THE UNITED STATES.

Globe, Volume II, Issue 152, 28 November 1874, Page 3

THE UNITED STATES.

The New York correspondent of the Argus writes on October Ist:—The outbreak in Louisiana, of which you have doubtless received a general account, was not unexpected, and was, in fact, almost inevitable from the condition of things in that state. Probably no other in the Union has a population so peculiar. It is made up from the Creoles, or descendants! of the early French and Spanish settlers; from immigrants from many Southern states; from a large slave class, freed during the war; and from Northern men, attracted to the state before the war by its prosperity, and since by adventure. To these may be added a considerable sprinkling of Cuban refugees, who have abandoned their homes to the Spaniard, and who form an element of some force to the community.

In New Orleans there was formerly a great deal of wealth, and its society was gay, luxurious, and in a great measure profligate, bearing itself more after the manner of the French capital than after that of ordinary American cities. The leading men of the state were principally from New Orleans, and were in the old days of slavery very bold, energetic, and determined politicians. Outside of the great city ihere is nothing but plantations, fertile in the southern, and rather barren in the northern portions, and these furnished the usual elements of rich and powerful planters and their following of lazy, dissolute whites. To these emancipation added the negroes, for the most part ignorant, but including also some former house servants and body servants of mixed blood, partially educated in book learning, and with wits and passions both sharpened by their association with the whites. During the war New Orleans was a place of dalliance rather than of work for the Northern army. Until the lamented and soldierly Cauby, now too early dead, took command of it, it was the prey of Butler, sordid, vulgar, and grasping; and of Banks, weak, vaiu, and if not corrupt, the occasion of illimitable corruption in those about him. The city was dreadfully drained, and its people learned only too justly to despise as well as hate the representatives of the North. The opportunities of the reconstruction process brought in another crowd of greedy adventurers, who, by the large negro vote, managed to get complete possession of the State Government, and proceeded, under one Warmoth, an immigrant from Illinois, with a wretched war record, to load the State with debt and taxation, and to steal the revenues. In this they were aided, unfortunately, by a number of unscrupulous natives of Louisiana, who, while keeping the name and form of opponents, were in league with the plunderers; and since they possessed considerable political influence in the opposition party, they made honest opposition almost impossible. Along with the growth of the power of the corrupt State Government, but entirely independent of it, there was another cause of trouble brewing. This was the lawlessness of a large part of the native population, especially the young men, which led them to excesses against the negroes and against white Kepublicans of the mi,st violent character. In 1866, by a conspiracy, deriving strength from the attitude of the then President Johnson, an attack was made on a Republican convention in New Orleans, and over 200 members were murdered in cold blood; and had it not been for the promptness of General Sheridan, who, being in command of the United States troops, instantly took military possession of the city, the massacre would have been even more terrible. Outbreaks of this character have occurred frequently within the past few years, and in every case the State Government has shown no courage or ability in dealing with them, but has fallen back on the Federal Government. In this way that Government has necessarily and justly intervened frequently in the affairs of the state. If it had confined itself to keeping the peace, when called in, things would have been in better plight than they are. But, as if corruption on one side and violence on the other were not enough to complicate the affairs of the state, President Grant contributed to the confusion by the appointment of two Federal officersone, Casey, the collector of the port (a relative of Mrs Grant's), and the other, Packard, the marshal (or executive officer) of the Federal court ; and these men have taken the management of the Republican party entirely into their hauds, have involved the Federal Government in numerous unnecessary and unjustifiable acts of interference, and finished by actually setting up the present Government by the bayonet. It would be a tedious operation to describe in detail the way in which this latter remarkable feat, unparalleled, I assure you, in the history of American politics, was accomplished. In brief, it may be said, that in 1872 Warmoth, the Governor, joined the Democratic party. Most of his subordinates remained Republicans. A part of these latter constituted a board, whose business it was to count the votes for Governor and Legislature, and declare the result. Of this board, Warmoth claimed the power to remove a portion, and exercised it. They denied the validity of the removal, and so there were two [returning boards. Packard and Casey got an order from the United States Court for the district, directing the marshal (Packard) to sustain the Government declared elected by the Republican Board, and to call in the troops to help him. The Court had no right to issue the order, but it was nevertheless carried into effect. The Government thus established was led by one Kellogg, as Governor. Its rival was led by one M'Enery. Both appealed to the President for support. He referred the matter to Congress, wih an intimation that unless directed otherwise, he should sustain Kellogg. Congress did nothing, and the President has since maintained Kellogg in power. Kellogg's government I believe to have been much more honest than the one to which it succeeded, and quite as honest as the one M'Ency would have established. Kellogg himself had done all in his power to win the white people to his support, but in vain. Two obstacles are in the way. The principal one is that the property of the State is so weighed down with taxation, that if its owners were to recognise the validity of the present Government, and its right to

collect the taxes, the art would be equivalent to a surrender 10 confiscation. Tl bulk of the properly being held u whites, this fact prevents any general recognition of Kellogg by that class, who have everywhere for months lefused to pay a dollar iuto the Treasury. This has led to another difficulty. The Government has sold a great deal of property for unpaid taxes, and the only hope of the former owneis to get it. back is by the overthrow of the K< Hogg Administration. The second obstacle to the general recognition of Kellogg lies in the violent spirit of the younger natives, who were active in the excesses I have alluded to. These men are implacable. They hate the negro, and have no interest in his labour. They hate white Republicans, who have taken from them the petty offices many of them used to hold. And they are for the most part idle, reckless, accustomed to the free use of arms, and bent on " driving out " their opponents. A combination was recently formed among all those who reject the present Government, and an organisation effected under the name of the White League, with branches in every parish or country, and numerous branches in New Orleans. Its members published an address early in the summer, in which they declared that, without hostility to the negro, they recognised in him the tool by which the Kellogg " usurpation" was set up, and that Government they proposed to overturn, peaceably if possible, but to overturn in any case. They formed a military organisation in every branch of the league, and proceeded to purchase arms. After a while the police seized a lot of arms. A meeting was called in a public square, at which all the officers of the New Orleans leagues were Jpresent, and a committee was sent to protest against the " seizure of private rroperty," and to demand the immediate abdication by the Governor in favour of one P( nn, who claimed to be Lieutenant-Governor by the election of 1872. It is perhaps worth noting at this point that the candidate for Lieutenant-Governor on the Opposition ticket in 1872 was a negro, who resigned a few weeks since, his place being filled by Penn, by some process as yet unexplained. Obviously, whatever claim M'Enery has on the Government, Penn has none. The demand of the committee was rejected, and the signaljfor an uprising of the league was instantly given. In a few hours 10,000 men were under arms. The police were driven from the streets, the stations captured, and the state house—held by a small force of state militia under General Longstreet, a former Confederate commander, was surrounded. Kellog and longstreet escaped to the Custom-house, a granite building guarded by U.S. regular troops in small numbers. In less than twenty-four hours, the league had possession of the city and the state offices, some fifty lives having been lost in the struggle. A similar movement had been concerted throughout the state, and the local officers in Republican parishes were driven out and replaced by candidates on the Opposition ticket in more than half the state. The triumph of the league was, however, short-lived. I think that its leaders believed —certainly with no reason —that the President would move slowly and reluctantly, if at all, to suppress them. Perhaps his conduct in the Arkansas matter, where, it will be remembered, he sustained the Southern party, had strengthened this impression. It was soon dispelled, and Governor Kellogg, as soon as the outbreak occurred, telegraphed a requisition for aid to Washington, The President replied with instructions to General Emory, in command at New Orleans, to support the state Government at all hazards, and when the next despatch showed the extent of the insurrection, the President instantly sent telegraphic orders to concentrate all the troops in the southern tier of states by rail at New Orleans ; and to the commandant of the navy-yard at Key West, Florida, to send every available vessel immediately to the mouth of the Msssissippi, At the same moment he issued a proclamation commanding the insurgents to surrender the state arms in their possession and to retire to their homes in five days, under penalty of the severest punishment. The White League saw the game was up. Making a virtue of necessity, they declared they lud never had a thought disloyal to the national Government, turned all their captures over to General Emory, and went home. The state is now in statu quo ante helium, with an election for a legislature to come off in November, when a peaceful solution may be found to the present difficulties. I have explained this matter at some length because I think it was an attempt, and a very promising one, to inaugurate a movement that was intended to restore " a white man's government" in the South at all hazards, and its failure probably involves the permanent failure of the movement. There is no other city in the South where a similar enterprise could be undertaken on so large a scale, and the promptness of the Government in suppressing this outbreak without the least sign of weakness, in purpose or action, must be conclusive. We shall have more or less disturbance of the peace, but the position of the Federal Government is absolutely established, and will not be again seriously assailed unless there is a change in its political complexion. Whether such a change is in store for it, it is too soon to say, but it would not be too much to say that the Republican party is likely to have a close struggle in the next presidential campaign. Business in the United States is slowly reviving. The internal, or excise, revenue for the first quarter of the current year falls short but 200,000d0l of the revenue for the same quarter last year. Then the panic had not Btruck us, and as far as this may be accepted as a correct indication, we have nearly regained the ground we lost last fall. Our internal revenue taxes fall principally on liquors, beer, tobacco, and a few miscellaneous business transactions, represented by bank cheques and title deeds to property. It is true that the consumption of liquors and tobacco is not always proportioned to gentral prosperity, but roughly it is so, and the showing is satisfactory. Railroad receipts are not gaining much ; in fact they are nearly stationary; but the increase in the amount of goods carried is very considerable, and if this fails to be expressed in the receipts it is because rates are lower. The fall in rates has been partially voluntary and partially by the operation of the laws of several important states, especially Illinois and Wisconsin, whose roads drain the great grain-fields of the north-west and the watersheds of the inland lakes. These laws are the result of a strong movement among the farmers, which bids fair to give a blow to American railroads even more severe than the one inflicted by

the panic, of which, by the way, the farmers' move" ent was oi.e of the prime causes. The laws act in two ways. In Illinois i commission has been appointed to fix rs.tes that shall be taken by the courts as prima facie reasonable, and with power to bue the railroads for defined penalties for exacting charges that are unreasonable. This commission hab > staijlished rates, considerably lower than those formerly prevailing. The law also required the roads to makeuuifoim charges for freight and passengers over any giveu distance. The result has been to reduce the local rates where there is no competition, and to advance the "through " rates, i.c , the charges on roads passing over the railway lines en route for the sea board. In Wisconsin a definite tariff was named in the law. The railroads passing through this state have contested the constitutionality of the law, on the ground that it was a violation of their contract with the state, which, in chartering them, gave them authority to charge such rates as they deemed proper, but the state constitution contained a clause reserving to the Legislature the right to alter or amend these charters, and the state courts have just decided that this clause sustained the tariff law. The case will now be appealed by railroads running through the state, but incorporated in other states, to the Supreme Court of the United States, whose decision will be final. Before the Supreme Court the railroads will contend that the tariff law of Wisconsin is a violation of the clause in the Federal constitution which declares that private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation. It is the plea of Shylock (but not the less a just plea). " You do take my house when you do take the prop that doth support my house." For railways have no value except they can collect tolls, and if tolls can be cut down 10 per cent under the reserve clause, why not 50 per cent or 100 per cent. Why, indeed, cannot the Legislature require the roads to find and lodge.their passengers en route, and to provide them with whisky and cigars? The Wisconsin decision has staggered the stocks and bonds of railways running through the west, and has, in effect, already taken millions of property from private owners by the depreciation of these securities. The curious feature of the case is that the laws have have bee directed against companies that are heavy losers in business. Illinois has but five companies, out of 47, that pay any dividend ; Wisconsin, one out of 14 ; Michigan, Kansas, Nebraska, and Minesota not one out of 98. The roads throughout the country are in default for interest on their bonds, in the proportion of one dollar in four, and there are more than 300,000,000 dol invested in these roads, which do not receive one cent of income. It would seem that two classes only have made money on railways—the contractors who built them, and who were paid extravagant profits, which in one way or other they have often shared with the directors ; and the farmers, whose land has derived from the roads the only value it can possibly have. What is known as the fall season in New York has opened brilliantly. The Italian opera was inaugurated on Monday evening, with a finely-balanced and well-trained company, with Mdlle Heilbron as Violetta, in "La Traviata"—a role she sustained with credit. She is very graceful and attractive, and her voice is pure, and of sufficient volume for demi caraetere parts. The opera bouffe company is drawing good audiences for Offenbach's " La Princesse de Trebizonde," a composition as full of charming and harmless fun as " La Timbale d'Argent" was of nastiness. The managers announce, however, I am sorry to say, " La Jolie Parfumeuse"as their next entertainment—a piece more disgustiDg, if that be possible, than " La Timbale." The plot turns on the adventures of a couple of heroes, who suppose they have accomplished the seduction of a couple of young girls, one of whom turns out to be the fiancee, the other the wife, of the respective Lotharios. The theatres are in full blast, and the legitimate drama is gaining ground as the season progresses. Mr Davenport—a pupil of Macready —is playing Hamlet, as no one else on the American stage can play it. The " School for Scandal" is being delightfully rendered. Mr Toole is getting on much better than at first, and is about leaving for a tour through the interior. And we have actually a dull, decent play, adapted to the American stage, from Octave Feuillet. EARTHQUAKE AT ANTIGUA. {From the Panama Star and Herald.) A correspondent, writing from Antigua, Guatemala, under date of September 4th, sends us the following graphic account of an earthquake that took place there on the evening before. On the 3rd of September, at half-past 8, p.m, without any previous warning, a strong earthquake shook the ground violently in a direction from east to west. The movement was a series of strong vertical and horizontal impulses combined. The wave-like undulations on the surface rose and fell at least a foot. This, acting along with the abovementioned vertical movement, made it almost impossible to move about without being thrown to the ground. Nevertheless every one in the house managed to get out into "the court-yard, expecting every moment to see the walla come tumbling down upon us. Being taken by surprise, I can scarcely say what happened in the first seconds, but soon recovered equanimity enough to note the direction of the shocks by the swinging of the lamp which hung in the portico of the Hotel de Commercio, where I was staying, and any other phenomena that might occur. Every object around me was in motion. Ir gave to me the feeling as if I stepped into a hole and then stumbled against an elevated body which prevented me recovering my equilibrium. Added to all this there were the piercing cries of the populace, the creaking and cracking of walls, loud sounds like thunder from the earth beneath, the rattling noise of tiles, houses and walls falling, which altogether formed a hideous concert which can never be forgotten. If you consider that the darkness of the night made this all the more impressive, that every visible object was in a violent motion, and that it was necessary to balance one-self with the greatest care to avoid a fall, you will not be surprised that my observations of the first moments of this catastrophe are rather scanty. A strange perplexity seemed to paralyse all the mental faculties. I think, however, I am correct in estimating the duration of the first strong shock to have been from twenty-five to thirty seconds. The contents of a large water-tank in the Court-yard were thrown out in a broad sheet of water. Wild screeches and screams continued even after the

first teiror had a little subsided. I at ODce saw that our best policy was to keep quiet, and away from the walls. Long after the first shock had passer!, there was still the noise of walls falling, more or less distant. Suddenly aro--e the sound of hundreds of vo ; ces Chanting a hymn to the Creator for mercy; the solemn melody had a strange effect on ray excited nerves and feelings. Many shocks followed during the night, of varying intensities, every one of which gave rise to new alarms and new implorations for mercy. The night seemed an age in length; fortunately, no rain fell. At daybreak I went through the town to see the extent of the mischief done. I judge about two dozen houses that were inhabited have been destroyed, causing, as far as I could learn, the loss of thirty-two lives. T he number of houses damaged, and which will have to be taken down, will be found to be considerable. Many of the old ruins of 1773 have suffered new damages. In Guatemala, the capital, shocks were felt but slight; this fact, taken along with the direction of the earthquake, and its increased effects being in a direct ratio to the distance from the « Volcon del Fuego," makes it probable that that this mountain caused all the nocturnal disturbance aboye described. The Indians say that three villages at the foot of the volcano have been destroyed—though this wants confirmation. During the confusion and disaster or tne earthquake many narrow and wonderful escapes are related, as usual. For instance, a mother was killed, but the child she held in her arms was unhurt. Another woman got hold of her child and her old mother, but in getting out of the house the old woman was killed ;and soon. „„-,,. ~ , Even during the terror of the first shock there were not wanting perverse men who appeared with long knives for the purpose of stealing and murdering, and tried to do so, but fortunately the political chief of Antigua proved to be the right man for the occasion. He took measures at once to put down such pests of society, and saved the people of Antigua from murder and plunder. The authorities did their duty on this trying occasion, and deserve public thanks. All the squares and open places of Antigua are covered with tents and other modes of shelter, The inhabitants look with fear to the approach of night, expecting a repetition of. the earthquake at the same hour. The children alone seem to enjoy this new mode of life, regarding it, probably, as a picnic. Happy childhood ! Even carriages and carts serve as temporary abodes. It will take some time before the people of Antigua, Guatemala, recover serenity of mind enough to go to sleep in their tottering houses. Impressions of a strong shock of earthquake are not easily forgotten or dominated by force of will. TERBIBLE TYPHOON IN CHINALOSS OF LIFE ESTIMATED AT 100,000. A correspondent of the Auckland Herald writes :—A terrible typhoon occurred in South China between midnight and 4 a.m. of Wednesday, the 23rd September Though this typhoon lasted a comparatively short time —about four hours—it was the most violent and destructive within living memory. It is estimated that the loss of life in the city of Victoria, in the island and villages of the immediate neighborhood, and the adjacent waters, amounted to several thousands. Six steamers and twenty-seven European large vessels in the harbor were either sunk, driven on shore, dismasted, or more or less damaged, whilst the destruction Of property on shore was wholesale. A typhoon had been for some time expected, and on Tuesday evening the falling barometer, indicating considerable atmospheric disturbance, careful preparations were made. Large vessels and junks went over to the northern side of the roads, so as to gain the protection of the Kowloon peninsula ; sampans (a kind of small family boat) went in creeks, behind breakwaters, or to other protected places, and houseboats were brought on to the shore. The lowest reading of the barometer, as taken by the harbour-master, Captain Thomsett, E.N., was 28.88, at 2 o'clock on Wednesday morning, the storm being then at its highest. The European houses in the colony, though most substantially built, suffered great damage. The roofs of many were blown off, and there being a heavy rain the rooms were saturated, and furniture was destroyed. The Catholic Church of St Joseph was demolished, only portions of the end walls being left standing. The destruction in the Chinese part of the city was, however, greatest. The native dwellings are but slight erections. Many of these were blown completely to the ground, the inmates in some cases being buried beneath the ruins; the roofs of others were carried quite away, or so damaged as to render them untenantable. Thousands of the beautiful trees which adorned the streets and promenades —obtained at much expense and tended with great care—were uprooted. But the greatest devastation and destruction were to be seen on the front of the city. The sight was sad and terrible ;in the extreme. Strongly-built wharves were washed entirely away; several vessels were lying aground, some having dashed into each other, whilst others only shewed the tops of their masts; and the wreckage of junks and boats was floating about in all directions. The Praya wall, consisting of huge blocks of granite, bound together with iron links, was broken aud dashed away ; the road was in some parts washed up, or here and there rendered impassible from the piled-up debris. The Chinese villages in other parts of the island, or across the harbor on the mainland, notwithstandii g l'" >: r eholtered positions, suffered terribly U>l;i n lo3S of life and damage to property. The full extent of the damage caused by the typhoon, which extended far beyond Hong Kong, will probably never be known. Many Chinese villages were wholly destroyed. Macao—a small peninsula belonging to Portugal—suffered worse even than Hong Kong, being left literally a colossal ruin. The loss of life there was enormous. The labour of gravedigging becoming too great, the dead bodies, as washed up by the sea, or disentombed from fallen houses, were heaped together and burned, more than a thousand being thus destroyed in one day. At least 10,000 persons perished in the Kwangtung province only, and some accounts put the number at 100,000. The special correspondent of the Bong Kong Times gives the following account of the effects of the typhoon at Macao :—" 1 proceed to describe the state in which 1 found Macao, and in which it now is. The heading of this article is ' Macao in limns.' After what I have Been, I do not think the

phrase exaggerated. I believe that at Hong I Kong not more than half a dozen houses fell en block, whilst at Macao whole streets are obliterated, the houses either levelled to the ground or but heaps of rubbish. A gentleman staying at the hotel, who was at Manila a few days after the great earthquake, says there is greater destruction of property here than there. I myself saw the worst that the Prussian artillery did in the neighborhood of Paris, but great as the destruction was there, the damage done to Macao by the typhoon and fire is worse. Leaving the Praya, I ascended to the Monte Fort. Considerable damage has been done to the Fort. Eoofs have been blown off, walls thrown down, aud many of the rooms are untenantable. Some notion of the violence of the storm may be gathered when it is stated that heavy guns were dismantled. Not only single houses, but blocks of buildings and whole streets were demolished —for a considerable extent not a single upright wall was to be seen. The debris of scores of these houses made up a huge confused heap, on which sanpans aud junks were lying. The loss amongst the shipping was by no means so great at Macao as at Hongkong. At the same time hundreds of junks, sampans, and small boats have been destroyed, and many of their occupants lost. The White Cloud, belonging to the Hongkong, Canton, and Macao Steamboat Company, is on the Flats, in the inner harbour, bottom uppermost, and a perfect wreck. Having seen all the chief thoroughfares and buildings of Macao, I determined to visit the spot which one might judge to be most fatal—the Chinese district near the Barra Fort. It was no use to take a chair, for the way lies over huge mounds of debris, on which one can walk only with the utmost difficulty, and occasionally not a little danger. No description could convey an adequate idea of this desolating scene. As you near the place, you are almost arrested by a smell horrid and repugnant in the extreme. A few days ago I should not have known what could have caused it; but while seeing dead bodies thrown ashore by the waves, or disentombed from fallen houses, I had felt the same sickening odour ; and I had no difficulty in recognising it now. The large mass of ruins over which I was threading were indeed a huge sepulchre, a mighty tomb. What number of dead bodies are lying beneath them will not be known for weeks ; the putrid essences which they emit are the only indications of death. A woman sits sad and desolate on a rude heap of stones, which once formed her dwelling, whilst coolies are digging away the ruins which lie above her husband or child. Groups of half-naked men and women, houseless and destitute, are sharing a miserable meal of rice and tea. You pass on to the harbor's edge, hoping there to get a little fresh air ; but here you are greeted with the same breath of death. You have not far to look for the cause. Only a few yards off a dozen corpses are floating in the water, stiff and rigid, with uplifted hands, as though the last human effort had been to clutch at anything which promised succour.

I have made many inquiries as to the loss of life in Macao and neighborhood; but it is impossible to give anything like an accurate estimate. No one put the number at less than five thousand, whilst others say it will reach twenty thousand. Home readers who peruse this account may think such a loss incredible; but those who kuew what crowds dwell in small boats and in Chinese houses will receive the statement without hesitation. Between two and three thousand have been already buried or burnt. Never, or at least not in modern time, has there been cremation on such a ccale. Burying was tried for the first few days, until the labour of digging graves was too great. Then it was determined to try burning. For this purpose tar was sought for, but only one or two barrels could be had. The method of cremation was very simple ; too simple, indeed, for anyone near the huge burial uiouuds is painfully made aware of what is going on. Some hundreds were burned on Saturday, and on Sunday over a thousand bodies were destroyed in this way. I had intended describing the process of burning, but I feel I have already dealt sufficiently with the horrible. At any rate, I am heartily tired of looking on the scenes I have lately witnessed and attempting to describe them, and shall be glad to quit this City of Ruin and Death. TERRIBLE FIRE AT FALL RIVER IN AMERICA. The correspondent of the Southern Cross writes :—On the morning of Saturday, September 16th, at 7 o'clock, there broke out in the cotton factory known as " Granite Mill No 1," at Fall River, Mass, a fire, which proved as disastrous to life and property as any that the loss of a single structure has ever inflicted on the community. At this writing it is estimated that there were forty persons killed outright, and eighty injured. In the building, which was six storeys high, 368 ft long, and 68ft wide, there were employed over 700 people, of whom by far the larger proportion were women and young girls. The fire began in the fifth storey near the north end of the building. It was caused by friction in a " mule" head, and if proper means had been immediately taken it could have been extinguished in a few minutes, and there would have been no need of striking an alarm. The whole north end of the room was soon one sheet of flame, which spread with fearful rapidity to the south end. It then burned through the floor into the attic, and became wholly unmanageable. The Superintendent of the mill, Mr James E. McCreery, was the first to discover the fire, and he says that he immediately struck the'fire-alarm, in order to warn all of their danger, and of the immediate necessity of at once escaping from the rooms. By his timely warning sixty girls were saved from the weaving-room—nine being lost in that department—the greatest loss of life was from the attic, the " spooling-room," where fortyfour girls and seven men were employed, and their only means of egress were the fire escape and the stairway—the latter was choked with smoke and flame, and the former could only be reached by means of skylight ladders which were not in place—of course. On the discovery of this a terrible panic ensaed, Some descended on ropes ; others jumped to ihe ground, a distance of 00ft, and were dashed to pieces at the very feet of their friends and dearest relatives; and still others cried and gesticulated from the attic windows, vainly imploring aid that never came. Young girls were burned to death before the eyes of cheir fathers and mothers. The roof and flooring of the attic and fifth story soon fell in, carrying with them a portion of the side walls, by which many persons were crushei and. killed. One of the worst fea*

turcs of the iiffair is said to have been the carelessness or mismanagement in the striking of the alarm at the engine-house. One signal after another came from different sections of the city, and the firemen did not know where |to go. Consequently, fifteen precious minutes were lost before a stream of water was brought to bear on the burning building. Then the movements of the firemen were interfered with by the panicstricken people in the mill yard and street. One ladder, 80 feet long, is said to have been placed against the building wrong end up, and before a splice could be made it had to be taken down and put up again. Even then it did not reach the attic window by about ten feet, and might as well have been stowed away in the house of hook and ladder truck. F'our firemen were injured by having people fall or jump on them from above. One large woman who leaped from one of the upper windows, fell upon an upraised ladder, breaking four rounds of it. She was dashed to pieces on the pavement below, her brains bespattering the sidewalks and the spectators. Every calamity has a hero; John M. B. Bosworth, a common sailor, was the man who so distinguished himself in this instance that his name should be printed in letters of gold. He was passing along the street when the fire broke out, and recognising at once the necessity for prompt action, procured a rope and mounted to the top of the building. Once there he made it fast, and induced a woman to cling around his neck, while he lowered himself to the ground. He also saved a lad in like manner as he rescued the woman, and was instrumental in recovering dead and dying persons from the flames.