowded mass
Of wooden structures, dried by drought.
The wind is fairly high, but the house
has sidewalks Of thin tile, and there
is a brick wall to the west And en-.
gines have forced their way below as
we'll as above the fire. A bit nearer,
and the hose will play into the house
itself. But, horrors! The water
cracks the tile-wall! 1t comes down
with a crash, and four men under it..
bruised, burnt one of them never to
recover.
The bodies are dragged out, the hose
away; three regain consciousness. And
through the gap the engines have an
opportunity now.
Half an hour passes, and the flames
begin to abate.
Whose house?" is the question next |
day, and the answer is, IAN empty |
house where no one has lived for |
months" And the whole turns out to |
be a piece Of thieves business, one Gum |
KNOWN setting the empty house on fire |
while the Waterman had turned the |
corner, and scores of others ready with |
their carrying-poles to turn away with
they could lay their hands
on. All this in quite place, and only |
one house burnt.
Accounts have been published to the
series of fires in Hankow, beginning
with that of the night of the LIST of |
October, with its destruction Of 10000
houses, and the loss of hundreds of
lives. At least we call them accounts.
They are graphic and detailed, we say.
But / question whether human mind
can grasp more than an iota of the
account read, as even the
heather" Chinese wound say, by all
seeing Heaven.-The North China Her.