Arizona silver belt., 1900-07-12
GREAT FIRES OF HISTORY.
The Flames Have Always Been the Host Relentless Enemies
 of l1ankind.

flre nas always been the most ue- structive element with which man has had to contend, says the Boston Her ald, aud several times in the worlds history has destroyed entire cities, in- volving enormous loss to property and life, Nineveh, Babylon, Persepolis, Carthage, Palmyra and many other cities of ancient history, were practic- ally destroyed h, ire, at one or more periods in their history, but the losses eutailed are purely matters of copjec- ture.
 Since the beginning of the Christian era rather more careful records have been kept. In the year GA fire ragged ip Rome for eight days, destroying 10 of the II wards. Six years later the Romans took Jerusalem, and applied the torch to the city, great loss of life and property resulting, In ll06 Venice iu the height ot her opulence, was practically destroyed, again in 1877, anu in 1912 London suffered similar 1 fate. London had terrible confiagra- tions in 79S and 9S2, but of the four great fires Tn her history the most tre- ! mendous occurred in 1866, when 436 acres were burned over in four days.
 Buildings to the number of 3,20O
 were burned, and the property loss
 was over S53, ,00O, 900; but six lives
 were known to be lost Berlin was
 burned in 1405
 In 1879 there was Sl ,00O, 900 fire in Boston, many warehouses, docks,
 and vessels, and so dwellings being de-
 stroyed. In l700 the greater part of
 Edinburg was burned. but the loss is
 not matter of record Lisbon was
 burned in l7O7. In l72S Copenhagen
 had 1850 houses destroyed by confla-
 grafton, and in 1795 1563 houses were
 burned in another great fire there. In
 l736 fire in St Petersburg burned
 2000 houses, and at Constantinople, in 1723. over l2, 1000 houses were burned, and 1000 people perished. In lS45, l75U. l756, l7S2, 1791 and lTeS, the same city suffered frcm disastrous con.
 fagrations In l75l Stockholm had ' 1000 houses burned. In l752 there were ,000 houses burned ln Moscow, and in 1872, when the Russians burned the city to prevent it from falling into
 the hands of Nepolean, 3S, 900 build s ings were burned and the loss was ovel $50, 900, 900. In TYP Smyrna had z , S20, GOO, 900 fire.
 The records of the present century
 are more accurate so far as losses art concerned, the principal fires since , 1900 being as follows, with their losses 7 1902, Liverpool, S5,00O,0 900; 1903
 Bombay, s3, 900, 900; lsO5, St. Thomas
 S30, 900, GOO; 1908, Spanish Town, ST,
 900, GOO; 1872. Moscow, Sl50, 900, 900 1920, Savannah, S4,000, ,000; 1885 New York, Sl5, GOO, 900; 1887, St. John N. B., 5000, 900; 1888, Charleston B, 00O, 900; lS42, Hamburg, S35, ,000,
 900; lS44, New York, S7, 300, 900; 1S45 Pittsburg, sl0,000,000, lS46, St Johns, N F., S5,000, 900; lS4S, Al U bany, N. T., S3,0OO, GOO; lS49, St V Louis, B, 000,0 ,000; 1851, St. Louis
 Sl1, 1000, 900; 1851, St. Louis, S3,000, Il GOO; 1851, San Francisco, Sl0, ,000, ,U00 , 1851, San Francisco, S3, GOO, GOO; 1862
 St. Petersburg, S5,000, 000; 1866 U Portland, Me, S1l, ,000.000; 1870 . Constantlnople. S26, 1000, ,000; 1871 ', Chicago, Sl92, 100000; 1871, Paris '. S16O, GOO, ,00O 1872, Boston, S75, O00 N 900; 1877, Pittsburg, 8, 260, ,O00; 1877 " St. John, N. B., 2,000, GOO; lSS!
 Seattle. S20, 900, GOO.