GREAT FIRES OF THE WORLD.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 45, 2 December 1871, Page 5

GREAT FIRES OF THE WORLD.

In view of the present conflagration in Chicago, a short summary of great fires that have occurred in various parts of the world in years past, may not be uninteresting. THE LONDON FIRE. The great fire in London in 1666, during the reign of Charles, is probably without parallel in history. It began at a baker's house in Ruddington Lane, behind Monumental Yard, and destroyed, in the space of four days, eightynine churches (including St. Paul's), the city gates, the Royal Exchange, the Custom House, Guildhall, Leon College, and many other public buildings, besides 13,200 houses, laying waste 400 streets. It extended over an area of 436 acres, and the loss was estimated at that time at 50,000,000d015. The narrow streets, the houses built entirely of wood, a dry season, and a violent east wind, were so many concurring circumstances, which rendered it easy to assign the reason of the destruction of so much property. The progress of this fire was only stopped when a number of buildings were blown up. THE NEW YORK FIRES. The city of New York has, on different occasions/been visited with most disastrous fires, the largest of which occurred on December 26th, 1835, when a fire swept through the First Ward, east of Broadway and below (Vail street, destroying 648 stores and warehouses, and property valued at 20,000,000 dols. In September, 1776, soon after passing out of the hands of the British, 500 buildings were consumed by fire. On September 6, 1839, 40 buildings were destroyed, entailing a loss of 10,000,000 dols; and on July 19th, 1845, 302 stores and dwellings, valued at 6,000,000 dols. THE HAMBURG FIRE. On the sth of May, 1842, Hamburg, Germany, was visited by the fire fiend, and a tract nearly a mile square was burnt over, being nearly one-third of the city ; 1,747 houses were destroyed, laying waste sixty-one streets, and raged three days. This portion of the city was built on a piece of swampy land, reclaimed from the river, and the wholesurface was raised four feet by the debris from the fire. IN PHILADELPHIA. In April, 1845, 1,000 buildings were destroyed by fire in Philadelphia, with a loss of about, 6,000,000 dollars; and again, in July, 1850, a fire destroyed 350 building, with a loss of 3,000,000 dollars. This fire spread over a tract of fifteen acres. It commenced in a saltpetre warehouse, and, owing to an ex-

plosion that occurred in the building soon after the fire started, the firemen could not be persuaded to go near the the building, fearing another. At the fire 25 persons were killed, 9 drowned, and 120 wounded. FIRE IN CONSTANTINOPLE. In 1831, Constantinople suffered severely from a fire, in which 10,000 houses were destroyed, among which the palaces of nearly all the Ambassadors, and property, estimated at 8,000,000 dollars. The houses here for the most part are built of wood, the streets are inconceivably narrrow and disastrous fires, consequently are of frequent occurrence. FIRE IN YEDDO. In 1806, a fire in Yedo destroyed a large part of that city, including the palaces of thirty-seven princes, and in it some 1200 lives were lost. In 1854 an earthquake laid the greater part of the city in ruins, and in the conflagration that followed, or in the falling buildings, it was estimated that at least 200,000 people perished. But little brick or stone is used in the constructions of buildings there, owing to the frequency of earthquakes. FIRE IN PORTLAND. On the fourth of July, 1866, at Portland, Maine, a firecracker, thrown by a boy during the celebration of Independence Day, kindled a fire that destroyed the greater part of the city, and rendered 10,000 persons homeless. Eight churches, the banks, hotels, and newspaper offices were destroyed; in all, property valued at 15,000,000d01.. FIRE IN CHARLESTON. In April, 1838, 1158 buildings in Charleston, S.C., covering 145 acres of ground were destroyed, and in February, 1862, the city was almost destroyed, together with great quantities of army and naval stores.