Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/241

 CONFLAGRATION 237 of improvements, by laying out new and broader streets, establishing water works, and construct- ing sewers. For these improvements a loan of about $20,000,000 was effected, which now con- stitutes a considerable part of the debt of the city. Paris has been singularly exempt from conflagrations, no great fire having occurred until those of May, 1871, caused by the com- munists; and these are remarkable rather for the pecuniary and historical value of the objects destroyed than for the absolute extent of the conflagration, the incendiaries not having been able to carry out their design of burning the whole city tf The palace of the Tuileries was burned down, and the magnificent library of the Louvre destroyed ; the Palais Royal was much injured ; and of the hotel de ville, containing works of art of priceless value which can never be replaced, only the bare skeleton of the walls remained. Various other notable palaces and public buildings were laid in ashes. Of the great conflagrations which are known to have occurred in the cities of China we have only scanty accounts. In 1822 a fire in Canton de- stroyed 15,000 houses. Yedo, in Japan, seems to rival Constantinople in the frequency and extent of its conflagrations. In 1806 a fire destroyed the palaces of 37 princes, each al- most a town in itself, and 1,200 lives. In 1854 an earthquake laid a great part of the city in ruins, and occasioned an extensive conflagra- tion. The loss of life from the falling build- ings and fire is stated at 200,000 ; but this may be presumed to be an exaggeration. In New York considerable fires took place in 1741, which were attributed to incendiaries, and seven persons were hanged. In 1776 a fire destroyed 493 houses in Broadway, laying an eighth of the city in ashes. In 1778 another broke out on a wharf on the East river, de- stroying 300 buildings. In December, 1804, 40 warehouses in Wall and Front streets were burned. The first great conflagration took place Dec. 16, 1835, in what was then the main business portion of the city, the district lying east of Broadway and north of Wall street. There were burned the merchants' exchange, several banks, and 648 large ware- houses, all filled with valuable merchandise ; the entire loss was not less than $18,000,000. In July, 1845, another great fire took place partly on the same ground, but extending fur- ther to the south and west, the loss amounting to about $5,000,000. On Sept. 9, 1848, a de- structive conflagration took place in Brooklyn, which spread over seven of the principal busi- ness blocks of the city in and near Fulton street, destroying about 500 houses. San Fran- cisco within the first two years of its existence had five great fires. In a year after the first discovery of gold the place had grown from a small village to a city of 30,000 inhabitants. The houses were closely crowded together, and built of the most combustible materials, while there were hardly any appliances for extin- guishing fires. The first conflagration was on Dec. 4, 1849, the loss being about $1,000,000; the second, May 4, 1850, loss $3,000,000 ; the third, June 14, 1850, loss $3,000,000; the fourth and greatest, May 2, 1851, loss $7,000,000; the fifth, June 22, 1851, loss $2,000,000. In this series of conflagrations, following closely upon each other, the total loss was $18,000,000, an amount in proportion to the number of in- habitants fully equal to that of the great fire in Chicago. Columbia, the capital of South Carolina, was almost totally destroyed by fire on the 17th and 18th of February, 1865. The Union army, under Sherman, had just entered the city, which had been evacuated by the confederate forces, under the immediate com- mand of Wade Hampton. A large quantity of cotton lay piled in the streets, bales of which were cut open and set on fire. A strong wind took up the burning cotton, starting fires in many parts of the city at once, and it was only through the exertions of the Union troops that any portion of it was saved. When the con- federate army evacuated Richmond, in April, 1865, Ewell, who commanded the rear guard, gave orders for the firing of the warehouses situated in the heart of the city ; and when the Union advance guard entered they found a great conflagration raging, and before it could be extinguished a third of the city, embracing the entire business portion, was consumed. A very great fire, accidentally kindled in a sash factory, devastated Charleston on the night of Dec. 11, 1861. Several churches, and nearly all the public buildings, banks, and insurance offices, were burned. The value destroyed was estimated at $10,000,000. In February, 1865, when the city was evacuated by the confederate forces, fire was set by order of Gen. Hardee to all the warehouses containing cotton ; a serious conflagration ensued, and about 200 persons were killed by an explosion of gunpowder. On July 4, 1866, a destructive conflagration began in Portland, Me., occasioned by a fire cracker. Aided by a strong southerly gale, it swept due north, destroying everything in its way for a space a mile and a half long by half a mile wide. More than 50 buildings were blown up in the vain hope to check the march of the flames. It was finally extinguished on the afternoon of the 5th, after nearly one half of the finest part of the city had been destroyed. The entire loss was not less than $10,000,000. The most destructive conflagration which ever oc- curred in the United States, and one of the most destructive on record, was that of Chicago, Oct. 8-10, 1871. In the region where the fire broke out were many small wooden buildings and several lumber yards. From these the fire swept westward into the part of the city which contained most of the warehouses and public buildings. The navigable river presented no barrier to the spread of the conflagration. Buildings supposed to be fire-proof burned like tinder, and the fire died out after three days, almost entirely from lack of fuel. The confla- gration swept over 2,100 acres, and destroyed