The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-02-09
CR|'EAET S1
OF 0. ! A / ] J. |; ! r
Frigl,tful Loss 81 Property III
the Baltimore tS17'tfl;'
grafton.
SOME OTHER I ::E BIG 81 FIRES !: I|'lE:':;
Occasion Recalls Many III Worlds
History Of Recent Years.
Greater Than Chicago.

2 s,sii |.
Z A wave, OF sunutterablc grief and horror
swept ovor1 Richmond yesterday and left
its trace OF gloom In every phase Of the
e!ty's business and social lfc. n
1T Is Impossible to give adeunnteAcx.t
p, ossIon to tho feelings that charged the
breast Of every man and woman while
1,nltlmore's story OF calamity ind woe
was slowly and fcarfully. and with con-
stantly increasing frghtfulnczs, being
recorded In the dreary path OF the un-
cunquerablc flames.
Knots OF people gathered upon the
street corners and with overcast faces
that told Of their sorrows IN the dcstruc-g
ion OF the sister city, eldeisnred fruit
1cssly to realize In It's full extent ING
awful visitation. In every home Inc
Same was the case. Around the dinner
table and around the hearth The one
theme was that. OF tho blazing. crun,b-S
linz city d short distance away. The
feeling OF deep and profound sorrow was
Lnfeigned and undisgtiiscd MANY per-
cons we're almost overcome By tho nor
rjble talc slowly lnfolded TO them. " O. q. \
men and children particularly were
frightened and downcast. IN ~ Ieas.
enc recorded instance a class or young
men students had to be dismissed per
cuugo while Baltimore was being swept
away neither the class nor the protessor
IN charge could rivct attention TO the
dull dronc Of the school book. I'd
The Greatest of Fires. 5#
,anv of the old timer. gathered in
mo streets and recalled the time when
Richmond burned and pandemoniums
ircIencd sra m pant: In tho thoroughfares
,n,y IN uuiet and peaceful. 8r
in that horrible day men and wo.
men went n the bitterness OF death, ana
believed that their suffering and woe
could not have been;more com plete. a b 'l =
IA tho glare OF the great blaze Oh yes
,crtlay, Rlchmond's fire, devastating as
Is was, is utterly lost from inc s!eht. /. N
IL ct, no recorded fire the world has ever
before known Fl equals III actual proper
~ loss that OF Baltimore. It has far
rl,tranked \ London, Paris, New york
boston and even Chicago.
\ Historyatells OF tho time when London
burned. II was in 1905, and more than
1900 houses were destroyed. entaAlne
an estimated loss OF $50, co. 500. fire
in Hamburg in 1872 destroyed property
valued at s., 600 900. During me g, CON- IN.
icunist dcva station In Paris IN l87l the
destruction to property amounted to-
J1rore than $4,000, 0oO ;5.
or the fires In this country there Is
record long and terrible. In Canada also.
there have been many devastating con-,
flagrations. Quebec has suffered severely,
$One-fifth or The city was wiped out BY
flames In June. 1881. Thirty people were
killed and 5000. 900 In propert was de-
strpycd !; In a. .tire IN 4 the same city ~
May, 1916. The Theatre Royal, In Que:
bee was burned In 1876. and torty-seyen
persons met their death. In 1855 Cham
plain Street for ee-quarters OF a mile
was the scene OF a fire which DESTROYED
every building on both sides OF the tho
,oughfare. In the following yearEanother
t1ire occurred. and $500 buildings were
burned. Az late as 1876 another fire rem
dered 1000 persons HON elcss. A firerin
ST. Johns n. T.. occurred on July 3. tlS9e,
and cntailcd property loss Of s10,oV,Vo.
Many in This Country.
In the United States itself a number q
cities have been swept by great 1lres. : g
Public Ledger OF Philadelphia yesterday
gave summary of great coutia grations
in the United States. as follows:
In tire involving total loss = OF
,S.UO.OO0. Paterson. n. j., lost the chief
part, OF her business section and a large
portion Of her homes, on February y
1902. Among the buildings DESTROYED By
the flames were her national pahRs' !e es,e
ing churches, Hamilton Clubhouse. City
Hail. Public Library. PRINCIPAL stores.
newspaper offices and best. hotels. third
of a mile away'a hundred homes were
ruined by the fire. all tina was LETT being
Il mass Of brick and stone:
The Paterson fire began in the trolley
barns OF the Jersey City. Iloboken ana
Paterson Street Railway. Company The
buildings were sItuated at Broa diva and
yanhouten street Just how the Flames
started could not be discovered though.
The general belief was that it originated
in an overheatedi stove The City Hall.
containing all the archives and records o.
the municipality. was almost completely
destroyed. Many OF the larger o tice build
ings. including that of the Evening news,
tie First National Bank, Odd-Fellows'i
Hail, the large Boston Department Store
and the Knights or Columbus building,
were Quilted. " s q ,fsa
The whole OF tho Paterson population
assembled to watch the wonderful spec
tacle the blaze stretching high into the
air and being easily seen from the hills
around. sightseeIs came from all around
the surrounding country. Troops finally
were called and disloGged the people from
no positions they had taken to view the
fire. There were 10 lives lost. nor no sono
seriously injured g+
New York Fire,
New York's greatest fire started on the
night of December &c. 1886 and before It
was subdued, by the blowing upNof all
buildings in the path OF the flames. gu
buildings, the finest in tho city. had been
destroyed, with a total loss Of 81. 000, 600
hut no one was killed or. seriously In
jured The high wind carried the burning
cn,bers across the East River and started
several smaller fires IN BROOKLYN The
New York fire started In q fancy goods
house In Pearl Street. Just below'tWall
Street. Tho iflremen were hlndered ~
frozen lydrants. SO that at one Time the
entire district between, Maiden Lane.
Coenties Slip. William Street and the
East River was burning.
Great Chicago Fire,
The great fire IN Chicago began OH Sum
day night. October s. 1871, In a wooden
barn on Do Koyen Street on the West
side, Numerous lumber yards there
quickly ignited, and a high wind carried
the flames across the Chicago River and
into the South Side closely built up with
stores and warehouses. The fire RACED lall
the next day. sweeping everything before
It, The glare could be seen for q hundred