Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-02-10
Stricken Baltimore.

The sympathy Of the whole civilized
world goes out to the great and beau
tiful city of Baltimore. now stricken
low before one OF the most terrible ca
Iarnities that ever befell a modern city.
Only once before in the history Of our
country has there been so destructive a
fire. az that which has wiped out the
heart of the business section Of Balti-
more. It is only by making COMPARE
sons that we are able to appreciate the
appalling extent of this latest disaster.
The Chicago fire Of 1871 swept over
2124 acres, destroying property to the
value Of nearly s2OO.000.000. The Bal
timore fire was confined to much
smaller area, about $40 acres, and al
though no accurate figures OF the loss
can be given for some time, 1t is es-
timated to be from s1o5. 900. 900 to $780,
1900.
There is one bright feature in the
gloom that now hangs like the pail Of
smoke over the stricken city. Although
the fire ragged for over "a hours. de-
stroying hundreds Of business blocks
office buildings and manufacturing
plants, not n single human life was
fined wholly to the business section
and the flames did not invade the resi-
Dental part of the city. few people. II
any. are rendered homeless. Thus the
actual human suffering is not to be
compared with that of the Chicago fire.
where over 80 lives We're lost, and
over 100000 people were made home
less.
No other fires in the history of the
United States have ever approached
these two in their destructivcness. The
great Boston fire. of 1872. which comes
next to these two. burned over O. acres.
destroying 500 buildings and property.
causing Il loss Of about $s0,o00.0oo. In
this fire. Il lives were lost. Probably
the fourth fire in its disturbances.
which any American city has ever
known. was that " hch swept Portland.
July 4, 1866. when the total loss was
about s15.OOO,OOo. Within the past few
years. Hoboken. n. j.. has had 81
100000 fire: Jacksonville, Fla, Sio.-
200. 600 fire. and Paterson. y. j.. one
which destroyed its whole business
section. causing a loss of $S,Oo0.ooo.
While no lives were lost in Baltimore,
and relatively few were made homeless
the fire. nevertheless, means vast
amount of suffering in that city. For
tunes have been swept away; business
will be paralyzcd. and thousands upon
thousands of people are out of employ
mcnt. Moreover. the effect Of such
confagration cannot fail To be national
in its scope. Many insurance compa-
MES will totter and some will fall u!l Ter
the blow. as they did after the Chicago
and Boston fires. The money market
and commercial centers will all be los
ers to n greater or less extent. The
work of rebuilding the burnt city will
undoubtedly begin at once. and in thi
work great amounts of capital will be
tied up. Such Il fire is nothing less
than Il national calamity. and the only
way to measure its Importance is by
comparing Baltimorcs loss this week
with the total fire loss of the United
States for 1908, which was about S165.-
100000. Thus it will be seen that this
single conilagration probably equals
in it's loss of property, the total fire
loss of the whole country for the past
year. The Baltimore fire adds another
to the terrible total of great disasters
for which this winter will for genera
tons be remembered.