THE GREAT FIRE AT ORENBURG.

Kumara Times, Issue 903, 22 August 1879, Page 4

THE GREAT FIRE AT ORENBURG.

From the Russian newspaper.? the following particulars are gathered respecting the great fire at Orenburg : On the morning of April 28, between half-past TO and 11, a small hut on the bank of the River Ural caught fire. The hut was of thatch, and was such a small frail structure that a man with one push could have overthrown it into the River Ural.- Nobody, however, happened to be near the spot at the time, and in less than five minutes the sparks had set fire to several other houses contiguous. The cry of "Fire" was now raised, and several persons hurried off for the engines. Others remained behind to rescue the children in one of the buildings, which happened to be a school. By the time these were saved the flames had spread half-way down the street, and a storm of wind blowing at the time, the only thing .the people could do was to leave their homes and hurry away from the intense heat. In the course of half-an-hour the manual pumps arrived, but there being no water laid on to the houses in Orenburg, and a steep bank 60 feet deep separating the place of the outbreak from the river itself, the firemen could only bring afew barrels of water from a distance, and this proved wholly inadequate to check the torrent of flame. By half-past 11 the fire appeared to be raging in 20 different places, and the people thought only of flight. The tlames spread so fast that the peasants had to abandon their waggons in the streets, and leave goods and horses to their fate. In some places swarms of rats issued from the houses, and joined the mass of fugitives hurrying for refuge to the outskirts. The smoke was bo overpowering that people staggered along blinded with it, and. the Governor had to order the police to assißt the people in case they should be overtaken by the heat and lost. The wooden houses near the river were soon burnt down. The flames then seized upon the two-story brick buildings in the centre of the town, and afterwards spread to the town hall the municipal offices, the military department, and the barracks of the Orenburg district troop 3. At 2 o'clock the flames covered an area of a square mile, and the firemen gave up the task of trying to save the city. At 1 o'clock the bazaar with its several hundred shops and vast stores of goodß in the court yard began to burn, and was followed by the, Troitsa church and the City Bank. Beyond the bazaar are several very large caravanserais, used for the storage of goods intended for central Asia. In these were assembled large numbers of Kirghiz camel-drivers, Bokhariot merchants, agen ts from Moscow and native tea masters getting ready convops for the spring traffic acro33 the Tourgai deserts to Turkestan. On the approach of the flames attempts were made to save some of the merchandise, but the Tartars soon saw the tcsk to be impossible, and joined the mob streaming out of the city. So rapidly did the flames spread that the throng of Tartars got jammed in the doorways of the caravanserais, and it was feared for-a moment that many lives would be lost. The screams of the women is described as being heart rending. Many parents, in the confusion, lost sight of their children, and hurried hither and thither bewailing their loss, kt 3 o'clock the church of Peter and Paul caught fire, and later on its monster bell fell with a thud to the ground. The people so little realised the peril of their situation that in many cases they hardly had time to save their lives. The priest of Peter and Paul Church, an old man 90 years old, was performing service at the moment the flames advanced upon the building, and the police had barely time to save him. After the destruction of the Peter and Paul church.the fire languished awhile, and then with fresh impetus seized upon the State Bank and and the Haymarket. The manager of the bank managed to carry away the money, but every article of his own belongings was lost. Not far from the Bank was a magazine containing 15 tons of gunpowder. For a while it was feared that the flames would reach the building and blow up the surviving half of the city. The poiice were therefore ordered to evacuate all the houses in the neighborhoud, while a body of troooa pulled down the buildings adjoining the magazine. The efforts of the soiciers were successful, and the powder magazine was spared. la the meantime, however, the fire had swept towards the hay market, alongside which is the bazaar, cuntainim/ oil and color shops, and the stores ol vendors of other similar inflammable articles. Here tie flames had it all their own way, and the pillar of fire, with .the overhanging clouds is described as something awful and sublime. The officials a?. Orenburg, seeing the impossibility of saving the city unassisted, telegrr-.pbed to Samara for help, but in reply received a message that a fire was "also raging in Samara, and that all the engines were iuliy engaged. All that could be done therefore was to direct the stream of migration towards the vacant lands near the railway terminus, and make arrangements for their support. At six o'clock the principal street, in Orenburg contain- I ing a number of handsome new shew four monster hotels, a gymnasium, and a church, was wrapped in flames, an :i it was deemed to leave the fire to burn itself out Thousands of fugitives had by this time collected near the railway. Scarcely any of .them had with them outdoor clothhv» and none any food. During the day the thermometer had stood at summer but after sundown it fell to freezing pomt' and the people suffered severely. ° Bread and meat it was impossible to obtain even at the highest prices. All the bakers' shops in the town had been burnt down and only one butchers shop was found mtact. By the orders of the authorities

the whole of the remaining food in the place was confiscated and distributed in rations among the sufferers. Cossacks was also sent out to the neighboring villages to hurry in provisions. The railway authorities on their part prepared the railway waggons for women and children, and although the number was inadequate, the more delicate were provided with a shelter. The flames continued spreading the whole of the night, and lasted until the next day, when the outskirts were reached, and the fire received a check. The conflagration was not extinguished until the third day, when it was found that the ruins covered an area of four square miles, and embraced 949 houses, three churches, four mills, 300 shops, four markets, ten caravanserais, eight timber yards, the law courts, the police station, the Turkestan College, besides the public buildings we have already referred to.