Rensselaer Republican, Volume 22, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 December 1889 — A TEN MILLION EIRE. [ARTICLE]

A TEN MILLION EIRE.

The Shoe Manufacturing Portion of Lynn, 31m*., Destroyed. _. J_ Lynn, Mass., the city of shoes, was visited by the greatest fire in its history, and, with two exceptions, the conflagration is the most disastrous that has ever visited New England. The fire started at 11:55 a. m., raged over eight hours, devastated a square mile of the business section of the city, 1 and caused a loes estimated at about ten million dollars. In fact, the greater part of Ward 4 is wiped out, as regards the important shoe manufacturing blocks and prominent places of business. The fire started in Mower’s wooden building on Almont street, over the boiler, and spread with such rapidity that tho fire department of the city was powerless to cope with it. This large wooden building was soon doomed, and the flames leaped across a narrow passageway and communicated with the six-story brick building known as Mower’s block. When the fires in these two buildings got well under way it was evident a terrible conflagration would result. Almost simultaneously the four story wooden shoe factory of Bennett & Barnard, dh Central ave., and the four b.jury wooden building on Almont St., caught fire, and after a time a hurricane of flame was in progress which blanched the cheeks of all the spectators For eight hours the flames had full sway, the efforts of firemen and Citizens seemingly being of no avail, although, of course, they did valuable work . The burned territory includes and is bounded by the folowing streets; Almont, Central-ave., at its junction with Willow*, Union, from its junction with Broad to the Boyden block, on both sides; Mt. Vernon St., entire; Beach on both sides as far down as Lee’s lumberyard; Washington, from Monroe through to Union; Railroad ave., all of Exchange St., Broad, from the engine house on both sides up as far as the corner of Exchange; Spring St., entire, besides ing dwell houses too numerous to mention on Suffolk, Amity, Sagamore and Beach streets. Scenes of the great Boston and Chicago fires were repeated in all their horrors. Mothers fleeing with babes in their arms; expresswagons were loading at business and dwelling houses and transferring goods to a place of safety, in many cases a second removal being necessary. After the fire had been in progress two hours everybody declared it would not stop until it reached the ocean. So it looked aud so it proved. Four daily newspapers are burned out—the Item, Bee, Press and News—three of which are issued in the afternoon and one in the morning. Three national banks, tho Central, Security and First, together with the Lynn institute for savings, located in the first national block, are all wiped out. Twelve of the finest shoe blocks in' the city are in ruins, and about twenty-, five stores. At this writing it is imposible to state how many dwelling houses were' burned. They were mostly occupied by the poorer class in the vincinity of Beach St., and the wharves. It is impossible to give any estimate of the insurance, but conservative estimates places the loss on the property at $10,000,000. Over six thousand persons are deprived of employment, 300 families are and the mayor has issuedjh call for aid. Clothihg is wanted most and quickly, too. BLAZES IN BOSTON. Two Acres of Towering Buildings Dos tioyed—Loss 85,000,000. The most disastrous fire from which Boston has suffered since 1873, broke out at about 8:20 a. m., Thursday, in the sixstory granite building owned by Jordan Marsh & Co., and occupied by Brown,Dur rell & Co., dealers in dry goods, on Bedford street, corner Kingston. The eon flagration rage-* for six hours, burned over two acres of territory covered by magnificent structures,and entailed a loss conservatively estimatedi at $5,000,000. The origin of the fire is not known, but is generally eleeteie wires. Some ol the finest blocks in the city were destroy • ed. Buildings of granite and iron, always regarded as fireproof were swept up like timber, many persons were injured by falling walls, but so far as is now known none were killed.