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N.B., June 20th, 1877, by George Stewart
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Title: The Story of the Great Fire in St. John, N.B., June 20th, 1877
Author: George Stewart
Release Date: March 25, 2012 [EBook #39260]
Language: English
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[Illustration: The Burland Desbarats Lith. Co. Montreal
RUINS OF THE GERMAIN ST. BAPTIST CHURCH BY MOONLIGHT.
From a Sketch by John C. Miles, Artist.]
THE STORY
OF THE
=Great Fire in St. John, N.B.=
JUNE 20TH, 1877.
BY
GEORGE STEWART, JR.,
_OF ST. JOHN, N.B._
=Toronto:=
BELFORD BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS.
ST. JOHN, N.B.: R. A. H. MORROW; MONTREAL, P. Q.:
DAWSON BROS.; TORONTO, ONT.: JAS. CLARKE &
CO.; DETROIT, MICH.: CRAIG & TAYLOR;
BOSTON: LOCKWOOD, BROOKS & CO.
[Illustration: PAPER MANUFACTURED BY CANADA PAPER COY MONTREAL]
Entered according to the Act of Parliament of Canada, in the year one
thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven, by BELFORD BROTHERS, in the
office of the Minister of Agriculture.
HUNTER, ROSE, & CO,
PRINTERS AND BINDERS.
TORONTO.
TO
_GILBERT MURDOCH, C. E._,
MY FIRST FRIEND,
I DEDICATE THIS VOLUME.
=The Author.=
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
The Great Fire--Its Extent--Its Terrible Rapidity--A Glance
Backward--What the People Passed Through--The First Fire--
Protective Movements--The People who Lent the City Money--
Minor Fires--Fire of 1823--The Great Fire of 1837--The
Calamity of 1839--The Trials of 1841--The King Street Fire 9
CHAPTER II.
The Late Fire--Its Origin--Bravery of the Firemen--The High
Wind--The Fire's Career--Fighting the Flames--Almost Lost--
The Escape from the Burning Building--Destruction of Dock
Street--Smyth Street in Flames--The Wharves--Demolition of
Market Square--Something about the Business Houses there--
The Banks--Fire Checked at North Street 19
CHAPTER III.
The Fire in King Street--Recollections--The Old Coffee House
Corner--The Stores in King Street--The Old Masonic Hall--The
St. John Hotel--Its Early Days--The Bell Tower--King Square--
A Night of Horror--The Vultures at Work--Plundering the
Destitute 27
CHAPTER IV.
The Fire in Germain Street--The First Brick House in St. John
--Old Trinity--The Loyalists--Curious Ideas about Insurance--
The Rectors of Trinity--The Clock--The Royal Arms 36
CHAPTER V.
The Old Curiosity Shop on Germain Street--A Quaint Old Place
--"Rubbish Shot Here"--Notman's Studio--The Mother of Methodism
--Destruction of the Germain Street Methodist Church--Burning
of the Academy of Music--The Old Grammar School--Presbyterians
among the Loyalists--The "Auld Kirk"--Saint Andrew's--The Grants
of Land--Legislation--The Building of the Kirk--Ministers--The
"Victoria" in Flames--Fascination of the Fire--The "Victoria"
in Ruins--What might have saved it 48
CHAPTER VI.
The Odd Fellows' Hall--The Fire in Horsfield Street--The sweep
along Germain Street--The Old Baptist Church--Some Early
Ministers--Two Fiery Ordeals--The Brick Church--The Ruins--The
Bay View Hotel--An Old Landmark Gone--The Blazing Barracks--St.
James's--The Hazon House--St. Malachi's Chapel--The First Roman
Catholic Church 65
CHAPTER VII.
A Hard-Working Manager--The Dramatic Lyceum--The Temperance
Hall--The Water-Works Building--A Hard Fight--Another Rush
of the Homeless--The Weary March of the Unfortunates--History
of the Water Supply--Early Struggles--Changes--The Old Way--
The St. John Water Company--Placed in Commission--The Company
to-day 76
CHAPTER VIII.
Burning of the Leinster Street Baptist Church--The Varley
School--Centenary Chapel--The Gas Works--$17,000 worth of Coal
burned in Ten Days--The Tall Sentinel--St. David's Kirk--The
Reformed Presbyterian Church--The Victoria School--Gigantic
Ruins--An Accident--Sketch of the School-house 90
CHAPTER IX.
Queen Square--Incidents in the Burning--The Old Pitcher--"God
is burning up the World, and He won't make another"--Saved
from the Flames--Overtaken by Fire Three Times--The Night of
Terror on Queen Square--Alone amidst Perils--The Lone House
on the Square--Three People under a Table--The Sailor--"If I
die to-night, sir, hunt them up"--The Escape--The Deserted
Streets--An Anomaly--The Marine Hospital--What a few Buckets
of Water did--The Wiggins Orphan Asylum--The Block in
Canterbury Street--The _News_ Office--Savings Bank 101
CHAPTER X.
Incidents--An Old Corner Burned Down--The Lenders and Borrowers
--"Twenty per Cent."--The Shylocks of the Curbstone--The Human
Barometers--The Vultures of Commerce--Chubbe's Corner--The
Old Commercial Bank--The _Telegraph_ Office--The Bank of
New Brunswick--A Hard Worked Cashier--The Post Office--Not
a Mail Lost--Quick Dispatch--The Nethery House and Orangemen
--The Royal Hotel--The Custom House--The Dead of the
Conflagration 114
CHAPTER XI.
The Old House on the Hill--A Wily Commissary--The Bags of
Gold--What was Done at Midnight--The Dead of Night Deposit--
The Old Vault--A Timid Money Lender--Mr. Peter Johnson--The
Board of Commissioners--The Old Gentleman's Little Joke--The
Inspection--How it was Discovered--The Fight with the Flames
--"How much will I Get"--What he Got--The Oil Barrels--Dashing
the Water on the Kerosene--A Lively Time on Reed's Point
Wharf--The Bridge of Fire--On the Ferry-Boat--The Western
Union Telegraph Office--The First Despatch 129
CHAPTER XII.
A Thrilling Incident--The Burning House--The Tall Figure on
the Hall--Escape Cut Off--The Only Way Out--The Street of
Fire--Walking on Coals--The Open Boat--The Way to the Wharf
--Terrible Suffering--The Awful Death on the Street--Worn
Out--The Escape--Saved--The Firemen--How they Fought the Flames 144
CHAPTER XIII.
A Chapter of Incidents--Agony on Board--Coming Up the Harbour
--The Story of the Moths--The Newly Married Lady's Story--No
Flour--Moving Out--Saving the Drugs--The Man with the Corn
Plasters--Incendiarism--Scenes--Thievery--The Newspapers--
Enterprise--Blowing Down the Walls--An Act of Bravery--The Fatal
Blast--Danger and Death in the Walls--Accidents--The Fire and
the Church--The Ministers 155
CHAPTER XIV.
"I went againe to the ruines, for it was no longer a Citty"--
The Drive by Moonlight--Through the Ruins--After the Fire--A
City of Ashes--The Buried Silver--The Sentinel Chimneys--The
Home of Luxuriance--A Recollection--The Moon and the Church--
Back again 167
CHAPTER XV.
Aid for St. John--The First Days--How the Poor were Fed--
Organization of the St. John Relief and Aid Society--Its
System--How it operates--The Rink--The Car Shed--List of
Moneys and Supplies received--The Noble Contributions 175
CHAPTER XVI.
The Odd Fellows and the Fire--Relief Committee at Work--
Searching out the Destitute Brethren--Helping the Sufferers
--The Secret Distribution of Aid--List of Donations 203
CHAPTER XVII.
The Losses of the Masonic Fraternity--Great Destruction of
Masonic Regalia and Paraphernalia--Organization of the
General Masonic Board of Relief--Amount received in Aid of
the Suffering Brethren 239
CHAPTER XVIII.
The Destruction--The Loss--Estimates--The Acreage and
Streetage--Has the Land Decreased in Value?--Incomes swept
away--What is Left--Hope!--The Insurance--The Corporation
Loss--The Dominion Loss--Additional Deaths--The Wounded--
The Orange Body 244
CHAPTER XIX.
The Books we have Lost--"The Lost Arts"--The Libraries of
St. John which were Burned--The Pictures which were Lost--The
few that were Saved--A Talk about Books and Pictures--The
Future--What St. John Men must Do--Acknowledgments--Conclusion
of the Story of the Fire 259
THE STORY
OF THE
GREAT FIRE IN ST. JOHN, N.B.
CHAPTER I.
The Great Fire--Its Extent--Its Terrible Rapidity--A Glance
Backward--What the People Passed Through--The First Fire--
Protective Movements--The People Who Lent the City Money--
Minor Fires--Fire of 1823--The Great Fire of 1837--The
Calamity of 1839--The Trials of 1841--The King Street Fire.
One of the most destructive fires of modern times occurred at St. John,
N.B., on Wednesday, the 20th June, 1877. It was more calamitous in its
character than the terrible conflagration which plunged portions of
Chicago into ruin, and laid waste the great business houses of Boston a
few years ago. In a relative sense, the St. John fire was a greater
calamity, and its people for a time suffered sterner hardships. The fire
in the large American cities was confined to a certain locality, but in
St. John an immense area of territory was destroyed in the incredibly
short space of nine hours, and fully two-fifths of the entire city were
laid in ashes, and one thousand six hundred and twelve houses levelled
to the earth. The fire raged with overwhelming violence, carrying in its
wake everything that came before it. At one time three portions of the
city were burning at once, and all hope of checking the conflagration
died in the hearts of men as the terrific volume of flame thundered and
crackled, and hissed in sheets over their heads. The blinding smoke
rolled heavenwards in a thick heavy mass; the flying embers were carried
along for miles, and the brisk north-western wind brought the destroying
flame to a thousand households. Men and women stood paralyzed in the
streets, fearing the worst and hoping against hope. Those who had worked
all afternoon trying to save their property now sank to the earth and
barely escaped with their lives, for the fire was upon them. Nothing
appeared to stay the march of the fiend. Immense piles, that seemed to
stand like an army of picked guardsmen, were swept away in an instant;
granite, freestone, brick and marble were as ineffectual in staying the
conflagration as the dryest tinder-box houses which fed the flames at
every turn. Even old stone buildings that had stood for sixty years, in
the outskirts of the city, and had withstood many a serious fire before,
now crumbled and tumbled before the conquering scourge.[A] 200 acres
were destroyed, all that part of the city south of King Street,
regiments of houses, stores and public buildings were burned, and the
fire was only stayed when the water-line prevented its going further.
The boundary of the burnt district followed a line on the eastern and
northern sides of Union Street to Mill Street, Mill Street to Dock
Street, northern and eastern sides of Market Square, centre of King
Street to Pitt Street, Pitt Street to its junction with the water;
thence around by the harbour-line to the starting point. In brief, this
was the battle-ground through which the grand charge of the fire was
made--unparalleled in its brilliancy by any similar exploit which the
annals of military deeds unfold. Men, horses, rows of stoutest building
material, steam, water, all succumbed and went down like chaff before
the whirlwind. Nothing was too strong to resist, nothing too weak to
receive clemency.
A glance at the earlier history of St. John will show that destructive
fires have been of frequent occurrence, and its people have suffered
much from this system of devastation. In 1784, on Friday, the 18th June,
the first fire of which we have any knowledge took place. At that time
it was considered a terrible blow, and the sparse population thought
that many years would elapse before the little city could recover from
the wreck which the fire had made. Eleven houses were burned, and a
large number of discharged soldiers of the 42nd Regiment were the
principal sufferers. About this time a woman and child were burned to
death at the Falls, and seven houses in this quarter were destroyed.
In April, 1787, the people decided to take active measures for
protection against fire, and accordingly the following document was
drawn up:
We, the subscribers, taking into our serious consideration the
alarming situation of the city for want of fire-engines and public
wells, should a fire break out in any part of it, and, at the same
time, being sensible of the present inability of the city
corporation to advance money for the purpose, do severally promise
to pay the mayor, aldermen and commonalty, of the City of St. John
(or to such persons as they shall appoint), the several sums
annexed to our names as a loan upon interest, for the purpose of
importing from London two suitable fire-engines, and for sinking a
sufficient number of public wells in this city.
"Which several sums the said corporation have engaged to repay to
each separate subscriber with interest annually, as soon as their
funds will enable them so to do, as appears by an abstract from the
minutes of the common council, dated the 20th March last:
"City of St. John, N.B., 5th April, 1787.
£ s. d.
"Gabriel G. Ludlow (Mayor) 10 0 0
Ward Chipman (Recorder) 10 0 0
Jonathan Bliss (Atty.-General) 10 0 0
James Putnam (Judge) 10 0 0
Christopher Billop 5 0 0
Zeph Kingsley 10 0 0
Samuel Randall 10 0 0
Gilbert & Hanford 10 0 0
Isaac Bell 5 0 0
Robert Parker 10 0 0
BENEDICT ARNOLD 10 0 0
William Wyly 10 0 0
Mark Wright 3 0 0
C. C. Hall & Co. 5 0 0
William Pagan 10 0 0
John Colwell 5 0 0
Thomas Bean 10 0 0
Francis Gilbert 5 0 0
Samuel Hallet 3 0 0
William Hazen 10 0 0
James Ruon 5 0 0
John Califf 4 13 4
Isaac Lawton 5 0 0
Samuel Mills 5 0 0
Paul Bedell 5 0 0
William Wanton (Collector Custom) 10 0 0
Adino Paddock, M. D. 5 0 0
McCall & Codner 10 0 0
Thomas Horsfield 10 0 0
John McGeorge }
Thos. Elliot } 10 0 0
William Bainy }
Thompson & Reed 10 0 0
Christopher Lowe, (King's Printer) 5 0 0
W. S. Olive, (Sheriff) 5 0 0
Wm. Whittaker 5 0 0
Peter Quin 3 0 0
Charles Warner 5 0 0
Abiather Camp 5 0 0
James Peters 5 0 0
Daniel Michean 3 0 0
Fitch Rogers 5 0 0
Munson Jarvis 5 0 0
Nehemiah Rodgers 5 0 0
Edward Sands 3 0 0."
On the 2nd February, 1786, the corporation paid Peter Fleming £136 6s.
8d. for two fire engines. These must have proved ineffectual, for the
reader will notice that the above loan was made up hardly a year
afterward, and the present sum was raised for the special purpose of
buying London engines, and sinking wells.
The movement was not inaugurated a moment too soon, for in 1788 the
following year, a fire occurred in the store of General Benedict Arnold,
of revolutionary fame, which threatened to become very serious before it
was got under way. Arnold's store was situate in Lower Cove, where the
sewing machine factory adjoining John E. Turnbull's sash factory stood,
till the late besom of fire swept it away. A good deal of excitement was
occasioned at the time of the fire in Arnold's premises. His former
partner, Hoyt, charged him with setting fire to the store. Arnold sued
him for slander, and recovered a verdict of twenty shillings!
The next fire broke out in 1816 in a large two-story house on the corner
of Germain and Britain Streets, occupied by a military physician named
Davis. The doctor and his wife were saved from burning by the heroic
conduct of their next door neighbour. A party of soldiers were engaged
the next day sifting the ashes and searching for the silver which had
melted; not a trace of it was found however.
The fire of 1823 was a very serious one, and caused great destruction.
It began on Disbrow's Wharf and took along with it nearly both sides of
Prince William Street; the old wooden building on the latter street
lately occupied by _The Telegraph_ newspaper, alone escaped. The lot on
which it stood cost Dr. Adino Paddock five shillings in 1786. During
this fire over forty houses were burned, and the loss of property and
goods was estimated at £20,000, which in those days was felt to be
enormous.
[Illustration: The Burland Desbarats Lith. Co. Montreal
THE NORTHERN AND EASTERN PANORAMIC VIEW OF ST. JOHN, 1828 OR '30.]
The fire of 1837 will linger long in the memory of many of the
inhabitants of St. John. It was the most wholesale destruction of
property which the people had ever known. Many to-day contrast the
misfortunes of that day with those of the present hour. Even when the
flames were carrying death and destruction on all sides on that warm day
in June, 1877, men stopped to compare notes and whisper a word or two
about the fire of 1837. Of course the loss was not as great then, or the
number of lives lost so large, or so much valuable property destroyed as
at the present time, but the people were less able to bear the trials
which came upon them then, and many never recovered from the shock. The
city was young and struggling to gain a foothold. The city was poor and
the people were frugal. They were not able to bear the burdens which
were in a night entailed upon them, the magnificent system of relief
from outside sources was not in operation, and without help of any kind
save that which they themselves brought into requisition, the citizens
nobly worked long and hard to rebuild their little seaport town. There
was a prejudice against insurance, and many lost every dollar they
possessed. The hardships of those days are remembered by many who
passed through them then, and who once more endure the horrors of a
great calamity with almost Spartan courage. The time of the '37 fire was
in the very heart of a rigorous winter, on the 13th of January, and we
can only picture the destruction of Moscow to enable the reader to
understand how terrible the sufferings of the people must have been,
when snow and ice were on the ground, and not a shelter covered the
heads of the afflicted women and tender babes. It was a day remembered
long after by those who had passed through its trials. The fire
originated on Peters's Wharf, and in a moment, like lightning, it darted
along South Market Wharf and extended up to the ferry boat. Both sides
of Water Street and Prince William Street between Cooper's Alley and
Princess Street were destroyed. The old Nichols House was saved; it was
occupied then by Solomon Nichols and stood on the corner of Cooper's
Alley and Prince William Street, lately the site of Farrall & Smith's
dry goods store. It was originally built of wood and it was a marvel
that it was not carried away with the rest; but it stood like an oasis
in Sahara, or the old sentinel who was left on guard and forgotten after
the army had fled. One hundred and fifteen houses were consumed, and
nearly the whole of the business portion of the city, and one million
dollars' worth of property were destroyed.
[Illustration: The Burland Desbarats Lith. Co. Montreal
MARITIME BLOCK (1873) SHOWING VIEW OF PRINCE WILLIAM ST.
Climo, Photo.]
Hardly had the people recovered from the disaster of 1837, when another
scourge came upon them causing nearly as much destruction as before.
This was in August, 1839, when a fire started in Nelson Street and
burned the entire north wharf, both sides of Dock Street, Market Square,
with the exception of the house standing on the site now occupied by the
Bank of British North America, and a house on Union Street west,
occupied by Mr. Hegan. It didn't cross Prince William Street. The old
Government House, Union Street, escaped.
The spring of 1841, 17th March, was the scene of another fire, when four
lives were lost and much excitement prevailed. Mr. Holdsworth, of
Holdsworth & Daniel, (London House) perished while endeavouring to keep
off the sparks from the roof of his store.
On the 26th August, a £30,000 fire in Portland carried off sixty houses;
and on the 15th November, 1841, a fire broke out on the South Wharf and
burned the whole of that wharf together with Peter's Wharf, south side
of Water Street, and the large brick Market-house in Market Square,
which was occupied by butchers in the ground flat, and used for the
civic offices in the second story. This building could have been saved,
and was lost through gross carelessness. Incendiarism was rampant and
the greatest excitement filled the public mind.
In 1845, 29th July, forty buildings were burned from a fire which took
its start in Water Street, and in 1849 the famous King Street fire broke
out in a store in Lawrence's building. The Commercial Hotel, then kept
by the late Israel Fellows, father of James I. Fellows, Chemist, was
destroyed, together with the Tower of Trinity Church, which had to be
pulled down that the Church might be saved. Pilot Mills climbed to the
cupola and secured the fastenings by which it was brought to the ground.
The fire in Prince William Street of March 8th of the present year,
which broke out in the building owned by the Ennis and Gardner estate,
and resulted in the loss of seven lives and nearly two millions of
dollars' worth of property, is still fresh in the minds of our readers.
Thus the reader will see that St. John has had a goodly share of the
great fires, which, in a moment lay prostrate a city, and plunge her
inhabitants into almost hopeless ruin. We come now to that day of our
last and greatest tribulation when the city was shook to its very
foundation and was well nigh thrown out of existence.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] The exact acreage, from actual measurement is 200 acres;
streetage, 9.6 miles.
CHAPTER II.
The Late Fire--Its Origin--Bravery of the Firemen--The High
Wind--The Fire's Career--Fighting the Flames--Almost Lost--
The Escape from the Burning Building--Destruction of Dock
Street--Smyth Street in Flames--The Wharves--Demolition of
Market Square--Something about the Business Houses there--
The Banks--Fire checked at North Street.
The great fire, for we must distinguish it by that title, since in
vastness it overpowers all other similar calamities which have befallen
St. John, originated in the late Joseph Fairweather's building, York
Point, Portland, at half past two on Wednesday afternoon, 20th June. The
writer and Mr. Frederick R. Fairweather were walking down King Street at
the time of the alarm, and, in company with hundreds of others, visited
the scene of what promised at the time to be a very small affair indeed.
When the place was reached, McLaughlin's boiler shop was in flames and
all efforts of the firemen to put out the fire were checkmated at every
turn by the fierce north-west wind which was blowing a perfect gale. In
a few minutes the fire spread with alarming rapidity, and houses went
down as if a mine of powder had exploded and razed them. The wind lifted
from the roofs immense brands and sparks, and by three o'clock the city
was in flames at a dozen points. Lower Cove was on fire, and the dryness
of the houses rendered them as useless to withstand the blaze as bits of
paper would have been. The huge blazing brands were carried along in
the air for miles around, and where-ever they dropped a house went down.
The engines were powerless, and the firemen, though they worked like
heroes, availed but little. The wild, mad flames, now in sheets, now
with a million tongues of angry fork-like columns, dashed against the
wharves, levelling them to the water's edge, ripping up the pavements of
the streets, and crushing houses out of existence in a single swoop.
Nothing could be done. The leaping demon swept all before him. Hare's
Wharf with its buildings bowed before the destroyer, and with a roar
which thrilled every heart, and unnerved every man who stood there, the
whole force of the fire dashed into Smyth Street and shattered every
building in it. J. W. Nicholson's wine vaults, Harrison's flour
warehouse, Logan & Lindsay's storehouse, Robertson Place, which exceeded
in value half a million of dollars, were snapped up in a second. The
flames spread into Drury Lane and Mill Street, and soon both sides of
Dock Street were in the common ruin. But while this was going on, the
rear of the London House, in Market Square, was threatened and the old
barracks in Lower Cove were on fire. A reinforcement from Carleton and
Portland fire departments came to the assistance of the firemen at this
juncture, and every man worked with a will. The hose was directed with
admirable expertness but the high wind baffled the efforts of all who
stood before it. It could rise higher than the water, and it could
travel faster than man. A mass of flames at the end of Smyth Street and
Drury Lane burned close to an engine, but the dauntless firemen,
holding boards over their heads to protect their faces and eyes from the
heat, gave battle to the relentless foe. It was a fight of water and
human endurance against fire, and fire prevailed in the end. The unequal
combat lasted some minutes, and it was only when death seemed imminent
that the men drew away, and even then they only yielded the ground inch
by inch, till they could no longer stand up before the charging enemy.
The fire was now going with headlong speed down Dock Street. Frantic
women wildly sobbing filled the roads with the few sticks of furniture
and portions of bedding which they had managed to save. Children
hastened along crying aloud, and making the scene more dreadful as they
ran barefooted over the hot sidewalk. Men with picture frames and books
rushed past, calling and threatening, and moaning. It was a scene
terrible in its reality. People were driven from street to street, and
hurled forward, till, with horror in their blanched faces, they turned
and saw in their rear the wild flames hemming them in. With many a
shriek they dashed into the side streets. Some ran along Water Street,
only to meet the flames there, and a few sought refuge in rafts and
boats, and sped to Carleton, losing in the excitement every dollar they
owned in the world. The old McSweeney lime-stone building, which came to
a point on the corner of Union and Dock Streets, early succumbed and was
a mass of crumbling ruins. It was near this edifice that a woman rescued
her child from instant death, and pulled her away just in time to
escape being buried in a mass of stone, which came tumbling down in a
thousand pieces. The Rankine bakery, another building known far and
wide, suffered demolition, and was soon a heap of ruins. Some young men,
three in number, entered a store on Mill Street, to avoid the dust and
smoke. In a little while they saw with agony the flames burst in upon
them from the rear door, ten or twelve feet from the entrance. They
called for help, and attempted to gain an exit from the place which was
now filled with heavy black smoke. Three times they sought the door, and
every minute they began to realize the imminence of their danger. The
flames and smoke drove them back, and now the water from the hose came
tearing into their faces, knocking their breath away, and saturating
them with the wet. Two jumped with the frenzy of madmen and the wildness
of despair, and landed into the street safe, but paralysed with fear.
The other man groped his way on his hands and knees along the floor and
felt for the door. He succeeded after enduring much suffering, in
crawling into the street. All that these three saved was on their backs.
In the midst of the commotion in Dock Street, merchants were busily
engaged in securing their books and private papers, and hurrying out
with them. Some trusted to their safes and locked their doors. The sweep
in this street was a clear one. The old "Hammond House" went shortly
after the McSweeney building, and the Figaro Opera House followed
shortly after. This building was built a few years ago, as an exhibition
hall, by Otis Small, Esq., and leased to Major George Bishop, as a
concert room. He occupied it awhile, and Pete Lee succeeded him in the
lesseeship and management of the concern. Some excellent performances of
the variety kind have been given in this building. The hall was
comfortably seated and tastefully arranged. Latterly it was converted,
by Prof. Neilson, into a ball-room and dancing academy, when it received
its new name, "Figaro Opera House."
Dock Street was soon in ashes, and it was while this street was burning
that a grand rush was made by the merchants and private bankers, to the
Bank of New Brunswick. Piles of bank notes, bills of exchange,
mortgages, bonds, specie, books of account, ledgers, &c., &c., were
placed in tin boxes, when practicable, and deposited, through the
courtesy of George Schofield, Esq., of the bank, into the vaults. They
were not a moment too soon, for now the splendid front of the Market
Square was in a blaze, and Hall & Fairweather's store on South Wharf was
burning. An immense amount of damage was being done. On this square a
vast deal of business had been done for many years, and leading
merchants had made and lost fortunes on its site. The London House,
Messrs. Daniel & Boyd's wholesale establishment, represented a large
value. It stood in the centre of the square, and the gradual sinking of
this structure was a sad but grandly imposing sight. It was here where
enterprise was to be found, and Daniel & Boyd's name was ever the
synonym for honesty, integrity, and truth. It was in this spacious
warehouse where the busy merchants were to be seen, eager to help the
young men of the city, and anxious to develop the resources of the
country. In every good work, in every deed of charity, Thomas W. Daniel
and John Boyd headed the list, and to them many a young merchant to-day
is indebted for that teaching, which, in after life, made him honourable
in his dealings. This prominent house was started in 1831 by Holdsworth
& Daniel. The fire of 1839 carried their store away, and for a while the
firm occupied the store known as Jardine's, Prince William Street. In
1839, the land on the market square was purchased by Mr. Thos. Daniel
for £4,000. (In 1811 this place was used as a blacksmith's shop.) In
1847, Mr. Thomas Daniel left the firm and went to England. His nephew,
the present head of the house, Thos. W. Daniel, began business on his
own account, and soon after 1852, he admitted John Boyd as a partner in
the house, under the style of T. W. Daniel & Co. Shortly after the style
of this firm was changed to Daniel & Boyd. On the corner to the right of
Daniel & Boyd, No. 1 Market Square, was the staunch old drug
establishment of the late W. O. Smith, Esq. Mr. Smith, the father of our
present ex-Mayor, opened here after the fire of 1839, and the business
has been conducted here till the late fire, by his son, A. Chipman
Smith, since 1871, when his father died in March of that year. In the
adjoining store, so many years occupied by Lawton & Vassie, Messrs.
Manchester, Robertson & Allison, may be said to have begun business.
They left here, W. W. Jordan taking the store, to occupy their
commodious premises in King Street, which alone kept off the fire
from the north side of King Street. The saving of this building was one
of the marvels of the present calamity. It really held the key to the
whole of this side of the street. But for the laundry and the well
managed protective means employed by the firm and their friends, the
destruction of this house and the entire street would have been
accomplished. Men stood idly in the courtway folding their arms and
telling one another that the building could not possibly be saved, when
Mr. Manchester, in his short impulsive way, told them if every one did
as they were doing, it could not; but he intended to use every effort in
his power before he gave it up. The firemen here worked with a will, and
were rewarded with a splendid result. It was on this side of the street
that the Western Union Telegraph Office was situated, and it and Mr. J.
W. Hall's new building were the first to go. The Maritime Block--a
splendid structure--in which the banks, Maritime, Montreal and Nova
Scotia, were established, and which faced the Market Square, went down
while it was yet daylight. In this building the offices of the school
trustees, Dun, Wiman & Co., A. P. Rolph, Lumber Exchange, and Board of
Trade were held. While Mr. Rolph was engaged in getting his things ready
to move out, Mr. Richard Thompson's men were hastening in with
silver-ware and jewelry, thinking in their excitement that this building
was at all events safe. Mr. Thompson's loss is very heavy, and the
damage to his elegant and costly stock is considerable. The lot on which
the Sheffield House stood was offered some years ago, at private sale,
to John Wilmot, Esq., father of Senator R. Duncan Wilmot, by James
Brimner, for £2,000. Mr. Wilmot refused it, and attended the auction
sale when it was knocked down to him for £2,950. The police office went
next, Watts & Turner's, H. & H. McCullough's, and round again to the
north wharf, carrying Lewin & Allingham, Chas. R. Ray, W. H. Thorne &
Co. (retail), and Thomas M. Reed, along with it. The destruction on the
north wharf totally demolished the establishment of Jas. Domville & Co.,
and the books of the firm which had been taken to the Maritime Bank for
safe keeping, were subsequently burned there. The saving of the Bank of
British North America, the only monetary institution in the city which
resumed business the next day as usual, was one of those wonderful
events which only occur at rare intervals. The fire roared lustily in
the rear of the bank, but something seemed to command it to halt there,
and advance no further. A large barn went down, and now it was deemed
certain that the bank would go next, but no, the fire crossed the
square, dashed along Water Street, cut into Ward Street, destroyed a
slip full of schooners and wood boats, slipped into Tilton's Alley, and
rushed along with frightful rapidity on both sides of every thoroughfare
in its way. On the one side of the city the fire was stopped at North
Street, having reached J. & T. Robinson's house and store.
[Illustration: THE BUILDING WHICH PREVENTED THE FIRE FROM EXTENDING UP
KING ST.]
CHAPTER III.
The Fire in King Street--Recollections--The Old Coffee House
Corner--The Stores in King Street--The Old Masonic Hall--The
St. John Hotel--Its Early Days--The Bell Tower--King Square--
A Night of Horror--The Vultures at Work--Plundering the
Destitute.
The fire entered King Street in the western side from Germain and
Canterbury Streets. It began by burning down Lawton & Vassie's brick
store, erected on the site which contained the famous Bragg building.
This stout building and Bowes & Evan's premises were soon buried in the
common ruin. The fire went along King Street, destroying Mr. Sharp's dry
goods store, Jas. Adams & Co's., James Manson's magnificent palace,
including his safe and all his valuable papers, John K. Storey's and
Magee Bros., Imperial Block. This last place is quite historic. This
block was erected in 1852, by the late John Gillis. It was built on the
site where the memorable coffee house stood. Here of an evening for
years and years the old men of the place used to sit and gossip and
smoke and sip their toddy. Here in 1815 they met to learn the news of
the war between France and England, and read the story of Waterloo four
or five months after it was fought and won. In this sort of Shakspeare
tavern, the leading merchants of the day met and chatted over large
sales, and compared notes. Here a verbal commercial agency was
established, and here delightful old gossips, like busy Sam Pepys and
garrulous old busybodies, like Johnson's Bozzy, met and told each other
all about everybody else's affairs. What a time these old fellows had
every night sitting there in that quaint old coffee house, chatting and
smoking, smoking and chatting again. And there were Ben Jonsons in those
days, who wrote dramatic pieces and showed them to their friends over a
cup of hot spiced rum. And poets too, full of the tender passion, sighed
out hexameters of love in that old coffee house so dear to some of the
men we meet to-day who lost everything in the flames on that dark
Wednesday in June. Ah, yes, the grand old coffee house was torn down in
1852 to make room for the handsome pile of stone and brick which
perished only the other day. The corner is again bare, and the few who
remember the coffee house are fast passing away.
[Illustration: The Burland Desbarats Lith. Co. Montreal
KING STREET.]
The fire now gained great headway, and soon it was seen taking
prodigious leaps, going ahead, and then seemingly to dart back again and
finish what it had already begun. The people everywhere were in the
wildest state of excitement. In the back streets the fire was
progressing and destroying the residences of the men who were trying to
save their business property in the marts of commerce. People sent car
loads of their more valuable goods to places which appeared to be safe,
but which turned out in the end to be of only temporary security. Men
had their stores burned at four and five o'clock, and their goods burned
at seven and eight o'clock. It was only putting off the evil for a few
brief hours. Cartmen charged wildly and exorbitantly--some having to
pay as high as fifty dollars to have carted away a cartload of stuff. On
every roof in King Street clerks and employers stood with hose and
buckets of water, but nothing that man could do or devise held the
flames at bay, or kept them off for the brief space of a moment. The
fire was determined on a clean sweep, and despite the most strenuous
exertions it had its own way, and baffled the efforts of those who
attempted to stay its fierce will. Beek's corner, lately in the
occupancy of H. R. Smith, bookseller, and a perfect feeder of a fire
like this, was an easy prey, and with a loud roar its rafters fell, and
a well-known corner was no more. Mullin's shoe store, a building of
similar construction, went down in another moment, and now the only
brick building in the block from Canterbury Street to Germain Street was
attacked by the fire. This was Pine's brick building, a fine structure
which several years ago Mr. George Jury Pine built, and in which I. & F.
Burpee commenced business, and George Stewart, of Stewart & White, began
trade. Messrs. Della, Torre & Co. occupied No. 30, and Geo. Stewart,
Jr., Druggist, held the other store, No. 32. The present owner of the
building, Stephen Whittaker, of Fredericton, had lately begun the
erection of a spacious rear addition, and improvements on a liberal
scale had been commenced in the upper stories. The rest of the building
was known as the Russell House. This building went to pieces about six
o'clock. The photograph rooms were destroyed before Pine's building
went, and the flames sped quickly, carrying before them the stores of
Bardsley Bros., Scott & Binning, W. K. Crawford, Geo. Salmon, and
Hanington Bros.' drug store, formerly Fellows & Co.'s establishment on
Foster's Corner, corner King and Germain Streets. The contents of this
store were quickly snapped up by the fire, and pills and plasters, soaps
and perfumes were spilled about in hopeless profusion and confusion. Mr.
T. H. Hall's twin buildings were across the street, but a barrier like
that was an easy jump for the infuriated flames. They leaped into the
windows, attacked the wood-work, and with a strong pull the two splendid
stone buildings were borne to the ground, and thousands of dollars'
worth of property lay scattered about in all directions. Mr. Hall
occupied the corner store as a book-store, and T. L. Coughlan had the
other. Dr. J. M. C. Fiske, dentist held the room overhead.[B] The Gordon
House, Fred. S. Skinner's grocery store, a row of wooden shanties,
Landry's brick building, with a rich stock of organs in it, Logan,
Lindsay & Co.'s large grocery, A. & J. Hay's, Geo. Nixon's, Wm. Warn's
bath-rooms, W. H. Watson's, Geo. Suffren's, W. H. Patterson's, Taylor &
Dockrill's, George Sparrow's, R. McAndrew's, and the United States
Hotel, only lived a short time in the very heart of the fire.
[Illustration: PINE'S BRICK BUILDING KING ST., THE ONLY BRICK BUILDING
BETWEEN CANTERBURY AND GERMAIN STS.]
The fire closed here for a moment, engaging a building dear from long
and good service to the people of St. John, and eminently historical in
its way. The United States Hotel, as Mr. Hinch, the photographer, called
it, when he took possession of it a few years since, was known for many
years as the old Masonic Hall. It stood on the corner of King Street and
Charlotte Street, and was commenced by the Free and Accepted Masons in
1816. It was decided to erect this Temple of Masonry at a meeting of the
craft held April 1, 1816. The lot of land was leased from the
corporation of Trinity Church, and on the 28th September following the
corner-stone was laid, on which was inscribed the following:--
"This stone of the Masonic Hall was laid on 28th Sept., 1816, of the era
of Masonry 5816, and the reign of George the Third, King of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in the mayoralty of John Robinson,
Esq., by Thomas Wetmore, Esq., H.M. Attorney-General of N.B., as Grand
Master, substitute of John Pike, Esq,. Grand Master of the Society of
Masons, Nova Scotia, and the jurisdiction thereof."
[Illustration: BELL TOWER AND KING SQUARE.]
The movement was not successful in a pecuniary sense, for in 1819 the
building was sold at sheriffs sale, at suit of James Hendricks. The
purchaser was Israel Lawson. Mr. Lawson had the building completed, and
leased the third or upper story to the Masons. The room was 60 feet by
30 feet, with two large ante-rooms. It was in this room that all the
concerts, balls, public parties, and public meetings given in the city
were held for many years. Up to 1836 the house was known as the Masonic
Hall, but after this year its name was changed. The St. John Hotel
Company was formed, and the building was purchased from Mr. Lawson and
converted into a hotel. It was called the "St. John Hotel," and Mr.
Cyrus Stockwell father of the Honourable Mr. Stockwell, editor of the
_Boston Journal_, opened it on May 24th, 1837. He was its first
proprietor. A copy of the company's original seal is given below. It was
made of brass, and was two inches in diameter.
[Illustration]
This was the first hotel in St. John. It was here that Governor-General
Poulet Thompson and Lord Elgin stopped, and all the notables who from
time to time visited the city. In 1840, Mr. Stockwell retired, and
Messrs. W. & J. Scammell succeeded him in the management of the hotel.
These enterprising gentlemen set to work at once to remodel the
building, and they soon had it in splendid working order. The same
energy which the present firm of Scammell Bros. throw into their
business, was characteristic of the old firm of Scammell Bros. in 1840.
In 1851, W. & J. Scammell left the St. John Hotel, and took up their
quarters in the Waverley House, nearly opposite. The picture which
accompanies this sketch of the old hotel represents the building as
it appeared in 1837. It is taken from an old picture, and as but two or
three copies were known to exist before the late fire, it is a question
now if more then one copy was saved. The old St. John Hotel is full of
associations, pleasurable in every case, to travellers who used to come
to St. John thirty and forty years ago. Even in 1858, when Messrs.
Whitney & Adams kept it, it was still a home for the stranger. There was
a freedom about its old rooms, and a positive luxuriance which one looks
for in vain in the hotels of our later days. About 1861-62, people used
to sit in Ned Sharland's book-store, which was on the ground-flat, and
sketch the Bell-tower, which was then certainly "a thing of beauty,"
even if Mr. Warner found it the reverse in 1874, when he climbed up to
the triumphal arch and found it was made of wood, painted and sanded,
instead of solid stone, as he thought it was. This bell-tower was
erected in 1851, and the large bell which for years tolled out that fire
was at hand, was made in 1852, and came from Meneely's, West Troy, New
York. Before that day, men struck a gong from a scaffold whenever there
was a fire. The tower was useful even in its latter days, if its beauty
had departed three years ago. The cut which we supply will give the
reader at a distance some idea of the old tower, as it appeared in its
lusty young days. When the city comes to be built up again, the site of
the late hotel must not be forgotten. It is eminently adapted for an
hotel. It is centrally located, and has a frontage of 120 feet on King
Street, by 100 feet on Charlotte Street. King Square did much to stay
the onward march of the fire. It was a haven of rest for those weary
ones who were flying from the flames, with the few things they had saved
from the burning. It was the camping ground of the soldiery, and the
hospital bed of the sick and wounded, who were borne to the fresh grass,
and laid there until help was brought to them. The Square, the first few
days of the fire, was filled with furniture, and books, and household
utensils. It was in this square that half-famished women, that night,
hugged their little ones to their hearts, and rocked them, hungry and
cold, on the sward till they went to sleep, only to awaken again and cry
for something to eat. It was here that women gathered into slips the
flying feathers that danced upon the grass and were the playthings of
the wind, trying to save enough of what remained to make a rest for
their heads. It was here they sat with wildly staring eyes, looking out
into the night, while all around them the embers flew about, and the
heavens were red with the sporting flames. It was before this that the
Bell-tower fell with a deafening crash, and many a heart quailed in the
Square, for this told that another historic fragment was swept away, and
that the terrible fire was near at hand. Sobbing children ceased their
wailing for a time, and feeble mothers prayed that God in His mercy
might avert the calamity, and stay the warring flames. There was no more
sleep for the tired ones. They must wander about, ringing their hands
and crying aloud in their awful despair. Even men who had faced a
thousand dangers, quailed before the advance of the fire. The streets
were alive with hurrying pedestrians. Horses were driven at breakneck
speed, and the clattering hoofs told that danger was at hand. Human
vultures stood, with their "pickers and stealers," ready to pounce upon
everything that could be seized, and the presence of an appalling danger
did not deter them from plundering the unfortunate and the destitute. It
was the old war again, of the strong against the weak and powerless. A
female vampire helped a widow lady to gather her little things together
in a bundle, while her children stole the silver and jewelry, and made
off with their plunder. Rough half-grown men stopped children in the
streets, and snatched from their arms the treasured fragments from a
broken home, which they were trying to rescue from the elemental
spoiler. Loafers and thieves held high carnival, and despite the agony
which was felt on all sides, these miscreants never for an instant
forgot that they were thieves, or neglected to ply their calling when
chance threw anything in their way. All night they roamed the streets,
and thrived on the misfortunes of others. Ask them for assistance, and
they knocked you down. Give them something to hold a minute, and they
made off with it. The vilest scum that ever filled a penitentiary
stalked abroad that night, and their lawlessness but added to the horror
of the hour.
[Illustration: The Burland Desbarats Lith. Co. Montreal
VIEW OF KING ST., SHOWING ST. JOHN HOTEL, 1837.]
[Illustration: The Burland Desbarats Lith. Co. Montreal
NORTH SIDE KING ST. AND BELL TOWER.]
FOOTNOTES:
[B] The Orangemen of St. John District met in this hall.
CHAPTER IV.
The fire in Germain Street--The first brick house in St. John--
Old Trinity--The Loyalists--Curious ideas about insurance--The
rectors of Trinity--The Clock--The Royal Arms.
The fire along Germain Street was of great volume, and dealt out
destruction in a thoroughly wholesale manner. A good many buildings of
more than ordinary note were situate in this pleasant street, and to
these may be added a large number of churches, some of them being of
especial importance in an historical point of view. The fire came along
briskly, carrying Foster's Corner, Foster's shoe store, and the little
buildings adjoining, till it reached Dr. Ring's residence, the old
Disbrow property, the first brick house in St. John. The doctor had
lately improved it by extensive building operations, but in an hour or
two hardly a fragment remained to mark the spot, save parts of the
well-built walls and the tall chimneys. Mrs. Chas. K. Cameron's
millinery store and Hamilton & Lounsbury's place of business were in the
two stores in this building, and they very soon were lost to sight.
Lordly, Howe & Co.'s furniture warerooms, filled with new stock, were
greedily devoured by the flames, and Geo. Hutchinson, jr., who kept the
time ball in working order, lost all his jewelry and stock. The precious
stones and gold and silver ornaments in his safe were totally ruined
also. The Mansion Hotel, a small boarding house, was soon among the
general mass of debris, and the fire whizzed across the street, and
directed its entire force on Old Trinity. First the steeple went, and
then the whole body of the old church was in a sheet of flame, and there
was barely time left to save the historic Royal Arms which Captain Frank
B. Hazen got out of the building, and a few prayer books in the vestry,
and the minister's surplices, which Colonel Chas. R. Ray rescued from
destruction. The communion plate was in a safe, and it too was saved;
but this was all. During the burning of this sacred edifice the greatest
consternation prevailed among the people who lined the streets. Now
surely there was no resisting the fire. The hoarse roar of the tornado
of flame seemed to sound like a mocking laugh, and when the rafters of
the oldest church in the city fell with a dull thud, all felt as if a
friend had been torn ruthlessly from their gaze. Many exhibited real
emotion; and there were women who cried that afternoon, as they thought
of this last relic of their loyalist forefathers being swept away in the
cruel and all-devouring fire. Trinity Church has a very remarkable
history of its own, and the picture which we supply of it will be
perhaps the most attractive of our illustrations to the great mass of
the residents of the city. It was ever a monument of the piety and
religious tenets of our first settlers. A heritage which they left to
their children. It never laid claims to architectural beauty, but it was
commodious and homely; and men felt while inside its grand old walls
that there was something more than the mere name in religion after all,
and the word which they heard was true and good. The Loyalists who
settled here in 1783, on that memorable 18th of May, were composed of
that stuff which the poet tells us warriors sometimes feel, and they
diligently set to work to build on this sterile, rocky soil a city that
future ages would acknowledge. They had thrift, integrity, great zeal,
enterprise and piety, and these attributes were their strongest points.
The man who possesses all these characteristics can give battle to the
world and he will conquer. They had true courage in them, these
pioneers. They had stability, nerve and character, and were just the men
to found a city and plant the seeds of civilization in a community. They
erected simple houses at first, and then a church was built in which
they could worship that God who had befriended them and journeyed with
them to their new homes. The first church was erected in Germain Street,
between Duke and Queen Streets, in the lot where Mr. James McMillan
lived till he was burned out of it the other day. The faith adopted here
was that of the Church of England--as the major portion of the Loyalists
were of that persuasion. When the city lots were divided, the "Old
Burial Ground" was laid aside for church and burial purposes, and at the
south-west corner--where the court-house now stands--it was intended to
build a church, and a frame for that object was obtained. The fire of
1784, however, passed over this section of the city, and the founders
changed their ideas about the locality in which the projected edifice
should stand. The Germain Street building had not been consecrated, and
the people continued to worship there until 1791, when the Trinity
Church was erected. The first church then continued to be occupied by
various denominations, by the Methodists first, and then by the
Baptists, until meeting-houses and chapels of their own could be built;
latterly it was used as a private dwelling-house and school-house. The
first sermon in Trinity was preached on Christmas Day, 1791, by Rev. Dr.
Mather Byles, rector. The following year a bell was put up, and, in 1803
or 1804, stoves, for the first time, were placed in the church. The
first Bishop of Nova Scotia, Right Reverend Dr. Charles Inglis,
performed the consecration services of the church. This eminent divine
was grandfather of Major-General Sir John Inglis, whose deeds of valour
at Lucknow will never be forgotten while glorious exploits in military
history live in the memory of men. Thomas Horsfield and Fitch Rogers
were the first church-wardens of Trinity, and the vestrymen were Hon.
Gabriel Ludlow, Ward Chipman, Munson Jarvis, Thomas Whitlock, Nathan
Smith, Thomas Elmes, William Hazen, Colin Campbell, Nehemiah Rogers,
Isaac Lawton, Thomas Bean, and Samuel Hallet; vestry clerk, Colin
Campbell; sexton, James McPherson. General Coffin and Thomas Whitlock
gave the ground for the building, and Messrs. Bean & Dowling were the
builders. This Mr. Bean was the gentleman who, in June, 1811, when the
church wanted to borrow £200, agreed to lend it that sum on the express
condition that the insurance policy then on the building should be at
once cancelled. An order was passed cancelling the policy without delay.
Thus was Trinity for a while without insurance. Had Mr. Bean's ideas
prevailed to-day the congregation would, in all likelihood, mourn the
loss of $20,000, which is the amount that was on the building at the
time of the fire. When the edifice was finished, it was found to be of a
peculiar shape, and its breadth was out of all proportion to its length.
This was not an accident, however, for the builders wisely thought the
city would grow, and that as the requirements of the people needed it,
the church might be made larger. Little change had taken place in the
interior arrangements of the church at the time of its destruction. The
same pews had stood over four score of years, and all the alteration
that was made was a slight cutting down of the backs of some of the
centre ones. The side pews remained the original height. For
seventy-three years the old organ has been in constant use in Trinity.
It was brought from London in 1804, and cost a good round sum. The
freight on it alone was one hundred guineas, but the owner of the vessel
which brought it over, Hon. Wm. Pagan, remitted the amount back to the
corporation of the church. To its last days, this organ has been a good
instrument. In 1792, Mr. William Thomson presented Trinity with a bell,
for which he received a cordial vote of thanks. This bell was in active
service till 1857, when the bell which tolled a few days ago its last
sad peals, was mounted in the belfry. The town-clock, as every one was
accustomed to call the clock which told of the passing hours, too, has a
history. In 1810, Mr. John Venning erected the tower and cupola. He
had nearly completed his work one May morning, when owing to a light
fall of snow the staging became slippery, and when Mr. Venning stepped
upon it he slipped from it to the roof, and from thence to the ground,
where he was picked up dead. In 1812, the clock was placed in position,
and has remained there, till the events of Wednesday ended its career.
Barraud, of Cornhill, London, was the maker, and it cost £221 19s.
sterling; the Common Council voted £50 towards it. Up to 1814, the
church paid for having the time-piece wound, and in this year the
winding cost £6 15s., when the church people decided that they would no
longer attend to this service, and maintained that the commonalty should
see to it. The Council, on December 24th, 1814, resolved to act on the
suggestions of the Church corporation, and took upon themselves the duty
of keeping the clock wound up and in repair. Edward Taylor assisted in
putting up the clock and assumed control of it, till Mr. Wm. Hutchinson,
father of Geo. Hutchinson, jr., took charge of it. Previous to 1857, it
had three dials, but in this year a fourth was added, and a spire was
placed upon the church.
[Illustration: TRINITY CHURCH.]
In 1811-12 the church was lengthened, and in 1857 it was enlarged again.
The first rector was the Rev. George Bisset, A. M., an Englishman.
Before the revolutionary war he was assistant to the rector of Trinity
Church, at Newport, Rhode Island. He became, two years later, the rector
of that church, and remained in that position until 1779, when the
British forces evacuated the island, and Mr. Bisset went to New York.
At the close of the war he came to St. John and was chosen rector of the
new parish. In 1786, he went to England on private and public business,
and while there raised quite a large sum to further the interests of his
church, and to assist materially in the building of the edifice. But in
1788, without seeing his hopes realized, he died, and was buried in the
Germain Street church-yard, and subsequently his remains were interred
in the Putnam tomb, in the old burial ground, where they still lie.
A Harvard graduate of the class of 1751, was the next rector of Trinity,
the Rev. Mather Byles, D.D. For fifteen years, he had laboured as a
Congregational minister at New London, and then left that church to link
his fortunes with the Episcopalians. He joined the Church and became
rector of Christ's Church, Boston, Mass. He left his charge, when the
British troops abandoned Boston, and went to Halifax, N. S., where he
became Garrison chaplain. When Mr. Bisset died Dr. Byles removed to St.
John, was made rector, and preached, as we have said, the first sermon
that was ever preached in Trinity Church. In his latter days Dr. Byles
was very infirm and required an assistant. He was rector of St. John for
26 years, and died at the age of 80 in March, 1814, loved, honoured and
respected. He was a man of fine parts, an excellent talker, of quick and
lively nature, and he possessed a rich fund of anecdote and humour. A
bundle of his sayings and doings has been published.
Rev. George Pidgeon was the third rector. He was a learned graduate of
Trinity College, Dublin, and was born in Kilkenny, Ireland, in 1761. He
was an ensign in the rifles, and had served in America during the war.
He subsequently went to Halifax, took orders in the Church, became
rector of Fredericton and Ecclesiastical Commissary for the Province in
1795, and in 1814, on the death of the incumbent, he was made rector of
St. John. His health failed him, however, and for a time the church was
closed, when finally he died, May 6th, 1818. He was buried in the old
burial ground, and his monument may still be seen there.
The fourth rector was the Rev. Dr. Robert Willis--a Navy chaplain and a
very eminent man. His ship was at Halifax coaling, when intelligence
reached him that Mr. Pidgeon was seriously ill, and that the church in
St. John was closed in consequence. He left at once for St. John where
he officiated for several weeks, and on the death of Mr. Pidgeon was
chosen rector. The Stone Church and St. George's, Carleton, were erected
during his incumbency, and this caused a division in the Parish. Dr.
Willis became rector of St. Paul's, Halifax, in 1825, and Arch-Deacon of
Nova Scotia, which offices he held until the year 1865, when he died at
the age of 80. He was the father of Rev. Cuthbert Willis, rector of
Salisbury, who was formerly of the 15th regiment of foot.
In 1825 the Rev. Benjamin Gerrish Gray, D.D., succeeded Dr. Willis as
rector of St. John. He was born in Boston 1768, and on the departure of
the British troops from that city, while yet a child, he went with his
father to Halifax. He graduated at King's College, Windsor, completed
his education in England, and was ordained minister in 1796 by Bishop
Inglis at Halifax. Some years were spent by him as minister among the
Maroons, a discontented body of savages which the British Government
placed in Nova Scotia to the great annoyance and fear of the
inhabitants. The Doctor spent several years in connection with various
missions throughout Nova Scotia until 1819, when he became rector of St.
George's, Halifax. He laboured as rector in St. John on the death of Dr.
Willis, for fifteen years, when in 1840 he resigned his position. He
lived till 1854, when at the advanced age of 86 he died full of honours
and respect. He was a man of elevated tastes and liberal ideas. He loved
science, art and literature, and was a well informed and polished writer
and thinker. In 1833 one of the greatest calamities which ever befell
man happened to Dr. Gray. His house in Wellington Row took fire, and
before aid could come it was burned to the ground, together with the
rector's wife and a female domestic. No sympathy could alleviate the
suffering of the distracted husband, no words of man could take away the
agony of his deep grief and sorrow. It pressed heavily upon his mind,
and he was never again the same man. At this fire he lost his valuable
library which contained many rare and costly books and manuscripts,
together with the complete records of his parish.
He was succeeded by his son, Rev. John William D. Gray, D.D., a very
able man. He was born in 1798, at Halifax, and graduated at King's
College, Windsor. He became rector of Amherst, N.S., and in 1825, when
Dr. Willis resigned his office in St. John, a movement was made to get
the rectorship for Dr. Gray. This was not done, however, for the father
was appointed, and the son became his assistant. In 1840, on the
retirement of Dr. Benjamin Gray, the sixth rector received the
appointment which he held until his death, in 1868. For twenty-eight
years this eminent clergyman laboured for his church and his people, and
all remember him as a kindly, thoughtful, generous man. He had abilities
of the highest order, and, whether as a preacher or a writer, his
reputation filled no second place. He wrote with a nerve and a boldness
which carried all before it, and his extensive erudition and vast powers
of concentration of thought made his works valued and esteemed. His
notable writings were chiefly controversial pamphlets, and few entered
the lists with him and gained a victory. His vigorous pamphlets on the
Catholic question, and the Moses and Colenso controversy will be
remembered by many who read these pages to-day, and all will regret that
the great rector never published a theological book or placed his ripe
thoughts on some enduring record. He was an able exponent of the
Scriptures, and he wrote in a superior and beautiful style. His sermons
were models of elegant English and sound doctrinal ideas, and no rector
of Trinity ever filled the position so grandly and so loyally as good
old Dr. Gray. He died at the age of seventy years, and in the
forty-seventh year of his ministry. He was accounted the best reader in
the Province, and his delivery was forcible, and distinguished for a
certain gracefulness of style. The Rev. James J. Hill, M. A. succeeded
Dr. Gray. He is a native of Nova Scotia. His failing health caused him
to resign the rectorship in a few years. At a meeting of the St. John
Parish, held on the 21st of July, 1873, the Rev. F. H. J. Brigstocke, of
Jesus College, Oxford, was unanimously nominated to the rectorship. He
had been in orders twelve years, and for five years had been curate to
the Dean of Canterbury. Mr. Brigstocke assumed his duties in October,
1873, and is the present rector of the parish.
The stained-glass windows in the chancel of the old church were placed
there in 1859, and were presented by John V. Thurgar, Esq., a respected
retired merchant of this city, whose old stand was burned down on the
North Wharf during the great fire.
The old arms of Trinity Church have an historic interest of very great
importance. A glance at them will reveal the fact that they are military
arms and not those of the church. They have escaped fire once or twice,
and in the early years of their existence witnessed many a heated
controversy, and experienced marvellous escapes from destruction. The
first we hear of them was in Boston where they adorned the walls of the
Council Chamber of the Old Town House. On March 17th, 1776, they sailed
out of Boston Harbour and were carried to Halifax, where they had a
temporary abiding place in the old chapel there. They were afterwards
placed, in 1791, in Trinity Church, where they have remained ever
since, until Captain Hazen rescued them from the flames on Wednesday
afternoon. A story is current that a hundred years ago, these arms were
snatched from Trinity Church, New York, when that edifice was in flames,
but this lacks confirmation, and the best authorities are unanimous in
holding that their peculiar build unfitted them for church use, and that
they were certainly intended to adorn the walls of council chambers.
That they were with the British army, whether on its march or at its
station, is settled beyond dispute. This ends the story of old Trinity,
the most historic edifice in the city--the first church--the quaintest
structure--the last link which bound the old and the new together. The
school-house fronting on Charlotte Street was burned at the same time as
the church.
CHAPTER V.
The Old Curiosity Shop in Germain Street--A Quaint Old
Place--"Rubbish Shot Here"--Notman's Studio--The Mother of
Methodism--Destruction of the Germain Street Methodist
Church--Burning of the Academy of Music--The Old Grammar
School--Presbyterians among the Loyalists--The "Auld Kirk"
--Saint Andrew's--The grants of Land--Legislation--The
building of the Kirk--Ministers--The "Victoria" in Flames
--Fascination of the Fire--The "Victoria" in Ruins--What
might have saved it.
The fire has destroyed Mrs. Lyons's "old curiosity shop,"--an
establishment known far and near as a place where everything, from a
needle to an anchor, might be got. Mrs. Lyons is an old inhabitant, and
for years was a constant attendant at every auction sale, and her
judgment has more than once influenced and controlled the bidding. She
bought everything, and, what is more curious still, she managed to sell
it afterwards at a fair profit. Old books, old pictures, cheap prints,
crockery, bedding, carpets, furniture; all had a home in that asylum for
decayed rubbish. It was a pleasant place in which to while away an odd
hour or two. The things were, at least, worth looking at; and one could
sometimes turn over a good book or two, or dip into the pages of an old
magazine and find a bit of poetry here and there, or a pleasant essay
that was worth glancing over. Of course, nothing out of this stock could
be saved, and the curious and out-of-the-way knick-nacks of the people
were swept away in a very short time. Mrs. Lyons is a very heavy
loser by the calamity, and narrowly escaped with her life. Indeed she
was reported missing at one stage of the fire.
Mr. Notman's beautiful studio with its gems of neat things in art, and
its hundreds of elegant picture frames, went next. The premises had only
recently been opened, and the reception room was a perfect gallery of
beautifully arranged pictures and chromos, and India ink copies. A
number of oil paintings, some of them of considerable value, a good many
choice bits in water colour, some decidedly clever engravings together
with pieces of statuary, and a bronze or two perished in an instant. Not
a negative was saved, and the fine picture of Mr. John Melick's handsome
boy, which was so artistically finished in India ink by Mr. James
Notman, shared a like fate. The studio was full of handsome work, and
lovers of the æsthetic whenever they had a spare minute or two always
wandered into Notman's and inspected the new things he had there. It was
a place of resort for the cultivated mind, and the eye always rested on
something pleasing and charming. This building went so rapidly that the
occupants barely escaped with their clothes. The fire crossed the street
on both sides, and after sweeping down Mr. Edward Sears's house on the
corner, and carrying with it Mr. Tremaine Gard's jewelry establishment,
it rushed along levelling all before it, till Horsfield Street was
reached. On this corner the Mother of Methodism was situated--the old
Germain Street Methodist Church--called in olden times "The Chapel."
This structure was located a few feet off the street, and when the fire
caught and hugged it in its grasp the concourse of people beheld a sight
not easily effaced from their memory. The flames shot up, and for awhile
nothing but an avalanche of fire was to be seen. The hot, thick volume
roared out and crackled as timber after timber went down before the
whirlwind, and rent asunder in an hour, an edifice which had withstood
the blasts of the elements for seventy years. In 1808, on Christmas day,
this chapel was opened, and dedicated to the service of God, by the Rev.
Mr. Marsden. The leading layman at that time was the late John Ferguson,
an influential citizen and a prosperous merchant. He did much for
Methodism in his time, and it was through his exertions that the chapel
was built. For many years this commodious building was the only place of
worship that this body of Christians had in the city, and the various
clergymen who from time to time preached from its old-fashioned, homely
pulpit, developed sterling qualities and superior talents. Among its
body of laymen were men distinguished alike for their zeal and religious
principles. Such clergymen as Revs. Messrs. Priestly, Wood, Dr. Alder,
John B. Strong, Bamford, Wm. Temple and H. Crosscomb, will be
affectionately remembered by old members of this congregation, as
ministers whose interests were ever closely identified with those of
their hearers. The present Chief of Police, John R. Marshall, has been a
member of this church all his life, and for thirty years he has led the
singing. It was an unpretentious building with no attempts at
architectural display. A few years ago, to meet the wants of the
community, it was enlarged and extended back, and the gallery was placed
nearer the pulpit. While this building was burning the hospitable
residences of James Lawton, Esq., and Wm. Davidson, Esq., were being
reduced to ashes, and Dr. McAvenny's fine dental rooms adjoining those
houses, went down also.
The burning of the Academy of Music[C] took place almost at the same
time. Not a vestige of this splendid hall remains to tell of the
dramatic triumphs that have been witnessed on its stage, or the
matchless oratory that fell from the lips of Phillips, Beecher and
Carpenter. Here it was that a few years ago the great performance of
Richelieu took place, when Couldock enacted the Cardinal Duke, and Louis
Aldrich was the impetuous De Mauprat. Here on this stage Carlotta Le
Clercq won some of her grandest triumphs. Here Warner and Lanergan gave
their wonderful interpretations of the Moor and Iago. Here Chas. Koppitz
led his great orchestra the day before he died, and here some of the
sweetest voices have been heard emulating the notes of the nightingale.
This building, which for several years enjoyed a splendid reputation,
well stocked with scenery and properties, centrally and admirably
located, seemed to melt into nothing on the day of the fire. The walls
fell with a loud crash, and the grand temple of amusement, in which our
people felt so much pride, was a thing of the past. It was owned by a
joint stock company, and the late Dr. George E. Keator was the first
president. On his death, Dr. Allan M. Ring was made president, and he
has retained the office ever since. John R. Armstrong, Esq., has been
the secretary from the beginning of the institution. It is only about a
year ago that it was frescoed and painted and greatly improved inside.
The Academy presented a noble appearance from the street, and the reader
can form an intelligent idea of how it looked from the illustration
which we give. The Knights of Pythias, New Brunswick and Union Lodges,
occupied the upper story as a lodge room. It was neatly and attractively
fitted up, and the knights took great interest in having it properly
cared for. The loss with which this young organization has met, is quite
large and is therefore severely felt.
The last theatrical performance at the Academy of Music was on Tuesday
evening, 19th June, when Louise Pomeroy, an actress of charming genius,
sustained the _role_ of "Juliet" in Shakespeare's tragedy of the
affections, "Romeo and Juliet." On Wednesday night she was to have
performed "Rosalind" for the second time in St. John, in the delightful
comedy of "As You Like It." The company then playing were under the
management of Mr. William Nannary, with Mr. P. Nannary as assistant
manager, and Mr. W. E. Kelly, of Halifax, business agent. Mr. George B.
Waldron was stage manager, and his wife, Isabella Waldron, the leading
lady. The other members of the organization were R. Fulton Russell, F.
G. Cotter, G. T. Ulmer, Harry Pierson, Belvil Ryan, Mr. Padget, Mr.
Eberle, J. Reddy, Mr. Vanderen, Mr. Donaldson, W. F. Edwards, C. Mason,
Lizzie May Ulmer, Pearl Etynge, Little Bell Waldron, Mrs. Edwards, Mrs.
Vanderen, Miss Hill, Mabel Doane, and Florence Stratton. All of these
artists suffered by the fire. Some saved their wardrobes, only to have
them stolen afterwards.
[Illustration: The Burland Desbarats Lith. Co. Montreal
ACADEMY OF MUSIC.]
After Dr. McAvenny's office was burned, the fire shot into Messrs.
Miller and Woodman's double house, the late residence of Hon. A. McL.
Seely, and it was soon shattered to its basement. The fire then spread
as far as Duke Street, burning on its passage Dr. W. Bayard's house, and
the old McGrath residence, which latterly contained Dr. James E.
Griffith's office. On the other side, the Grammar School was the first
victim after the Old Chapel.
This building was a plain wooden house of rather squat appearance. It
was erected on two lots of land, 80 feet front by 200 deep, which in
1807 were sold by Thos. Horsfield for £100. The first teacher was James
Brimner. In 1818 Dr. James Patterson took charge, and remained head
master till nearly the close of his life. Rev. Mr. Wainright,
afterwards rector of New York, and who died Bishop there, was at one
time a teacher in the Grammar School. The masters who have taught here
have been judiciously selected, and the school has been very successful
from the first. Messrs. Hutchison and Manning, and Rev. Mr. Schofield,
and latterly Rev. Dr. Coster, are all gentlemen of fine scholastic
attainments and excellent imparters of knowledge to the youth. For many
years the Corporation gave a gold medal annually to the bright boys of
this institution of learning, and many of our prominent lawyers,
doctors, engineers and merchants have been educated here. H. W. Frith,
Esq., was for many years secretary to the Board who controlled this
school, and continued in that office till the new school-law came into
force. The Grammar School in its last days was a free school of the
highest grade.
It has been said of Scotchmen that next to love of country they revere
their religion. Indeed, the love is as warm for the one as it is for the
other. The Bible and Home. God and Scotland. Their religion has been
compared to their native Grampians, and some have said that it was as
hard, cold, determined and unyielding as those grand old hills
themselves, the very name of which sends a thrill through every
Scotchman's breast. Every Scottish poet has sung of home, every native
bard has written hymns and psalms. Burns's "Cotter's Saturday Night"
contains the germs of the Presbyterian faith, and Tannahill, Thomson,
Campbell, Hogg and all the other tuneful minstrels have sung in the same
key, and told of the old faith which the Covenanters felt on their
bleak hill-tops years ago, when it was deemed by some to be a crime to
worship God in more ways than one. It is as rare to find a Scotchman
unacquainted with the leading events in the Bible, the gist of the
shorter catechism, and the whole of the Psalms of David, including the
cxix, word for word, as it is difficult to enter a city all the world
over, and not find the sons of the old land filling the leading
positions in the place. Our readers may be sure that among the sturdy
loyalists not a few Presbyterians were to be found. When they reached
St. John, they settled in Lower Cove, and the first thing they did was
to consider the advisability of building a kirk. In 1784, the leading
men drew up a petition for a grant of land on which to lay the
foundation for a house of worship. It was sent to Governor Parr, and on
the 29th of June, of the same year, the grant was issued under the Great
Seal of Nova Scotia. John Boggs and others, for the Church of Scotland,
were the grantees. Their associates were Andrew Cornwall, James Reid,
John Menzie, Charles McPherson, William Henderson, John Gemmill, and
Robert Chillis, their heirs and assigns in trust. The document runs as
follows, and sets forth that the grant was, "for the erection, building
and accommodation of a meeting house or public place of worship for the
use of such of the inhabitants of the said town as now or shall
hereafter be of the Protestant profession of worship, approved of by the
General Assembly of the Church of Scotland * * * and further for the
erection and building and accommodation of a dwelling house, outhouse,
casements and conveniences for the habitation, use and occupation of a
minister to officiate and perform divine service in the meeting house
aforesaid, according to the form and professing aforesaid * * * and
further for the building and erection of a public school house and
public poor house, with proper accommodation and conveniences for the
use of the inhabitants of the said Township of Parr,[D] forever, and
upon this further trust and confidence to secure and defend the said
piece and tract of land, and all such buildings, edifices, and
improvements, commodities and appurtenances, to and for the several and
respective public uses, intents and purposes aforesaid forever, but to
or for no other or private use, intent and purpose whatsoever."
It further states that in case of the lands coming into possession of
any other persons, they shall take the prescribed oath of allegiance
within twelve months, and in case of their neglect to do so, the lands
shall revert to the Crown. The grant was registered at Halifax, 29th
June, 1784, and at Fredericton on December 23rd, same year. These lands
were situate on the north side of Queen Street, extending east and west
from Sydney to Carmarthen Streets, and north from Queen Street 100 feet.
They contain 10 city lots and form a block of 100 by 400 feet.
Charles McPherson, once the owner of "Coffee House Corner," survived
the other trustees, who died before any of the buildings mentioned in
the grant were set up. A change had come over the people's views since
then, and the site was not approved of by those interested. It was not
central enough, and in 1815 it was decided to ask for a site in the
upper part of the town. Wm. Pagan, Hugh Johnston, senr., John Thompson,
James Grigor, John Currie, Alexander Edmonds, and William Donaldson were
the new Committee whose duty it was to provide "a meeting house for the
use of such of the inhabitants as are of the General Assembly of the
Church of Scotland." In this year the survivor of the trustees of 1784,
Charles McPherson, relinquished his interest in favour of the new
Committee. James Grigor selected the present site of the church in
Germain Street, and in 1815 he purchased it for £250 from J. V.
Thurgar's uncle, Mr. John L. Venner. The lot is 100 feet in width and
200 feet in depth. Mr. Grigor and wife, by deed, on the 20th June, 1815,
just sixty-two years ago, on the day of the fire, conveyed the property
to Wm. Pagan and the rest of the Committee. On June 4th, 1816, another
grant of land was given to the Committee by the Corporation of St. John.
This lot was in Duke's Ward, and known on the plan as one of the public
lots, letter B, bounded on the east by Carmarthen Street, on the west by
Sydney Street, and on the south by lots 1086 to 1077 inclusive. The
latter lots are on St. James' Street. This also was in special trust for
the Kirk of Scotland in this city, and the grant was unconditional. This
block was four hundred feet square, and a vacant field. The Committee
built houses upon it some years after, and laid out the street from
Sydney to Carmarthen, known as St. Andrew's Street. William Campbell was
Mayor, and Charles J. Peters, Clerk.
The Act 56 George III., cap. 28, passed 16th March, 1816, recites to
this effect:
"Whereas sundry inhabitants of the City of St. John and its vicinity,
being of the Protestant profession of worship, approved by the General
Assembly of the Church of Scotland, have, by voluntary subscription,
aided by a grant[E] of money out of the Province (1814), erected a large
and handsome building for a place of public worship, which shall be in
connection with the said Church of Scotland: And whereas, the title of
the lots on which the said church has been erected, situated in Queen's
Ward in the said city, and fronting on Germain Street, is now in the
possession of the inhabitants of the said city, who hold the same in
trust: Be it enacted, that the minister and elders of the said church,
commonly called by the name of Kirk, whenever such ministers shall be
chosen and appointed, the said lots shall be vested in them, they being
known by the name of the minister and elders of the Church of Scotland
in the City of St. John."
In 1818, Act 58 was passed, and this statute authorized the Kirk's
ministers and elders to have full power to purchase, receive, hold, and
enjoy lands, and tenements, and to improve and use the same for the
purpose of supporting and maintaining the building erected in St. John
for a place of public worship, and of its minister for the time being;
but such rents, with the rents of pews, shall not exceed annually the
sum of £500.
An important discovery was made in 1832, when it was found that the
legislation that had been had was entirely at variance with Presbyterian
usage, which separated the spiritual from the temporal affairs of the
church, leaving the spiritual department in the hands of the minister
and his elders, and vesting the management of the temporalities in a
body of trustees to be named. A new bill was prepared, and accordingly
the following was speedily enacted by 2 William IV. cap. 18, "that
according to the form and usage of the Church of Scotland the spiritual
and temporal affairs of the said church are kept separate, and that the
present acts of incorporation vesting the temporal affairs of the St.
Andrew's Church, in the City of St. John, in the minister and elders is
at variance with the form and usage of the said Church of Scotland."
All previous acts were repealed, and the following gentlemen, who were
the committee of management then: Thos. Walker, Robert Rankin, John
Wishart, John Robertson, James Kirk, Robert Keltie, James Burns, Henry
Hood, William Parks, William Walker, James Robertson and Daniel Leavitt,
with the elders, John Paul, Robert Robertson, Thomas Nisbet, William
Hutchinson, Angus McKenzie and John Gillis, were appointed interim
trustees until the election of twelve other trustees as provided by the
Act, could be had. This Act is still in operation, and it fixes the
annual rents at not more than £500, and prescribes the proceedings as to
the election and choice of trustees, ministers, and elders, the sales
and leases of pews, lands, &c.
In 1815 the kirk was finished, and the trustees were Messrs. Pagan,
Johnston, Thomson, Grigor, and Edmond, Rev. Mr. Waddell, father of Dr.
Waddell, many years resident physician at the Lunatic Asylum, preached
the first sermon. The Rev. Geo. Burns was the first regularly appointed
minister, he had been an assistant minister in Aberdeen, Scotland, Mr.
Hugh Johnston who had been commissioned to go to Scotland for a
clergyman, chose Mr. Burns who was a young man of 26 years of age, and a
doctor of divinity. The degree was conferred on him by the University of
St. Andrew on his departure for America, and the new Kirk was called
"St. Andrew" in compliment to Dr. Burns's _Alma mater_. The young doctor
arrived in St. John on Sunday, the 25th of May, 1817, and on that day
preached his first sermon from Psalm cxxii, 1, "I was glad when they
said unto me, let us go into the House of the Lord." Dr. Burns continued
minister until 1829. He left St. John May, 1831, and on the 5th
February, 1876, he died in Edinburgh at the ripe age of 86. The Rev.
Robert Wilson was the second minister of the Kirk, and he officiated
from 1830 to 1842. The Rev. Andrew Halket succeeded him from 1842 to
1848. He died in the fall of 1875, at Brecken, Scotland. The Rev. Wm.
Donald, D.D., was the fourth minister of this now influential church,
he was ordained at Aberdeen, in May, 1849, and on the 18th of June he
reached St. John, and took immediate possession of his charge. His
ministry was a long and able one, and no minister was ever loved more
and respected higher than this teacher of the sacred word. He was ever
kindly disposed towards his people and his congregation were ever
devoted to him, their interests were his interests, and his interests
were theirs. When he died 20th Feby., 1871, the whole city mourned, and
old St. Andrew's refused to be comforted. The Rev. R. J. Cameron, who
was Dr. Donald's assistant for some time, succeeded him in the ministry
of the church. The Rev. Mr. Mitchell, who began his labours on the 30th
January, 1877, was the last incumbent. During the long career of the old
kirk--the oldest Presbyterian church in the Province--it has changed but
little since it was erected. Some trifling alterations have been made in
the interior, but externally it has remained for over three score years
the same. Three memorial tablets had been placed upon the walls, the
first was in memory of William Pagan, the second William Campbell, and
the third Dr. Donald. The first Presbyterian minister who died in St.
John was the Rev. Thomas Wishart.[F]
[Illustration: ST. ANDREW'S KIRK.]
There are some interesting items in connection with Old St. Andrew's
personal history which are worth recording. The solid silver communion
service which was used was the gift, in the year 1818, of the Earl and
Countess of Dalhousie, and Miss Campbell gave the two peculiarly shaped
silver plates which contained the bread when the Sacrament was
administered. These articles were saved, and are now in the possession
of William Girvan, Esq. Mrs. James Lawton, about the year 1839,
presented the Church with the Pulpit Bible. This was unfortunately
burned, as well as the two oil paintings which hung in the vestry, and
were portraits of Revs. Drs. Burns and Donald. It was to see these
pictures that Dr. Burns's nephew came to St. John on the very day of the
fire, but before he arrived they were no more.
[Illustration: VICTORIA HOTEL.]
Very little time was lost between the destruction of Trinity, the
Germain Street Methodist, and "Old St. Andrew's." They took fire nearly
at the same time, and within an hour of each other the three were
consumed. The fire was extraordinarily rapid in its work, and the frame
buildings seemed to add zest to its voracious appetite. An engine might
have saved the Victoria Hotel, but it was far away, and helplessly the
people looked on and saw one after the other of their cherished
churches, hotels, houses of entertainment and dwellings, sink down
before the red glare of the serpent, which wound its coils round-about
and encompassed all with its fangs and fork-like tongue. It was a sight
that the eye sickened at, and the heart grew faint, and despair fell
upon the people, and many moved away. But there were others who gazed on
the tottering ruins with a fixed and glassy stare, and as the huge
boulders came thundering down from the heights above, and the half
famished flames shot out in long, thin lines from the windows, and
darted back again like a wiry thing of life, and shouts rent the air
from the lips of the wounded, these men never moved from the spot on
which they stood. The church was in ashes, and the great walls of the
Victoria were red with the demon flames. They scaled the heights, they
flew back again. They hid in the chimneys, they ran along the roof, they
melted the sashes and tore down the door-ways. The marble steps were in
fragments, and all through the long corridors of the house the shrieks
of startled women rang, and hastening refugees from the flames leapt
with the courage and skill of acrobats into the crowded street. It was a
time in which men held their breath. The fascination of that sight was
terrible. All were dismayed. All were paralyzed. The "Victoria," that
Grand Hotel which was St. John to every traveller who came here--that
massive pile of brick and stone--was no longer the standing monument of
the city's enterprise. An engine might have saved it, but the engine was
not there.
[Illustration: The Burland Desbarats Lith. Co. Montreal
GERMAIN STREET, SHOWING VICTORIA HOTEL.]
This spacious hotel was commenced by a Joint Stock Company in 1870, and
was built on the corner of Germain and Duke Streets. It was opened for
business July, 1871, with Mr. B. T. Creagen as Manager, and the
following Board of Directors:--Otis Small, Esq., President; John Magee,
A. Chipman Smith, John McMillan and William F. Harrison, Esqrs. The
hotel building cost one hundred and sixty-five thousand dollars, and
furnishing seventy-five thousand dollars. In the Fall of 1873, the
Victoria Hotel Club assumed control, and Mr. John Edwards was appointed
manager. At the time of the fire the hotel was under the management of
Mr. George W. Swett, a very popular and courteous gentleman. Many of the
guests sought refuge in the squares, and some escaped from the building
with scarcely more clothes than they had on.
FOOTNOTES:
[C] The outside dimensions of the Academy were 190x51 feet. The
front 65 feet high, showing three stories in front. The finish was
Italian in its general style, very rich and pleasing to the eye, with
heavy and elaborate carved work. A large bust of Queen Victoria adorned
the summit of the building, while over the main entrance an excellent
bust of Shakespeare indicated the uses for which the building was
intended. The front doors were massive in style, of solid walnut, and
weighed sixteen hundred pounds. Inside.--The parquette was reached by a
wide entrance; on either side of this entrance were broad and easy
stairs leading to the balcony; while above this was the gallery for the
gods, which was approached from a separate entrance. The parquette was
furnished with 600 opera chairs, and the seating capacity of the whole
building was 1,200. The scenery, ample in supply and excellent in
character, was painted by Gaspard Maeder. The building when finished
cost the Company over $60,000.
[D] St. John was formerly called Parr Town.
[E] ---- Legislature granted £250 towards erection of kirk.
[F] Three members of the congregation of this Church were lost
at the time of the fire--Mrs. Thos. Reed, Mr. Joseph Bell, Capt. Wm. M.
B. Firth.
CHAPTER VI.
The Odd Fellows' Hall--The fire in Horsfield Street--The Sweep
along Germain Street--The old Baptist Church--Some early
Ministers--Two fiery ordeals--The Brick Church--The Ruins--The
Bay View Hotel--An old Landmark gone--The blazing Barracks--St.
James's--The Hazen House--St. Malachi's Chapel--The first Roman
Catholic Church.
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows is a very numerous and widely
respected body in St. John. Its roll of membership embraces many of the
best names in the city, and the order has grown from a very humble
beginning to quite an influential position in the community. It is only
a few years ago that some zealous members of the order banded themselves
together and formed Pioneer Lodge, No. 9. In a little time the lodge
grew so rapidly that it became too cumbersome to work, and new lodges
had to be made--first it was Beacon, then Peerless, and latterly Siloam,
in this city alone; besides, the order is strong in Moncton and also in
Fredericton. An encampment, too, flourishes, and is largely adding to
its membership. The Odd Fellows' Hall was pleasantly situate in what
used to be No. 5 Engine House. The hall was commodious and neatly
furnished, and the ante-rooms were convenient and well adapted for
carrying on the exercises of the order. The ground flat and second story
were occupied by Mr. Richard Welch, and the Odd Fellows met in the room
immediately overhead. The loss by fire to the order was quite
extensive, though a good deal of the regalia and paraphernalia were
saved through the forethought of some of the members who managed to get
into the building in time. The fire swept both sides of Horsfield
Street, and carried along with it the dwelling of P. Besnard, Esq., and
the house where James Hannay, the historian, lived. Mr. Hannay, who was
at Oakpoint during the conflagration preparing his history of Acadia,
lost a number of valuable books, including some high-priced and scarce
volumes.[G] Some two or three hundred pages of his history were printed,
but these were destroyed in the printing houses where they were kept.
Fortunately Mr. Hannay had with him one copy of the sheets as far as
printed, so the loss is not irretrievable. A portion of the unprinted
manuscript, however, shared the common fate of everything that came in
contact with fire on that fatal day, and this the historian had to
re-write. In this street the old Theatre[H] once stood, in which
professionals and amateurs read Shakspeare and Massinger to admiring
audiences. Among the amateurs, some of our readers may remember, were
the late Richard Seely, who was accounted a good actor in his day, and
the late Col. Otty, whose Othello was a really creditable performance.
While the fire was rendering desolate this street, the other wing of it
was ruthlessly invading Germain Street, to the very water's edge. Otis
Small's corner house, the Thomson House, some of the inmates of which
had to flee in small boats, the residences of the Messrs. McMillan,
father and son, the old Bayard House, the Seed's property, the former
residence of W. O. Smith, Esq., No. 119, and then in the occupancy of
the inmates of the Home for the Aged, some of whom got away in hardly
enough time to save their lives.
Mr. Carey's Parsonage was on fire very soon after this, and all efforts
to save it or the old Baptist Church next door, proved unavailing. In a
short time only a blackened wall of smouldering ruins stood there to
tell in more eloquent language than words could relate, of the sad havoc
which the fire-king had made. For many years this church was to the
Baptists, what Trinity, St. Andrew's, and Germain Street Chapel were to
their denominations. It, too, had a history of its own, as dear to the
people who Sunday after Sunday sat within its walls and heard the word
of God spoken, as the historic data which filled every niche and corner
of the first English Church in the city. It was first built of wood
three score years ago, on the old site where the brick church stood, a
period ago since, and such men as John M. Wilmot, Thomas Pettingill, and
Jeremiah Drake, were the leading pillars and supporters of a body of
Christians distinguished alike for their charity, faithfulness, and
liberality. The church was organized in 1810, ground was broken in 1818
and the large frame building was opened for service July 12th of the
same year. Wm. Stenning and Thomas Harding purchased the site, and the
former gentleman superintended the building of the edifice. For many
years this was the only meeting-house which the Baptists had, and there
are men living to-day who remember the struggles and trials which the
denomination experienced in trying to plant a foothold in the sparsely
populated district which St. John then was. The pastors of this church
were known far and wide as earnest and faithful men, and such names as
Samuel Robinson, Casewell, Bill, Henry Vaughan, and G. M. W. Carey, live
in the hearts of all people and add lustre to any faith. When the
question of tearing down the old structure which had withstood the
storms of nearly half a century, and the replacing of it with a new one
to be built of brick was proposed, there were many in the congregation
who had grown up with the church through the long decades of time, and
who had watched the building step by step, advance to its completion,
and proudly take its place among the sacred edifices of the street of
churches. These men opposed the measure, but the march of new ideas
prevailed, and in 1863, the last of the old church was borne away and a
handsome brick building was begun. The former vestry was converted into
a parsonage, and the Rev. Henry Vaughan, son of the late Simon Vaughan,
of St. Martin's, was the minister in charge. The church cost forty
thousand dollars. Mr. Vaughan died in 1864. When Mr. Carey, the present
pastor, arrived in St. John in 1865, the church was being built and he
preached for a while in the basement, and in December, 1866, the first
sermon in the church proper was preached by the same eloquent minister.
A tablet was erected to the memory of his predecessor in the church. In
1873 this church was partially destroyed by fire, but the enterprising
congregation soon had it up again. Thus has this edifice passed through
two ordeals of like character. The church had just begun to recover from
its first disaster. The liberality of its people had placed it out of
debt, and while in the enjoyment of a splendid prosperity it was
stricken down before the very eyes of the powerless people who loved it
most. No one could do anything but watch the rapid demolition, and
behold the rafters swing and the building rock and shake, and observe
the long sinewy flames grapple with the walls and hurl them to the
earth. There were strong men that day who wept when they witnessed the
destruction. And when the sad work was done, some gathered near the
ruins and looked down upon the site that had held a church while they
were yet babes, and old gray-haired veterans who had worshipped here all
their lives, felt that death would not be so bitter now since church and
home were gone forever. The insurance on this church was very light and
the loss is very heavy. The pastor saved literally nothing of his own
effects and his fine library and the intellectual labour of twenty
years, passed from his gaze with the rapidity of the whirlwind.
The fire next crossed the street, and attacked Mr. Harding's houses,
destroying his residence, and that of Mr. Joseph Allison. Queen Street
shared the common fate; and on the side of Germain Street opposite the
church, in the building where Mrs. Crane had her seminary for young
ladies, the inmates were forced to escape in the International steamer,
and get away from the fire by water. The street was impassable, and all
hope of getting through to a locality which had not yet been reached by
the flames had to be abandoned. Terror seized the ladies for the moment,
but the courage which sometimes comes with despair, made them cool
enough to think of the water. The strength of iron came to them, and in
a moment they were saved. It was before this house that a woman fell on
her knees and offered up prayer; and here it was that another woman,
fearing the judgment day at hand, gave utterance to loud wails and
cries, that sent a pang to every heart. In the melee, an old lady
belonging to the Home for the Aged was lost, and her feeble sisters in
adversity moaned and mourned for her all through the night. The next day
she was found, and joy came to some hearts that had known no like
emotion for several years. Those kindly old ladies living so long
together were as one family, and a vacant chair at the table cruelly
reminded them of the broken homes they had too often seen. The houses
across Queen Street, on this same side of Germain Street, were not long
in following. Pagan Place, the old residence of the late Edward Allison,
Stephen Blizard's house on the other side, John W. Cudlip's residence,
in Germain Street, seemed to burn at the same time. The Bay View
Hotel--a valuable structure that reminded the spectator of the old
feudal time, when castles were residences of the great, was erected in
the year 1819, by Henry Wright, Collector, and used as a private
residence up to about twelve years ago. It was built by day's work, and
in those days the workmen received every Saturday night their pay in
Spanish doubloons. Change was very scarce, and there was no paper money.
Mr. Henry Wright died in 1829, and the house then fell into the
occupancy of the late Wm. Wright, Advocate General, and John Boyd, M.D.
Mr. Wilson was its lessee latterly, and it became an hotel under his
management. It held a commanding position, and looked far out to sea.
Strangers always paused to look up to the splendid front and defiant
head, which reminded them of the old strongholds which render historic
every inch of the old land across the blue water. And to-day, the ruins
look even more picturesque and grand than the building did in its
proudest days. Another landmark has been taken away, and it did not long
survive those who dwelt in its spacious halls in the days of the long
ago.
But while the fire was busy with this portion of the City, it was also
extremely active and equally destructive in the lower part of St. John.
The barracks were even burned down long before it was deemed likely that
the Victoria Hotel would go. The sparks travelling in this direction
with great rapidity, soon communicated with the long, low building which
was built for the troops in 1819.[I] The fire, when it reached here had
full scope. Nothing stood in its way, and it really spent its greatest
strength here. The majority of the houses in this quarter were composed
of wood, and so many of them were close together, that four or five
houses were burned to the ground in about the same space that in
ordinary times would be spent in consuming one. The burning of the
barracks was witnessed by several thousand persons, and, for a while
there were some who fancied that the blaze would cease with the
destruction of this property. But, alas, for the fallacy of human hopes.
The great headway of the flame was made, and nothing could stop it, till
from sheer exhaustion, it spent itself. But the eager wind kept fanning
it into fury whenever it shewed signs of abatement and not until it
reached the barren banks along the water's edge did it relinquish its
grasp on men's household goods and homes. Even then it did not stop at
once, for small scrubs of trees, bits of shrubbery and grass fed it for
a while. Indeed the fire may be said to have taken a new lease of life
in those back places, and the rookeries of whole streets were swept into
ruin and their inmates hurried into greater misery than they had ever
known before. In Main Street, St. James (Episcopalian) Church was
burned; it caught very soon from a flying spark. This church was erected
in the summer of 1850 by Trinity Church. The parish was set off from
Trinity in 1852, but the church was built two years before; the dividing
line of the parish was south of Queen Street; the first rector was the
Rev. John Armstrong who was succeeded by his son, Rev. Wm. Armstrong who
held the rectorship nearly twenty years. The building was of the
Gothic cruciform style of architecture and Mr. M. Stead was the
architect. It had no tower. The first wardens were the late John R.
Robinson, Esq., father of the agent in this city of the Bank of Nova
Scotia, and the late Wm. Wright. The church was situate on the south
side of Main Street, between Sydney and Carmarthen Streets and the lots
ran through to Sheffield Street. The Sunday-school building was built in
the rear.
The Sheffield Street Mission House and the Carmarthen Street Mission
House (Methodist) were structures of late origin, and for a while did
much good in the locality where they were placed. The fire visited them
very soon and they were burned in a short time. All along Carmarthen
Street the flames sped quickly, completely encircling every house with
which it came in contact, and whenever they met a crossing street the
fire drove through it with seeming greater fury and impetuosity. The
lately erected Adam's terrace--a row of comfortable dwellings just
finished within the year--burned with a tremendous roar that was heard
above the din, for blocks away. In these houses were the families of
Robt. Turner, Fred. R. Fairweather and W. C. Watson, Esqs., and so
quickly did the flames spread that hardly a stick of furniture was
saved, and hundreds of valuable books were burned. Judge Watters's
residence, the home of Attorney-General King, Henry A. Austin's, Madame
Caritte's, and the Henderson houses, hardly lived thirty minutes in the
winding sheets of flame. The fire came up Carmarthen Street, up
Princess Street, up Leinster Street, up Duke Street, up Orange Street,
to the rear of those streets and down King Street east and also in its
rear on a portion of the south side. Many believed and there seemed good
grounds for that belief, that but for the torch of the incendiary,
Leinster Street would have been preserved. No one doubts but that it was
set on fire by some miscreant either through madness or through the hope
of gain. This is beyond dispute. The fire was going in the opposite
direction, nothing could bring it up towards King Square and the head of
Leinster Street. It was out of all reason to suppose that the sparks
could be carried to these points for the wind was opposite, and the open
square had, till late in the evening, kept the flames away and broke the
connection. The old[J] Hazen House built by Dr. Thomas Paddock, which is
still standing to-day, and passed safely through the fire, stood
invincible at the head of a column of buildings. The fire was confined
to its own seething territory, and this block between Leinster and East
King Street, and the whole of King Square were safe. But as the night
advanced,[K] a house far away from the reach of flying cinders, was
observed on a sudden to be throwing out flames, and from that moment all
knew the eastern portion of the city was doomed to destruction.
Christian Robertson's mammoth stable, with its splendid livery
appointments, and large stock of feed and hay, representing large value,
was only a plaything of the moment. Old St. Malachi's Chapel, the first
Roman Catholic Church in the city, caught from the sparks which were
borne on the breeze from the stable. Its destruction was complete. The
first service held by a clergyman of the Faith in St. John, was in the
City Hall, Market Square, 1813, by Rev. Charles French. St. Malachi's
Chapel was opened by that gentleman, October 1st, 1815. Among the
priests who succeeded him in that place were Father McQuade, who in
1819, had thirty women and thirty-five men for a congregation, and
Fathers Macmahon, Carrol, and Dumphy. Mr. Carrol came from Halifax, and
was the nephew of the first Roman Catholic Bishop of the Maritime
Provinces--Bishop Burk. Of late years St. Malachi's was used for school,
lecture, bazaar, and other purposes. Some of the most eloquent efforts
of J. C. Ferguson and R. J. Ritchie, have been delivered from the
platform of this Hall, on temperance and other topics. St. Malachi's was
used as a church until the cathedral was opened under Bishop Connolly's
charge. The St. Vincent De Paul Society met in this hall for several
years, as well as those other excellent institutions, the C. T. A. and
St. Joseph's Societies.
FOOTNOTES:
[G] Smith's History of Virginia, Ed. of 1627, on large paper:
Smith's History of New York, large paper edition, 1758, presentation
copy to Governor Ellis, of Georgia: and a very valuable historical
library on New England and Acadian History.
[H] This was the old Friary.
[I] Before this the troops lived on Fort Howe Hill, and the
artillery at Hare's Wharf.
[J] The lot where the Hazen House now stands (King Square) was
bought in 1790, by Mr. Thomas Horsfield for £6 5s., and sold by him five
years later for £5, to a number of gentlemen who erected a grist mill
there. In 1800, they abandoned the enterprise, and in 1818, the spot was
used as a barracks at the time when one-third of the militia were called
out for a few months, when war with the United States was threatened. A
day or two after the fire in June, 1877, the Bank of New Brunswick
opened a temporary office there for a few days, and a soldier of the
97th regiment kept guard over the building at night. Some of the 62nd
also did duty here.
[K] The fire broke out in rear of Dr. Boyle Travers' residence.
CHAPTER VII.
A hard-working Manager--The Dramatic Lyceum--The Temperance
Hall--The Water-Works Building--A Hard Fight--Another Rush of
the Homeless--The Weary March of the Unfortunates--History of
the Water Supply--Early Struggles--Changes--The Old Way--The
St. John Water Company--Placed in Commission--The Company
To-day.
The cosy Dramatic Lyceum, endeared to old theatre-goers on account of
many pleasant memories, was reduced to ashes after the fire had
destroyed the marble establishments of Jas. and Robt. Milligan and S. P.
Osgood. Like Robertson's stable it was not long in the throes of
dissolution, for it parted company with the earth in a few brief
moments. It had been built a score of years and more, and for a long
time it was the chief place of amusement in the city. Its builder was
the father of theatricals in St. John, and no man ever did more for his
chosen profession than he. He worked with the vigour which only an
enthusiast feels, and now at the close of his long managerial career,
extending over a quarter of a century, he can look back with pride and
satisfaction on the work he has done. He has taught the people all they
know of dramatic affairs to-day. He has educated and elevated their
tastes, and by the production of the great masterpieces of Shakespeare,
Jonson, Massenger, Bulwer, Goldsmith and Sheridan, he has instilled into
the minds of the citizens a love of all that is admirable and beautiful
in our common literature. He it was, who at great pecuniary sacrifice
brought such an artist as Charles Mathews here, and it was under his
management that Charles Dillon, E. L. Davenport, Frederic Robinson,
Wyzeman Marshall and the famous comedian, Wm. J. Le Moyne,[L] played
short engagements in our city. When the plain, but comfortable Lyceum
was built, it was the first step towards a regular theatre that had been
made, and in his early days Mr. Lanergan had much to contend against and
many old prejudices to break down. A hundred arguments were brought to
bear against his enterprise. Many good people, unskilled in the
knowledge of the world, and who had never in their lives attended a
theatre, were the most open in their denunciation of it and its
teachings. Fathers were exhorted to keep their boys at home, and men and
women were enjoined not to attend the performances in this "devil's
house." But Mr. Lanergan showed his patrons that he could furnish a
species of amusement harmless in its character and respectable in its
quality. He selected from the wide range of plays only those which
taught good lessons, and the ladies and gentlemen he secured to give
utterance to the thoughts of the masters in literature, were persons of
irreproachable character and conduct. He saw his efforts rewarded at
length, and during the last ten years of his career his audiences
comprised the _elite_ of the city. The old Lyceum was ever a pleasant
place. It was cosy and easy and roomy, and one could always see an
acceptable performance on its little stage. The building was sold to
the Irish Friendly Society a few months ago and it was used by them for
concerts, entertainments, &c. On the night of the fire it was under
engagement to a minstrel party.[M]
After this temple of art was overthrown the fire burned along the square
till it struck the Hazen building, now owned by C. M. Bostwick, who had
but recently renovated it from top to bottom. But this corner house was
too much for the fire, the fiend was baffled in its object, and though
late through the night it made several inefficient attempts to raise its
head, when the morning dawned, the Hazen Building was still safe and
defiant, for the flames were at its feet helpless and weak. The fire
crept along the square and passed the burned district when it divided
itself into two wings. The right body went up Leinster Street, and the
left wing proceeded around by the square, attacked the Court House, was
repulsed, when it burned the buildings adjoining No. 2 Engine House, and
made a sortie in rear of the jail. It was well nigh successful in its
object, and indeed a portion of this edifice was burned. The prisoners
were made secure, and a grand exit took place under the immediate
supervision of Deputy Sheriff Rankine. Two or three of the culprits
managed to escape, but they returned next day, after wandering about the
city, and gave themselves up, fearing lest they would starve in the
desolate and destitute town. The jail successfully resisted the flames,
but not so the old Temperance Hall which stood beside it. This
antiquated and wholly unattractive meeting-house was put up about thirty
years ago, and was originally intended for a school in connection with
the poor-house, which stood on the corner of Carmarthen and East King
Streets. The Temperance Order was organized in St. John, May 12th, 1847,
and the leading men were Hon. S. L. Tilley, C.B., Lieut.-Governor of the
Province, Chas. A. Everett, the Smilers, John Rankine, W. H. A. Keans,
S. B. Paterson, O. D. Wetmore, and of late years, Samuel Tufts, Edw.
Willis, A. G. Blakslee, J. A. S. Mott, and Sheriff Harding. The
organization met in King Street till they were burned out, after which
they settled in the Temperance Hall near the jail, where they have
remained ever since. The interior of this block was burned, and only the
Court House, which was opened for the first time for Supreme Court uses
by Judge Botsford at the January Circuit of 1830, the Registry Office,
and the City Prison were left. It was only by dint of the most strenuous
exertions that these buildings were kept proof against the levelling
qualities of the left wing, which again and again reared its front till
it was firmly laid low at eleven in the evening of that terrible day.
The old poor-house in Carmarthen Street was hemmed in by the united
forces of left and right, and it easily succumbed without even a show of
resistance. The defence of the office of the Superintendent of Water
Supply[N] was one of the memorable events in connection with the history
of the fire. In the yard people from all quarters of the city had stored
their goods in the vain hope that the fire could never reach them. The
situation of the office seemed to promise safety. It was far away from
the business portion of the town, and no one dreamed of its being
attacked from the contingent which moved along Carmarthen Street. Here
at least many persons thought, was a place of safety. From four o'clock
in the afternoon, while the rich row of buildings in the Market Square
were struggling against overwhelming odds, load after load of furniture,
merchandise and general chattels poured into the spacious yard, and even
the office itself was for a time a vast warehouse. It was only when the
work of the incendiary showed itself in Leinster Street and old
Malachi's toppled over, that the destruction of the well-equipped office
was considered imminent. Then it was that heart-sick and weary men and
women, who had worked all day, and who had lost nearly all they
possessed, and had hoped what little they had taken to the water-office
yard would be saved, began to realize the situation. Where could they go
now? Where could they take the only remnants which reminded them of the
bright home they had had that morning. Twice had they gathered up the
fragments, and in each removal the little heap grew smaller than before.
But it was worse now. In the afternoon teams could be had for five
dollars a load, and now as high as thirty, and even fifty dollars were
refused by inhuman drivers. Calamities sometimes make barbarians of men,
and the nearer the flames got, and the hotter the breath of the fire
became, the more exorbitant was the price asked by owners of vehicles,
and the more inhumanity mankind exhibited. Women cried and groaned as
they fell on all that was left, and some begged piteously for help. But
when they got a dray or a sloven, where could they go? The wild behemoth
could overtake them where'er they went. But on came the fire, both sides
of the street, back again by Carmarthen Street, up by Carmarthen Street.
Here the force united, and crushing out all before it, drove with
tremendous energy and iron-like rigour into the very heart of the
building. In an instant it was on fire in ten places, and the huge pipes
alongside that looked so like an array of mounted cannon, were all that
remained in the yard the next day. The blacksmith shop, oil-house,
stable, and everything near showed scarcely a trace of what they had
been. The great bulk of the valuable records, papers and plans and
specifications of the office were saved through the untiring vigilance
of the superintendent, his valuable aids and the workmen in the employ
of the Company. Nothing, indeed, that could not be replaced in a little
time was lost.
In this connection, a brief sketch of the water supply of St. John will
not be without interest. It is only half a century ago that the
inhabitants of this city were dependent on wells for the water which
they drank and used. Even at later date than that it used to be sold
about the streets from tall casks, at a penny a bucketful. The chief
wells were in King's Square, Blockhouse Hill--the vantage ground of many
a well-contested fisticuff battle between the rising generation;
Princess Street, near Charlotte; Queen Square, the foot of Poor House
Hill, which in winter made such a splendid coasting road; and in
Portland close by the first public hydrant, now in Main Street. In
1820, agitation was made for a better system of water supply; but it was
not until 1825 that the question took definite shape, and an Act for the
incorporation of a water company, with a capital of £10,000 passed the
Legislature. Surveys were at once made, and estimates were laid before
the stockholders, but the capital subscribed was deemed insufficient to
enable them to go on with the work in hand. The money was accordingly
lent out on interest until the next year, when each stockholder received
back the sum he had paid in, with three per cent. added. A number of new
wells were sunk at once, and every effort made to secure for the people
a fuller supply. In 1832, Hon. William Black, Nehemiah Merritt, James
White, John Ward, George D. Robinson, Thomas Barlow, Hugh Johnston, John
M. Wilmot, James Hendricks, Thomas Millidge, Robert W. Crookshank,
Zalmon Wheeler, Robert Parker, William B. Kinnear, Richard Sands,
Lauchlan Donaldson, Charles Simonds, James T. Hanford, William Leavitt,
and Noah Disbrow had an Act passed for the Incorporation of the St. John
Water Company. It started with a subscribed capital of £20,000, five per
cent. of which was to be paid in a year from the date of the passing of
the Act. The shares were placed at £5 each. Directors were to be elected
every year, and consist of thirteen in number, and seven of the old
directors were to remain in office each year. In 1834, a new Act was
passed, amending the one which was sanctioned two years previously, but
the Company was not regularly organized until 1837. Colonel Baldwin,
C.E., during this year, made surveys, and on his advice the first
practical attempt at bringing the water into the city from Lily Lake was
made. An engineer was appointed, and, under his management, the first
City Water Works were built. The water was not brought, as in the
opinion of eminent engineers it should have been, directly from Lily
Lake to the city by its own gravitation, but was taken from the tail of
Gilbert's Mill, and conducted thence by a sluice to a reservoir or a
cistern, which was placed a few yards to the south-west of the
Marsh-bridge. An engine and pumping-house was erected over the cistern,
a steam-engine and gear were procured, and the water was sent through a
ten-inch main to the reservoir, which was on Block House Hill. The water
was first brought through the pipes to the city in October, 1838. The
supply passed through a very limited number of pipes, and the
inhabitants, up to 1850, could only get water two hours each morning.
The Company, from its first organization, suffered the pangs of
financial troubles. The stock had met with many takers, who subscribed
readily, but when called on for their payments failed to respond. A loan
of £5,000 was received from the Legislature, which relieved the company
somewhat for the nonce. In 1850, an appeal was made to the citizens on
public grounds, and they were earnestly solicited to take up the new
shares which were offered. The money from this source was to be applied
to the extending of the works to, and bringing the water from, Little
River at Scott's Mill, five miles away from the city. This course had
been recommended by Chas. W. Fairbanks, Esq., C.E., of Halifax, under
whose supervision the water had been introduced into that city. The city
took up 900 shares, and private individuals bought the balance. The site
at Scott's Mill was purchased, a small dam was built, and a twelve-inch
main, four and a half miles in length, was laid. This main the company
connected with the ten-inch main that was laid in 1837-8. The same main
is still perfect, and to-day works as well as ever. In 1852 an Act was
passed, authorizing a further increase in the capital to the amount of
£10,000, to be made preference stock. This was necessary to meet the
growing demand of consumers, and to enable the company to extend their
pipes through the streets. In April, 1855, an Act was passed to allow
the company to transfer their property and works to the City Corporation
and Sessions. This step was deemed prudential for many reasons, the
chief of which was the great difficulty the company experienced in
running the water and sewerage systems separately. The conveyance was
made. The Act authorized the Commissioners to issue debentures, bearing
six per cent. interest, payable half-yearly, and redeemable at periods
not exceeding forty years from their date. Two of the commissioners, one
of whom should be chairman, were to be appointed by the Common Council,
and another by the County Sessions. John Sears, Esq.--who lost in the
great fire all his private papers, historical recollections which he had
been collecting for forty years, and a number of rare oil paintings and
portraits, an irreparable loss--was the first chairman, with the late
John M. Walker, and John Owens, Esquires, as Commissioners. In 1864,
Edward E. Lockhart, Esq., the present chairman, was appointed to the
office, and the late Thomas King, and J. D. Woodworth, Esquires,
Commissioners. On Mr. King's death, Mr. Stephen K. Brundage was
appointed, and Mr. William Seely took Mr. Woodworth's place.
[Illustration: VIEW FROM QUEEN SQUARE.]
The first step taken by the commission was the improvement of the works.
The dam at Little River reservoir was built higher and stronger, and
during the progress of operations on it, it burst twice, and Gilbert
Murdoch, Esq., the chief engineer, narrowly escaped drowning on one of
these occasions. A twenty-four inch main was laid from the reservoir,
and almost at the same time, and for most of its length, beside the ten
inch main put down in 1850. This came across the Marsh bridge, and was
connected, along with the twelve inch main, with an iron chamber, from
which the water flowed into the original ten inch main, running up
Brussels Street to the reservoir; a twelve inch main up Waterloo Street;
a twelve inch main which went by the city road to Portland, and mains
which have been put down later. The reservoir in Leinster Street was
also thoroughly improved.
A new twelve inch main was laid up Erin Street, through St. Patrick and
Wentworth Streets, to Princess, in 1868. The twelve inch main that is
laid up Waterloo street, also goes along Sydney to Princess streets, and
the Portland twelve inch main is extended nearly to the spot where the
defunct street railway stables were, on Main Street, where an eight inch
pipe joins it, and carries the water as far as Rankin's mill, by way of
the steamboat wharves.
This brings the history of the water supply down to about nine years
ago. Since that time, the progress which has been made upon it has been
great and rapid. A vast amount of money and skill have been expended to
bring the works down to the splendid state of perfection in which they
are now. The water supply is excellent, and the system of sewerage is
unsurpassed anywhere. Under great natural difficulties the work has been
prosecuted, but the engineers and their workmen, by dint of
perseverance, have surmounted the many obstacles which beset them on
every side. Before leaving this subject, a remark or two may be made
about the source from which our people receive their supply of water.
The Victoria spring is situate on a hill-side, about a mile this side of
Loch Lomond. Its waters form the head of Little River. Lake Donaldson is
near the spring, and the Victoria is supposed to drain it. The stream
from the spring flows into Douglas Lake, a sheet of water on the south
side of the Loch Lomond road, eight miles from the Marsh Bridge. It is
three miles from Lake Douglas to the reservoir. Lake Latimer, one of the
feeders of Little River on the south side, is nearly as high as Loch
Lomond. Its waters are as clear as crystal. Lake Buck, which also flows
into Little River, lies about a quarter of a mile away from it. Long's
Lake which is on the right side of Little River as it flows towards
Courteney Bay, is about a mile to the north of Loch Lomond Road, and
empties itself into the reservoir. That a still further head may be had
when wanted, the Commissioners purchased land through which they can
bring a strong supply of water from Loch Lomond. There is an abundance
of water in Little River for the immediate requirements of the city, but
the supply can be doubled easily by tapping Loch Lomond.
The water in the Little River Reservoir is one hundred and sixty feet
above high tide level; and in the Leinster Street Reservoir it is one
hundred and thirty-two feet. A good deal of nonsense, during the
excitement of the present fire, was talked about an inadequate supply of
water to meet the wants of the exigency, but this was found to be
fallacious. There was plenty of water all the time, and while there was
much reckless and needless waste, there was sufficient of the element to
meet the demands of the firemen and hose-men. It is a popular cry to
raise at a fire which cannot be got under way, that there is no water.
On the best authority the writer is happy to be able to place it on
record that the supply of water was in every way adequate to the
requirements of the hour.
FOOTNOTES:
[L] Mr. Le Moyne's second appearance in St. John was at the
Academy of Music, in October, 1876, when he appeared in a round of
favourite characters from dramatizations of Dickens' novels, under the
management of Mr. Charles H. Thayer, of Boston.
[M] As many readers take interest in the programmes used on
first nights of theatres we give a copy of Mr. Lanergan's opening bill,
at the Lyceum. It runs as follows:
ST. JOHN DRAMATIC LYCEUM.
SOUTH SIDE KING'S SQUARE, ST. JOHN, N. B.
_Manager and Proprietor_ MR. J. W. LANERGAN.
_Stage Director_ FRANK REA.
_Scenic Artist_ D. A. STRONG.
_Machinist and Property Maker_ D. J. MORIARTY.
_Ticket Master_ T. A. ALLISON.
"Those who live to please,
Must please to live!"
GRAND OPENING NIGHT!
The above new and elegant place of amusement will open for the
first regular Dramatic Season, on Monday evening, June 15, 1857,
with a full, Efficient and Talented Dramatic Company,--comprising
the following well known Ladies and Gentlemen:
Mr. W. A. DONALDSON, }
" N. DAVENPORT, } From the Boston Theatre.
" N. C. FORRESTER, }
" FRANK REA From Wallack's Theatre, New York.
" F. S. BUXTON. From the Canadian Theatres.
G. F. TYRRELL; J. C. WALLACE; E. B. HOLMES; D. J. MORIARTY; P.
MORIARTY AND J. W. LANERGAN,
Mrs. J. W. LANERGAN, }
" FRANK REA, } From Wallack's Theatre, New York.
Miss E. HOMAN From the Boston Theatres.
Mrs. F. S. BUXTON " Canadian "
" J. C. WALLACE
" N. C. FORRESTER " Boston "
and " J. C. MORIARTY " " "
_The entertainment will commence as above with the National Anthem!_
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN,
By the Orchestra.--After which an Original opening Address written,
and to be delivered by
G. F. TYRRELL.
To be followed by Sir E. L. BULWER'S Chaste and Elegant Comedy in
5 acts, entitled
MONEY!
"'Tis a very good world that we live in,
To lend, or to spend, to give in,--
But to beg, or to borrow, or to get a man's own,
'Tis the very worst world that ever was known."
Alfred Evelyn Mr. J. W. LANERGAN.
Benjamin Stout, Esq. (first appearance) FRANK REA.
Sir John Vesey " " N. C. FORRESTER.
Lord Glossmore G. F. TYRRELL.
Mr. Graves (first appearance) Mr. F. S. BUXTON.
Sir Fredk. Blunt " " N. DAVENPORT.
Capt. Dudley Smooth " " W. A. DONALDSON.
Sharp J. C. WALLACE.
Toke (first appearance) D. J. MORIARTY.
Clara Douglas Mrs. J. W. LANERGAN.
Lady Franklyn (first appearance) Mrs. FRANK REA.
Georgina Mrs. J. C. WALLACE.
_The entertainments of the evening will conclude with the Amusing
farce, with_ NEW READING, of
MR. & MRS. PETER WHITE.
Mr. Peter White Mr. F. S. BUXTON.
Major Pepper " N. C. FORRESTER.
Frank Brown " E. B. HOLMES.
Widow White Mrs. J. W. LANERGAN.
Mrs. Peter White " FRANK REA.
Kitty Clover " J. C. WALLACE.
_PRICES OF ADMISSION._
Parquette 1s. 3d.--Dress Circle 2s. 6d.--Private and Family
Boxes $4, 5 & 6 each.
==> Private and Family boxes can be secured in advance by application
at the Box Office.
DOORS OPEN AT HALF PAST 7--COMMENCE AT 8.
_Ladies unaccompanied by gentlemen not admitted._
Good order is expected and will be rigidly enforced.
PRINTED AT DAY'S JOB OFFICE, 4 MARKET STREET.
[N] On these premises was situated the St. John Meteorological
Observatory. This was destroyed, but all the instruments belonging to
the Dominion were saved. Night and day observations have been made here
under the superintendence of Gilbert Murdoch Esq., C. E., during the
last 25 years.
CHAPTER VIII
Burning of the Leinster Street Baptist Church--The Varley
School--Centenary Chapel--The Gas Works--$17,000 worth of Coal
burn in Ten Days--The Tall Sentinel--St. David's Church--The
Reformed Presbyterian Church--The Victoria School--Gigantic
Ruins--An Accident--Sketch of the School-house.
After destroying the fence which enclosed the premises of the Water
Company, the fire crossed the street, burned Mr. Wm. Murdoch, jr.'s,
house, and turned its attention to the Leinster Street Baptist Church,
which was soon brought to the level of the earth. This building was
cleanly and squarely burned, and nothing approaching to the semblance of
an edifice could be seen on the spot half-an-hour after the fire ceased.
The building was completely swept away. The corporate body of the church
was organized in 1858, under the pastorate of the Rev. E. B. Demill, son
of Nathan S. Demill, with a membership of sixteen. The church was begun
1861, and in two months and a half the basement was finished and ready
for service. In three years afterwards the church proper was completed,
and the parsonage was erected in 1874. The former cost $13,000, and the
latter $6,500. The second minister who presided over this congregation,
was the Rev. W. V. Garner, who officiated for the first time in 1864. He
was succeeded, in 1867, by Rev. W. S. Mackenzie, a trenchant writer and
an excellent reasoner. The Rev. J. D. Pope followed him in 1874, and was
the pastor of the church at the time of the conflagration. The early
deacons and prominent men of the church, were the late Nathan S. Demill
and Saml. Kinsman. Hon. A. McL. Seely, A. W. Masters, J. F. Marsters,
and Stephen E. Gerow are the present deacons. The building was fully
insured, and after the church debt of $3,000 is paid, the people will
have about $15,000 with which to commence re-building.
The old Varley Wesleyan day-school, a brick building which a prominent
Methodist--the late Mark Varley--designed for the purpose of educating,
free, the poor belonging to his faith, made a resolute stand against the
forces of the leveller. But in vain was water dashed upon the building.
The intense heat drove the people back and no efforts of man could
prevent the school-house from being in the end subdued. This property
was erected a little more than twenty years ago and served its purpose
long and well. A first-class education could be gained here. The
teachers were usually men of brains, and the system employed for
imparting instruction was simple and efficacious. After the school law
came into force this school was no longer necessary under its old
management, and the school trustees leased the building from the Varley
Trustees, and it was used as an advanced school, at the time of the
fire. The building occupied two stories. The upper room was used for
girls and the lower apartment for boys.
The rear of Centenary Chapel adjoined the Varley school, and being built
of wood and very large, it went up in a sea of flame without warning.
The church was opened on its present site, corner of Princess and
Wentworth streets, in 1839, the first Sunday after the fire in Dock
street, and was designed by Mr. Burpee, an American architect. Mr. W. B.
Frost put up the frame. The Rev. Dr. Wood, of Toronto, in 1838 preached
the sermon on the laying of the corner-stone, and after the church was
built he officiated for some years till 1846 when he left St. John. He
was succeeded by the Rev. Henry Daniel and Rev. Mr. Sutcliffe, whose
ministry lasted some three years. Rev. Dr. Knight and Rev. Mr. Cooney
followed for four years. Then Rev. Messrs. James Hennigar and Cardy were
the ministers for three years. Rev. Mr. Albrighton and Rev. Dr. Stewart,
and Rev. Mr. Botterel held service for three years more. The Rev.
Messrs. John McMurray and Wm. Wilson, were the clergymen for three
years, and Rev. J. R. Narraway followed with Rev. Dr. Richey for the
same period. After them came for two years Rev. Mr. England, who in his
turn was followed by Rev. Mr. Lathern for three years and Rev. Donald
Currie for two years. Rev. Dr. Henry Pope, who published a year ago, an
acceptable series of sermons in two volumes, entitled, "Draughts from
the Living Fountain," succeeded him for three years, and Rev. Howard
Sprague, one of the most eloquent and popular divines in the conference
was the last clergyman of this church. He was elected to proceed to
England shortly after the burning, to get subscriptions and assistance
for the rebuilding of the chapel. This church occupied the north-west
corner of Princess and Wentworth Streets. The other three corners
contained three splendid residences, those of J. V. Troop and Chas.
McLauchlan, jr., Esqs., Simeon Jones and Alexander Lockhart, Esqs. These
houses being solidly built and very strong were a good while in burning,
but they went at last and a large portion of the furniture and other
household goods that were got into the street were stolen afterwards by
the ghouls which infested the place. One lady lost in this way a
valuable box of furs, another her jewelry and a third a work-box of
ornate design and curious pattern, which contained many little
nick-nacks of value and interest. In this street depredations of a
wholesale nature went on unchecked all through the night. The houses of
Mr. W. C. Godsoe and Mr. T. Amos Godsoe were both burned, and a house
near by was pillaged by the mob even while the walls were swaying to and
fro. Mr. J. W. Scammell's house on Princess Street and Mrs. Chas.
Patton's residence caught fire from blazing brands which consumed them
speedily, and the heavens were soon alive with burning bits of wood,
which being borne on the breeze sailed lightsomely away. The fire burned
several houses in Pitt Street, and though the occupants of Orange
Terrace moved out quickly, their residences were saved, the paint only
on the doors and front being singed.
[Illustration: The Burland Desbarats Lith. Co. Montreal
WENTWORTH STREET.]
The Gas house which is located on Carmarthen Street was long in
catching, but when the fire did reach it, its destruction was one of the
most beautiful sights which were witnessed that night. An immense heap
of coal took fire and the flames mounted to the sky. The great blaze
lasted nine or ten days afterwards and the value of the coal was over
$17,000. Nothing was left on the spot but the tall sentinel-like
chimney, blackened in the fire, and standing like a monument over the
wreck of an institution, which the morning before represented a value
exceeding two hundred and sixty thousand dollars. The company under the
excellent direction of Robert Blair, Esq., the President, had just
received a new lease of life and impetus. Since his assumption of the
duties of the office, the stock rapidly rose in value, the price of gas
was reduced, and improvements on a large scale had been inaugurated. In
a single night these works were swept away and only blackened heaps of
ruin remain. But the energy of Robert Blair has not departed, and in
less than six months gas will again burn as brightly as ever in the less
luxuriant halls of the stricken population who can afford it. The works
were built in 1845, and in the evening of the 18th of September of the
same year, gas was first turned on in St. John. Philip Peebles, Esq., C.
E., now of Quebec, was the engineer who furnished the plans, and Geo.
Peebles, Esq., C. E., was the Superintending Engineer. The latter
remained for a time and took charge. The first Secretary Treasurer was
Mr. Robert Reed. Mr. Gilbert Murdoch C. E. was Superintendent of the
works, and had charge of the pipe-laying and distributing arrangements.
Mr. Robert Britain, the present Secretary, succeeded Mr. Reed in the
office, and was subsequently appointed Manager, Robert Blair, Esq., was
made President but a short time since. The price of gas up to 19th June
1877, was $3.00 per thousand feet.
[Illustration: The Burland Desbarats Lith. Co. Montreal
BURNT DISTRICT, SHOWING GAS HOUSE CHIMNEY AND SMOKING RUINS, TAKEN FROM
LOWER COVE.
Photo by G. F. Simonson.]
One hundred thousand feet of gas were in the holder's close, and the
flames not a block away. The direst danger was imminent, and an
explosion terrible in its character might occur at any minute. No one
can say how many lives might have been lost, or how much valuable
property destroyed. No provision had been made to prevent this blow-up,
when Mr. Robert Britain with a prudence and forethought wonderful in a
time like the present, sought the President and pointed out to him the
vast extent of the danger which was so near. Mr. Blair immediately gave
Mr. Britain full charge, who notwithstanding that his own private
residence was being burned before his eyes, and his furniture and books,
wholly uninsured, were being swept away, stuck to his post like a hero
and averted a calamity, which might have resulted in the instant death
of hundreds of people. Such grand conduct as this deserves more than a
mere mention. Words are weak rewards for such conduct.
[Illustration: The Burland Desbarats Lith. Co. Montreal
WESTERN SIDE OF CITY, TAKEN FROM LOWER COVE, SHOWING
RUINS OF GAS WORKS.
Photo. by Simonson.]
Leinster Street was burned wholly, both sides down to Pitt Street where
the fire ceased, excepting one house, on either side which were spared.
The whole of East King Street, south side, from the jail to Pitt Street,
Princess Street both sides to Pitt Street were all destroyed. Mr. J. S.
Turner's walls in Princess Street remain in fair condition, but the
house is totally gutted. Orange Street fared the same fate. The handsome
residences of A. C. Smith, H. D. Troop, J. A. Venning and J. W. Hall,
Esqs., were devoured early by the flames. On Sydney Street two churches
suffered severely. Both of these were of the Presbyterian faith, St.
David's (Free) and the Reformed Presbyterian Kirk. The former situate in
Sydney Street, was built in 1850, and Rev. Dr. Thompson, afterwards an
eminent divine of New York, was its first pastor, and preached the
opening sermon in the new kirk. Before the kirk was erected, this body
worshipped in the old St. Stephen building, King Square, and Dr.
Thompson preached there when the congregation gathered. The Rev. Wm.
Ferrie, at one time editor of a little journal called _The Protestant_,
was the second minister, and on his retirement from his charge, he was
succeeded by the Rev. Neil McKay, and Mr. Ferrie went to New York. Mr.
McKay was followed by the present pastor, the Rev. Dr. David Waters,
whose loss in the fire was very large, the greater part of his library
having been burned. The Doctor was away at the time in Halifax, and only
reached the city when all was lost.
The Rev. A. McL. Stavely is the senior Presbyterian clergyman of St.
John. He came to the city in the ship _Eagle_, August 3rd, 1841, having
been ordained minister at Kilbrought, Ireland, June 12th, of the same
year. On the 7th of August, 1841, he preached his first sermon in the
first Reformed Presbyterian Church which was then in the building in
Lower Cove, opposite the Public Schools, known as the Wheeler property.
He was the first minister of that denomination who came to the city, and
has continued ever since in charge of this body. In 1850, the Lower Cove
Church was sold, and has been since used for manufacturing purposes.
The church on the corner of Princess and Sydney Streets, and which was
burned, was erected in 1850. The house adjoining and which was
originally intended as a parsonage, was purchased by Mr. Stavely, as his
private house, and he has been living in it for twenty-seven years. In
1870, at a cost of $2,000, the basement of the church was excavated, and
a fine new hall for general purposes was made. By the fire Mr. Stavely
loses heavily, and his library, the accumulation of many years, was
destroyed.
Probably, the greatest wreck of the day was the destruction of the
costly and splendid new Victoria School--a building which presented a
massive front, and occupied a commanding position on the corner of Duke
and Sydney Streets. This was the edifice which many who lived up the
street as far as Carmarthen Street firmly believed would act as a
barrier to the flames, and keep off the fire from their houses. Some so
implicitly believed this that until the high walls fairly bent over, not
an effort was made to remove even a picture from the rooms. O, said the
householders on Upper Duke street, that immense pile will never burn; we
are safe enough. But the proud edifice where a thousand children
received daily a free education, did burn, and the sight though
terrible, was one of the most impressive of the day. Now there was
hurrying and packing in three score houses at once, and loud cries to
teamsters and shrieks to servants and porters rent the air. Those, who
talked the loudest before the school was in ashes, exhibited the
greatest despair when they saw what they believed up to this moment to
be their surest safeguard, encircled in the fury of the flames, going
down before their eyes. First the wood-work around the sashes gave way,
and lights shot from half a hundred windows, and the crash of glass as
it was hurled to the pavement showed that the great fire had abated not
a jot. The hot slates on the roof came down the giddy height in scores,
and one man pinned to the earth by a falling slate was carried away
insensible of pain but with a two-inch wound upon his scalp. The flames
crackled for a while and then the dull, heavy sound of weighty bodies
falling inside sent a shudder through the waiting, watching crowd below.
The woodwork snapped and sang in the blaze, and the great stones on the
windows and cornices crumbled into fragments. And still the watchful and
waiting crowd stood in the street, straining their eyes trying to look
through the smoke, and seemingly unable to comprehend it all. It was
only a building that was burning after all. Only another splendid
edifice to add to the total of this day's fell work. Yes, this was the
last, surely it might be spared. But the despoiler would not leave one.
All, all must be swept away in the general scourge.
As the last vestige of the school-house went down all hope for the city
passed away from men's minds. If that strong building could go so
easily, where would the fire end. Men who had lost their stores and
houses wandered about aimlessly, surveying the work of sorrow that was
going on so unceasingly and relentlessly. It was a hopeless thing now to
try to save anything.
The Victoria School-house, of which an illustration is given, was begun
in the spring of 1875, and was occupied in the following May. Messrs.
McKean & Fairweather made the design, and it was erected under their
supervision, by Messrs. Flood & Prince. It cost $46,000; heating,
$4,000. The workmanship and materials employed in its construction were
of the most substantial character. The foundation was on piles, capped
with Georgia pine; and the basement above ground was faced with granite.
The fronts were of pressed brick, relieved with Preston bands, window
heads and cornices. The slope of the roof was slated and the deck was
gravel roofed. The building was 82 feet on Duke Street and 68 feet on
Sydney Street, three stories with high French roof, and a basement 12
feet high. The basement contained two play-rooms, janitor's apartments
and furnaces and fuel. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd floors contained four rooms
each, 28 x 32, with clothes-rooms and teachers' closets. The top floor
had two rooms, 26 x 30, and a large Exhibition Hall, 16 feet high, 26 x
75. These rooms were separated by folding doors and could be thrown into
one room on occasion. The building was heated by hot water, and ample
provision was secured for ventilation by means of tubes carried between
the floors and entered through a main central shaft through the centre
of which the wrought iron smoke pipe was carried. A central projection
on Duke Street of 4 x 24 feet was brought up as a tower, above the main
roof and finished with a steep high roof. This roof and the main roof
were finished with a cast iron cresting. The lot was enclosed with a
neat iron railing set in a free stone wall. The school-house was well
equipped with furniture.
[Illustration: VICTORIA SCHOOL HOUSE, CORNER OF DUKE AND SYDNEY
STREETS.]
In Duke Street the meeting-house of the Disciples of Christ (Christians)
was situate. This church was built of wood and of course burned very
rapidly. The members had their first place of worship in Charlotte
Street where Mr. Jack's buildings were. About twenty years ago they
removed to this building in Duke Street. Brother Tuttle was the first
pastor and Mr. Eaton was the second, Bro. Patterson the next, and Elder
Geo. W. Garrity was the fourth and last. A few years ago a division took
place in the church, and a new edifice was built at the head of
Jeffrey's Hill, and about half of the members of the old congregation
linked their fortunes with the new order of things.
The old Madras School on the south side of Duke Street, and the Roman
Catholic School-house on Sydney Street, adjoining the Victoria School
and which was formerly taught by the Christian brothers were burned
also.
CHAPTER IX.
Queen Square--Incidents in the Burning--The Old Pitcher--"God is
burning up the World, and He won't make another"--Saved from the
flames--Overtaken by Fire three times--The Night of Terror on Queen
Square--Alone amidst Perils--The Lone House on the Square--Three
People under a Table--The sailor--"If I Die to-night sir, hunt them
up"--The escape--The Deserted Streets--An Anomaly--The Marine
Hospital--What a few Buckets of Water Did--The Wiggins Orphan
Asylum--The block in Canterbury street--The _News_ office--Savings
Bank.
Some of the most terrible incidents of the fire took place during the
burning of Queen Square. The flames carrying away Mr. Manson's residence
on the corner of Sydney Street and the square, had entered Mr. A. L.
Palmer's house soon afterwards, and then the whole block was hurried to
destruction. The square was filled with the savings of the people, not
alone of those who lived hard by, but many things were here that had
been carried to the vacant space from a long distance early that day.
There was bedding in abundance, and all round about little heaps of
general household stuff lay guarded by women and boys. This for a time
was the haven of safety, and the broad field looked like a vast
warehouse. Chairs and bedsteads and even stoves and old pipes were piled
in hopeless confusion one upon the other. In the hurry people had taken
that which they had seen first, and the common things of the kitchen
were saved while the rich furniture of the drawing-room was left to
perish. A man congratulated himself upon saving an old tub and a
dipper, while the books in the library lay untouched save by the fire,
and private papers that he could easily have slipped into his pocket,
burned before his eyes. A lady told her husband to be careful and take a
bag which contained the massive silver plate of her family for a
century, and in the moving it was found that he had saved the rag-bag
instead. A man who had been a prosperous merchant lost his all, and the
little savings he had scraped together in a decade of years seemed to
melt before him, but he that night knelt and thanked his God that his
wife and child were by his side. These treasures were near him and all
else might go. He had his strong and willing hands still left, and a
firm spirit, and though for a while he would miss the little comforts he
had been accustomed to, yet would he battle with the world again, and in
the coming years try to win back some of the fruits he had lost. Men in
the excitement knew not what to take first, and pianos were thrown out
of three-story windows, while carpets that had worn worthily and well
till they had become heir-looms in the family, were carefully borne down
stairs on the broad shoulders of stout porters. A thousand human beings
stood in the square watching the flames lashing the buildings before
them. John Boyd, Esq's residence, one of the handsomest buildings in the
city, richly furnished and equipped with costly books, was attacked on
both sides, and soon forced to yield and go down like the less
substantial buildings at its side. The house of G. B. Cushing, Esq., was
of wood, and it was not long before the site on which it stood was
level with the ground. Before the house of Mr. E. L. Jewett, once the
home of the late Dr. Gray, had taken fire, a gentleman tried to save it
by standing on the roof and dashing a pitcher of water on the sparks as
they caught vulnerable spots. For an hour or more he stood there with
his pitcher, when it became evident to him that no effort that he could
make would save the building, and he got down, leaving the pitcher
standing on a ledge of the chimney. The fire shortly afterwards burned
the building, and left the long chimney standing against the sky; and
the next day when the spot was visited, and people walked over the heap
of ashes that had once been a household, all that was saved was the old
pitcher, that still stood on the ledge of the chimney solitary and
alone. It told the story of the desolation more eloquently than tongue
of orator could speak, or pen of a Macaulay could describe. The house of
ex-Mayor Woodward, with its hundreds of curiosities and old relics,
including Major André's gun and a score of Continental dollars, caught
in the rear, and lived but a few minutes in the flames. But so it was
all round the square. When Mrs. Stevenson's strong house was going to
pieces, a flock of pigeons hovering near it were drawn in by the heat;
they whirled about for an instant, turned and rushed into the vortex,
and perished in a second. A cat, maddened and wild, cut off from all
escape, dashed along, when the fire pursued her, and she stood still. On
Thursday morning she was still standing in the same place. Her frame
only could be seen, with head up and tail erect; it was a ghastly
sight. It was during the conflagration on the square, that a little
child, five years old, sat by the window of his grandfather's house,
then in fancied security, and looked out at the flames. The little
fellow for awhile could not speak. He became pale with terror, and with
a loud cry he burst out with this thought: "O, pa, pa, come and see! God
is burning up the world, and He won't make another, and He won't make
another!" It was in vain they tried to pacify him, he still continued
his cry, and it was only when far away from the dreadful scene which
roused so strangely his youthful imagination, that he became calm.
[Illustration: VIEW FROM QUEEN SQUARE.]
But there were other incidents in this quarter of the city which deserve
more than a passing notice. There were deeds of heroism done and hours
of agony endured that should be recorded and remembered. There were
exploits exhibiting a broad humanity and great self-sacrifice performed,
that should not be forgotten or go down unrecognised. We had heroes in
our midst that night, and the man who climbed three stories of a house
enveloped in the flames, and snatched the sleeping infant from its crib,
and brought her safe to her agonized mother in the square below, is as
surely as brave as "he who taketh a city," or marches against the
invader of his country. If there are decorations of honour to be given,
let them be bestowed on those noble ones who saved lives that day. A
case has come under the writer's notice which deserves the fullest
publicity. Mr. D. R. Munro, after working at John McDougall's place in
York Point for some time, and then going to the assistance of an old
lady who was striving to save her bedding, started for Lower Cove in the
direction of Mr. Tucker's house. On his way he noticed with alarm the
extraordinary headway which the fire was making. Trinity and St.
Andrew's were on fire, and the Victoria Hotel just catching. Some of the
streets were so blocked up with people, and thick with flame and smoke,
that he could not pass them. He had to go through Chipman's field, but
he could not get further along Prince William Street. Germain Street was
the only way open to him, and by this thoroughfare he journeyed till he
reached Queen Square. Here Mrs. Freeman, the rigger's wife, was
gathering together her scattered effects, when her little children
raised the cry, "Quick, quick, mother's on fire! Save my mother!" Mr.
Munro and a companion rushed in, seized Mrs. Freeman, wound a carpet
about her, and tried to smother the flames with their hands. As soon as
the carpet was removed from her person, the fire again seized her, when
her clothes had to be torn from her and she was rolled on the grass with
a table-cloth wrapped tightly around her. This saved her life, and she
escaped the awful death which seemed so imminent. Mrs. Tucker's house
was by this time in great danger, the leaping flames were expected
momentarily to snatch it from its base, and people were beginning to get
the furniture away before the shock came. For a moment Mr. Munro lay on
the grass, unable to resume his exertions. He had worked from three in
the afternoon till it was nearly eight o'clock, and with hands and face
burned he rested on the grass. But his rest was of short duration, for
on looking up a sight met his eyes which filled his soul with horror.
Mrs. Tucker's house was on fire and she herself seemed in the very heart
of the flames. He almost flew to her, the courage of the lion and the
quickness of Mercury seemed to come to him all at once, and he was by
her side in an instant. Three times her bonnet caught, and as often was
the blaze extinguished. Mrs. Tucker seemed deaf to all requests of her
friends, who in vain entreated her to go away and leave her house and
furniture to their fate. She still remained by the few things she had
borne away, and it was after eight o'clock before she sought a place of
safety. A sailor was working in the cellar of her house, passing the
things he managed to lay hands on through the window. He was not aware
of his danger, for when he had got in, the flames were a good distance
off, and when he was discovered the house was on fire. In a few moments,
it would come crushing down and bury him in the ruins. Mr. Munro
hastened to his relief. Through his labours the man was rescued, for he
had not been out a hundred seconds, when, in a mass of ruins, the house
came tumbling down. The sailor, who gave his name as Robert Angus, 2nd
officer of the ship "Asiana," sought with Mr. Munro a refuge in the
square, for all hope of getting away by any of the streets was cut off.
Both sides of Charlotte Street and Sydney Street were on fire, and from
St. Andrew's Street all means of exit were away. The two men stood on
the square and looked around them. Strange emotions filled their
breasts. They were alone, standing in the centre of one of the greatest
conflagrations they had ever seen. All round them the giant flames
gathered, and closer and closer, and narrower and narrower the circle
became. The Pagoda in their rear was blazing. The posts here and there
burned at the tops, like so many huge candles. Not a soul was to be seen
on the square but themselves. The streets were deserted. Every one had
fled. The little nests of scattered effects burned on every side of
them, and the stench from smouldering feathers and domestic animals who
died by the score, was intolerable. Neither man for some minutes spoke.
Both looked out into the night. One can guess what thoughts entered
their heads. The advancing fire interrupted their reveries, and as they
could not escape from the plain in which they were imprisoned, they
looked about them for means of preservation from the intense heat, which
became greater at every moment. An old pine table was brought up to the
camping ground they had selected. A headstone of marble that was lying
at their feet, was placed at the head of it, and a carpet was wrapped
around them. In this primitive wigwam the men resolved to pass the
night. The prospect before them was gloomy enough. Just before getting
into this cabin, an old woman came hobbling up towards them, crying
aloud for help. They invited her to share their kennel. She accepted the
invitation and the three refugees watched the flames on every side of
them for two hours. There was silence for a while when the sailor, who
all through had exhibited such nerve and coolness, now showed signs of
trepidation and fear. He began to talk of his home in England, of his
wife and children, and the strong man who could do so much for others,
fairly broke down and wept bitter tears. "Who will take care of them
now, sir," he broke out with a wail. "If I die to-night, hunt them up
and tell them how I died. It is not for myself I feel, but for them,
poor bodies. You know my name and ship, sir, any of my mess-mates will
know what to do if you tell them what became of poor Bob Angus." It
would indeed move a sterner heart than Mr. Munro's, to hear a man like
this talk in a way like that. The sailor who had breasted the billows of
the ocean so long that he had begun to look upon them as his playthings,
crouched that night in his little box in Queen Square, weeping for the
loved ones at home, far, far away. Mrs. Donovan who sat beside the
sailor tried to cheer him up, but it was useless, and her words of
comfort only made him feel worse and writhe in greater agony.
At last, for there is an end to all things, a bold sortie was proposed,
and each of the prisoners sought to force a way out of their natural
prison. Each took a direction, and in the dead of that awful night they
made their way. The hydra-head of the monster ruin withered them at
every turn. Giant walls fell crumbling at their feet, and the fire
flashed and the flames flickered on the heaps of debris which they
encountered on the sideways of their journey. Not a soul could be seen
in the streets. They met no living thing. The silence was as terrible to
them as it is to the lonely pilgrim of the forest, or the traveller in
the distant arctic, who shrieks ever and anon lest he go mad from the
effect of that awful solitude. When the parties met at the corner they
separated and each groped his way homeward through the desert of
desolation. Mr. Munro's loss is very heavy. In working for others he
neglected his own interests, and many of his personal effects have
passed away.
On St. James Street, two buildings stood. One was a very massive and
very beautiful structure, of no precise form of architecture, but very
chaste and elegant for all that. The other was an old wooden barn-like
house that had been decaying for years, and was only waiting to be torn
down by some passing high wind. These two buildings were situate within
a stones throw of each other, and the one could have been saved just as
well as the other. A little nerve, a little will, and a few pails of
water would have done the work. The Marine Hospital was built in a
garden. It was a useful sort of affair in its day, but it had long ago
done all the good that was expected of it. Its day was past, and it must
soon have given way to a fine brick structure, to be located on its
site. When the fire came tearing along, decimating the buildings in
every block, Mr. Barnes, the keeper, and a few of the inmates stationed
themselves in good positions, and began a vigorous defence of the old
place. A number of well directed buckets of water, plied rapidly when
the fire showed itself, was all that these men did, and the old building
was saved. The fire was stubborn, for it tried a hundred times to gain a
foothold, but the men who defended the hospital were just as
indomitable, and the defence was a great success. The hospital now
stands in all its grim shabbiness and ugliness, though a barn near by,
filled with goods of all kinds, including a piano, of course, perished.
People from a distance, who came days afterwards to witness the
desolation, ask with amazement why this great house was saved, and the
noble charity almost opposite, was allowed to burn. But it is hard to
always fathom the short-sightedness of man. All praise is due to Mr.
Barnes and his assistants, for saving even one public building, and it
is a pity his example could not have been followed opposite, when the
Wiggins Orphanage caught. Only one man was left in charge, and it is not
expected that he could do everything in a time when all were at their
wits' end and full of excitement. This splendid charity was instituted
in 1867, and was founded by the late Stephen Wiggins. It was opened July
1, 1876, and erected at a cost of $80,000. Mr. Wiggins left this
magnificent sum for a male Orphan Asylum, under certain provisions.
These were, that each child to be admitted must be born in the City and
County of St. John, preference always to be shown to fatherless children
of mariners; the children must be not under the age of four nor over ten
years at the time of admission, and not to be continued in the
institution after reaching the age of fifteen years. No teacher could be
employed who was a Unitarian, Universalist or Roman Catholic, and no
Governor could act in that capacity if he were of that belief. The
Governors consisted of nine gentlemen. Those at the time of the
incorporation were, the Rev. William Scovil, Charles Merritt, Frederick
A. Wiggins, Hon. John W. Weldon, Beverley Robinson, J. D. Lewin, Geo. C.
Wiggins, Henry W. Frith, and the Rector of St. James' Church. When the
building burned, there were twelve orphans in the Asylum, but they were
safely rescued and sent to Long Island. The present Board consists of
the following gentlemen: Chas. Merritt, Hon. J. D. Lewin, Rev. Wm.
Armstrong, Rev. W. Scovil, Hon. J. W. Weldon, Geo. Sidney Smith, B. L.
Peters, H. W. Frith Rev. F. Brigstocke, with James U. Thomas, as
Secretary. At a meeting of the Governors, held on Monday, the 2nd July,
it was decided to rebuild the Institute very soon. The reader will
notice from the cut which is given of the Orphanage, that it presented a
very pretty front, and was exceedingly well built.
In Mecklenburg Street, all that fine block of buildings on the north
side, beginning with the residence of Mr. John R. Armstrong, and
followed by Mr. John W. Nicholson's castle, the houses of the Messrs.
Magee and others; on the south side Mr. Vaughan's well-built house, and
on the corner the Stevenson property, mentioned just now, burned very
readily. Mr. John Magee's family escaped with their lives only.
[Illustration: CANTERBURY ST., SHOWING RICHIE'S BUILDING IN THE
DISTANCE.
Photo. by G. F. Simonson.]
The fire in Canterbury Street levelled a block of buildings that were
the boast of the city. They were built with great care and especially
designed for the great wholesale trade which was done there. The street
is a narrow one and runs from King Street to Princess Street, and is
crossed by a small alley called Church. Of late years the street has
grown from a comparative by-way or short cut, to an extensive wholesale
stand, where merchants of large means and good business capacity have
met their clients and customers. The stocks kept in these spacious
warehouses have ever been large, and the appliances with which the
stores were supplied actually made business a luxury. The centre
building was erected and occupied by the Hon. Thomas R. Jones, wholesale
dry goods merchant. His shirt factory was situate opposite, next door to
the Printing House of McKillop & Johnston, who used to print _The Weekly
Watchman_. The second pile was built by the same merchant for Messrs. W.
H. Thorne & Co., wholesale hardware merchants, and the building on the
south of the present edifice, was erected by The North British and
Mercantile Insurance Company, Henry Jack, Esq., agent, and leased to
Messrs. Everitt & Butler, wholesale dry goods merchants. Mr. Jack's
office was in this building also. The _Daily News'_ office was between
the latter and the Savings Bank. It was erected some twenty years ago by
the present Queen's printer and former proprietor of the _Daily
News_--the first penny paper--George E. Fenety, Esq. The present
proprietors, Messrs. Willis & Mott, purchased it last September. This
year they made several improvements on it, enlarged it in the rear and
improved the inside. They had begun work on the ground flat when the
fire changed the aspect of affairs. All that was saved were three pages
of type, and the late fyles of the paper. These were carried as far as
Reed's Point, and were only considered safe when they reached water
mark. The building was of brick. The offices were down stairs and
consisted of accountant's room, editor's office and reporters' room.[O]
The Savings' Bank on the corner of Princess and Canterbury Streets was a
building of singularly handsome proportions. It was built in the year
1859, by the St. John County Provident Society, which up to this time
had an office in the old Commercial Bank building. In 1872, the Dominion
Government took it off their hands, had it renovated thoroughly and
changed, and commenced operations in it in 1873, as a Dominion Savings'
Bank. The Assistant Receiver-General and Dominion Auditor had offices in
the bank. Matthew Stead was the architect. The old Post Office in this
street was leased a few months ago to The Paper Company, who had it
repaired and well furnished. In the upper story _The Watchman_ office
was located. Messrs. Bowes & Evans' large stove establishment, and John
Vassie & Co's wholesale dry goods house, entrance on Canterbury Street,
were greedily devoured. The little street suffered severely, for it
represented a very large sum of money. Two well-known institutions were
also burned here, Conroy's hair-dressing establishment and McGinley's
barber-shop.
[Illustration: The Burland Desbarats Lith. Co. Montreal
INSIDE THE SAVINGS BANK.
Photo. by G. F. Simonson.]
FOOTNOTES:
[O] The first steam press in the Maritime Provinces was started
in the _Morning News_ building, then situated directly on the south end
of what is now called Canterbury Street, but which was not then
opened.
CHAPTER X.
Incidents--An Old Corner Burned Down--The Lenders and
Borrowers--"Twenty per Cent."--The Shylocks of the Curbstone--
The Human Barometer--The Vultures of Commerce--Chubbs' Corner--
The Old Commercial Bank--The _Telegraph_ Office--The Bank of New
Brunswick--A Hard Worked Cashier--The Post Office--Not a Mail
Lost--Quick Despatch--The Nethery House and the Orangemen--The
Royal Hotel--The Custom House--The Dead of the Conflagration.
Beyond all question the successful resistance to the flames at the
residence of James H. Moran, Esq., at Chipman's Hill, prevented the
spread of the fire to the northern portion of the city. That house was
attacked with great fury from front and rear, but the extraordinary and
well applied labours of Mr. Joseph Dunlop, and his crew of workmen from
the shipyard, aided by the city firemen, kept the flames at bay. The
window sashes caught several times, and the men finding neither timber
nor axes, boldly grasped the sashes with their naked hands, and despite
some severe burning to themselves, they succeeded in tearing them away.
This saved the building and stopped the spread of the flames along Union
Street and beyond it. Mr. Moran was at his summer residence in St.
Martin's during the conflagration, but on hearing of the calamity he
hastened home, and made the journey of 32 miles, it is said, in two
hours and forty-five minutes. While the fire was in Mill Street, a
bright little fellow of thirteen, named Johnny Law, performed an act of
considerable heroism and thoughtfulness. His employer, Mr. W. H. Gibbon,
had gone to Grand Lake about two days before the fire, and left his
establishment in charge of this boy, who had the forethought when he saw
the flames coming near the store to save the books and papers. The
flooring above his head fell while he was getting out, but by crawling
on his hands and knees, he managed to effect his release from a
captivity that would soon have resulted in certain death. Besides this
he saved a number of articles from the house, and saw to the successful
removal of Mrs. Gibbon and her young children.
[Illustration: The Burland Desbarats Lith. Co. Montreal
PRINCE WILLIAM STREET.]
[Illustration: The Burland Desbarats Lith. Co. Montreal
PRINCE WILLIAM STREET.
Photo. by G. F. Simonson.]
There was great ruin in Prince William Street after the fire. A good
deal of the wealth of the city, and some of the chief buildings of the
place were situate here. The destruction of the Imperial Building
belonging to the Messrs. Magee, and which was occupied by them and
Messrs. Maclellan & Co., the bankers, was but the work of a few moments.
A large quantity of valuable merchandise likewise perished, and the
newly commenced block of buildings adjoining exhibited even a vaster
extent of ruin than it did on the night of the last great fire which
raged in this locality, and which cost the city seven lives.[P] Mr.
Robert Marshall's insurance office, on the corner of the Market Square,
and indeed the whole of Prince William Street, both sides clear to
Reed's Point, were reduced to ashes and debris. Jardine's grocery store,
Messrs. Wisdom & Fish's belting and heavy goods establishment, Benson's
millinery store, Steeves, Bros., J. & J. Hegan & Co's., Beard & Venning,
The Devebers, James R. Cameron & Co., W. H. Hayward & Co., George
Philp's banking house, and Chubb's book store on the one side, were as
completely wrecked as the row of stores on the eastern part of the
street which contained Barnes & Co's. book-store, Peiler's piano
warehouse, and Professor Devine's music store, the splendid book and
publishing establishment of Messrs. J. & A. McMillan, which was first
built in 1831, and was afterwards burned in one of the great fires which
succeeded that year, and, about 1842, was rebuilt in the shape in which
the fire found it the other day, the insurances offices of H. R. Ranney,
Lawton's drug store, Stevenson's shoe-shop, Valpey's, Sheraton &
Skinner's carpet warehouse, Simeon Jones & Co's., Eastern Express,
Francis', and Z. G. Gabel's corner store.
Chubb's Corner--the home of the curb stone broker, and the place where
more gossip has been talked during the last forty years than would
furnish the stock-in-trade of forty well-organized sewing circles--was
an early victim, for it went down with Furlong's palace about the hour
of six. The mention of Chubb's Corner awakens a thousand memories. For
many years it enjoyed the distinction of being the great centre of
commercial speculation. Men came here to meet men who had money to lend,
and those who had none came to borrow it. Stocks and merchandise changed
hands on this spot a dozen times a day, and the cautious bill-broker
who never had any funds of his own to lend, came here to scent the
financial air. In this cheerful spot money was subject to the
fluctuations of the market with a vengeance. The rate--aye, there's the
rub--"if we can only agree about _that_," said the note-shaver, "I think
I may take the paper. 'The man is a good man,'" he continued,
unconsciously quoting Shakespeare, "and I think I may take his bond,"
and though nothing was said about the pound of flesh in the event of the
notes not being paid at maturity, the modern Shylock meant it all the
same, and was as equally determined to get it, too, as the old gentleman
we see on the stage rubbing his hands together, and making horrible
faces at the audience and the Christian merchant Antonio. The rate in
this grim corner was not measured by the consciences of the
money-lenders, but by the necessities of the applicant. One could tell
in a much less expensive way than by borrowing money of these gentry,
whether they were getting a good price for their coin or not, by simply
watching their faces during the operation. The face of the note-shaver
is a barometer. It requires no regulating and it is always correct.
There, quick, watch it now. See how long the face is. No, he has no
money himself, but--Ah, that's it, now watch. See, observe the
countenance, listen to that chuckle? Yes, what is he chuckling about?
Oh, that's nothing, only habit; now the face is hanging up again, and it
is ready for observation. The lender is telling the borrower how
difficult it is to get money, and how much Smith had to pay for a thirty
days' loan yesterday. This is of no interest to Jones, who is hanging
on the words of Mr. Shylock as a lover drinks in the soft nothings of
his mistress, but it gives the lender opportunities to find out how
"hard up" his victim is. Now watch the face again. Still long and
bilious-looking. Twenty per cent. is not so high. It's only five dollars
off of a hundred, and look at the time three months--and it falls due on
Sunday, too. You'll get a day's interest out of me for nothing, you
rogue. The face is positively joyous. The eyes snap and sparkle. The
countenance has become quite round and full, and there are bright spots
on the cheeks. The extra day without interest did it, and the two go off
arm in arm. But after all they are not happy; one has paid too much, and
the other stands ready to kick himself for not having asked more. O,
Chubb's Corner, you have much to answer for, and perhaps the fire did
some good in staying this kind of business for a time at least on your
site. But the old corner was not given over entirely to the vultures of
commerce. It was the place for many years where property, stocks,
debentures, bonds, and all such securities were sold at Public Auction
as well as by private sale. The old Corner was a meeting place too,
where men met and talked over the times and their affairs. Men stopped
here on their way to the Post Office, the old Bank and the Custom House,
if it was not too late, to have a friendly chat with an acquaintance.
Office boys hurrying along in the leisurely hurry that office boys
always employ, stopped at Chubb's Corner and looked into the windows of
the Exchange office, and wondered to themselves if the huge pile of
money they saw lying about was good or not, and whether it would pass.
And so the days came and the days passed away, and year in and year out,
the old Corner still stood the centre of a busy hive. If those old walls
could speak now, as daily, men tramp over their fallen forms, what tales
could they tell, what stories of joy and sorrow might they not relate!
Walls have ears and they heard much, but they could not speak and what
they knew has perished with them.
The building on the Corner was put up by Mr. Chubb, shortly after he was
burned out in 1839. The head of the old firm was Henry Chubb, Esq.,
whose father landed with the Loyalists. He succeeded in 1811 the
business which had formerly been carried on by Mrs. Mott, wife of the
King's Printer, for whom Mr. Chubb conducted the work of the
establishment on the death of her husband. In 1842, Samuel Seeds was
admitted partner in the firm together with the eldest son of Mr. Chubb,
Henry J. Chubb. In 1846 the latter died and the surviving partners
continued the business until the spring of 1855, when Mr. Chubb died
leaving his share to Mr. Seeds and his two sons, Thos. Chubb and George
James Chubb. In 1863, Mr. Seeds retired and the brothers remained in
business until 1865, when G. J. Chubb bought out his brother's interest,
and the firm has continued under the old style of H. Chubb & Co., ever
since. An exchange office was added to the stationery and printing
business during the American War.
The old Commercial Bank building which was lately completely altered
and renovated internally, was situate on the south-east corner of Prince
William and Princess Streets. The corner stone was laid in 1839, and a
grand Masonic demonstration took place, Rev. Dr. B. G. Gray officiating.
Henry Gilbert Esq., was the President of the Commercial Bank at the
time. It was used latterly for the civic offices, and the Water
Commissioners had an office on the ground flat. _The Daily Telegraph_
newspaper occupied the old wooden building adjoining, and about which
notice is given in the first chapter of this history. Mr. Elder, the
enterprising editor and proprietor of the paper, is a heavy loser by the
fire. Not only did he lose his well-equipped printing office and
appliances, his splendid reference library and collection of historic
data, the gatherings of many years, but his bound fyles also, and in
fact everything he possessed vanished forever.
The Bank of New Brunswick was for a long time deemed safe. It is true
that the merchants hurried in with their books when the fire was still
raging a quarter of a mile away, but the old building which was burned
inside, exhibited after the fire, walls and pillars as strong and
vigorous as they were half a century ago. The vaults preserved their
contents, and millions of money were thus plucked from the burning. The
old bank was an edifice in which the people took pride. It was a hale
old veteran that had passed through many a disaster. When financial
troubles darkened the days of the people, when the dread cholera spread
disease and death in households, when fires laid waste the best acres
of our territory, the old bank still stood erect, and withstood the
shock which threatened her on every side. It succumbed this time, but
only in a partial way, for its pillars and a portion of its walls are as
stalwart as of yore. In May, 1821, a general meeting was held of the
stockholders of the banking company that had been organized the year
before. At this meeting some honoured names were read, and the following
gentlemen were present: Henry Gilbert, Hon. John Robinson, Nehemiah
Merritt, Wm. Black, Ezekiel Barlow, Thos. Millidge, Ward Chipman, jr.,
Zalmon Wheeler, Hugh Johnston, jr., Robert W. Crookshank, Robert Parker,
jr., Stephen Wiggins, and Hugh Johnston, senr. On the seventh day of May
the directors were chosen, and the bank was ready for business. The
first President was the Hon. John Robinson; and the other Directors for
the year were Wm. Black, Ezekiel Barlow, Lewis Bliss, Ward Chipman, jr.,
Robert W. Crookshank, senr., Henry Gilbert, Hugh Johnston, Nehemiah
Merritt, Thos. Millidge, Robert Parker, jr., Zalmon Wheeler, and Stephen
Wiggins. Of these but one lives to-day, Lewis Bliss, Esq., who, at last
accounts was in London, England. The Hon. J. D. Lewin was made President
in 1857, and Wm. Girvan, Esq., whose great industry is proverbial, was
chosen cashier, March 1st, 1862. Mr. Girvan, on taking charge of his
office, at once went methodically over the old books, and in two years,
by dint of untiring application, he had the full set from 1820 in shape.
The books are in such excellent condition, and so well arranged, that
it is a pleasure to refer to them.
[Illustration: The Burland Desbarats Lith. Co. Montreal
RUINS OF BANK OF NEW BRUNSWICK.
Photo. by G. F. Simonson.]
The Bayard Building, containing Mr. G. Em. Allen's office, the
Attorney-General's office and others, with two stores underneath, and
the new Bank of Nova Scotia building, which formerly belonged to Messrs.
Andre D. Cushing & Co., were soon destroyed, together with Barnes'
Hotel, which, only a few years ago, had an extension added, and was
fitted up with every modern improvement. Stewart & White's large
furniture warehouse and auction rooms opposite, in Smith's building,
with their heavy stocks, were burned.
[Illustration: NEW POST OFFICE.]
The destruction of the new Post Office, one of the most beautiful
buildings in the city at the time of the fire, was one of the saddest
spectacles of the day. It had only been opened a year, and its handsome
design and rich finish had often been admired. The ornamental freestone
work on the front, and the rich red granite pillars, gave the edifice a
very fine appearance. The flames were twice extinguished by Mr. Parker
in the tower where they made the attack first at six o'clock, at the
place where the clock was to have been put. At three in the afternoon
the mail matter was carefully put away in bags, and every preparation
made for a speedy departure. The first load of mail bags was hauled to a
place of safety, to Reed's Point, and seventeen of them were carried by
hand to the fish-market wharf, where a boat was seized and sixteen of
the bags put in it. The doors of the Post Office were closed to the
public at five o'clock, and by half-past six the fire had made such an
onslaught that nothing could keep it away. Through the foresight of Mr.
J. V. Ellis, the Postmaster, not a mail was lost, or a letter mislaid.
The outgoing mails that night to the north and east, were despatched as
usual, and with excellent executive skill, the Post Master was ready in
a temporary office in the Market building, to deliver letters to
applicants in less than twenty-four hours after the fire. In twelve
hours after that the delivery system was in full working order, and in a
few days merchants had the pleasure of receiving their mails in boxes of
their own at the Post Office. The Registry Letter Office was ready for
work, under Mr. M. J. Potter's management in a little while, and the
opening of the Money Order Department's Office was not long in
following. The clerks and other employes of the Post Office deserve the
greatest credit for their promptness under a most trying situation, and
their uniform kindness and courtesy were preserved to the last. Mr.
Flaglor delivered the first and last letters at the Post Office, Prince
William Street.
The old Nethery house in Church Street, where Mr. Geo. A. Knodell had
his printing office, and Mr. H. L. Spencer his medical warehouse, was
once the great headquarters of the Orangemen, and was built about the
year 1823. It was in this building that in old times balls and parties,
and dinners in connection with the order were given, and it was from
here that on the famous twelfth of July, when Duncan Wilmot was Mayor,
the Orangemen marched at the time of the memorable riot. Mr. Knodell
has begun rebuilding on this site.
The Royal Hotel in Prince William Street, formerly Stubbs' Hotel, and
for many years a leading house in the city, caught fire early in the
afternoon from the sparks. The inhabitants apprehended no danger and the
sparks were put out, but Mr. Waldron, Stage Manager of the Theatre, came
to the conclusion that as it had taken fire once, it might soon again be
stricken. He accordingly warned the others and proceeded to get his
things together for a final exit. The Hotel did catch about an hour and
a half after this, and all on the ground save the old tree to the left,
were in ashes before night. Mr. Thomas F. Raymond succeeded Mr. McIntosh
in the management of Stubbs' Hotel, and it was by him changed to the
name of "The Royal." A great many public dinners and balls have been
given in this house, and its spacious dining room for many years was
considered one of the finest ball-rooms in the city. The last great ball
given here was in 1871, in March, by St. Andrew's Society, on the
occasion of the marriage of the Marquis of Lorne to the Princess Louise.
A large amount of property that had been stored away for safe keeping in
the Custom House, was burned when that fine building went down. Hundreds
of people believing strongly in stone and brick, sought refuge for their
chattels here, and almost all available space was occupied with goods of
every description. The merest trifles were saved after the building took
fire, and an immense amount of material was consumed. Even Robert
Shives' collection of diaries that dated back many years was lost, as
well as a considerable number of his papers in connection with the
emigration office of which he was the agent. Mr. Shives was suffering
from illness during the fire and was too weak to be about much. Several
merchants who had sent their account books to the Custom House for
safety lost them in the great destruction which followed. The building
was a good strong substantial structure built about the year 1841, by
the late John Walker, Esq., and designed by him as a government
warehouse.[Q] He did not succeed however, in having it accepted as such
by the government, and it was purchased by Mr. McLeod, of St. John, and
Alexander Keith, Esq., of Halifax, and used as the Custom House. The
Government of Canada bought it from George McLeod, Esq., M. P. some
months ago. It was roomy and well adapted for customs purposes. When the
Dominion Government took it off Mr. McLeod's hands they refitted it up
completely. The storm drum and time ball and signal station were situate
on the Custom House.
[Illustration: The Burland Desbarats Lith. Co. Montreal
RUINS OF CUSTOM HOUSE FROM NORTH END AND EAST SIDE.
Photo. by G. F. Simonson.]
The International Hotel was formerly a double residence with the
entrance on the second story. About twenty years ago it was enlarged and
converted into an hotel under the management of Mr. A. B. Barnes, who
called the house after its owner--The Lawrence Hotel. Mr. Barnes left
it some years ago and removed to his own premises nearer King Street,
and Mr. R. S. Hyke, after it was modernized a little, assumed the
management.
The fire in Water Street proved to be very destructive. Tisdale's
corner, at the head of South wharf, and the home of the hardware
business in St. John for many years; the grocery establishments of C. M.
Bostwick and Geo. Robertson; John Melick's office, the ferry floats and
waiting-room, as well as Adam Young's large stove warehouse and the
Messrs. McCarty's place of business, were soon carried away. The good
old house of Robt. Robertson & Son, that for half a century wielded
great influence in the community, and whose ships to-day ride many
oceans, with its stock of sails and rigging, lasted scarcely longer in
the terrible heat than an hour's space. Walker's wharf and the premises
in Ward street suffered greatly, and it was while trying to save his
property here, that Captain William M. B. Firth lost his life. He was
last seen in Prince William Street, blinded by the smoke and scorched by
the flames, trying to make his way out. It is thought that finding all
hope of gaining an egress from the suffocating street, he sank down in
the roadside exhausted and weary, and death came to him there. His body
was found the next day, but it was not until Saturday that he was fully
recognised and claimed. He leaves a sorrowing wife and five
grief-stricken children, who spent the terrible days of his absence in
the greatest agony. There were many rumours about Capt. Firth while he
was missing. Some said that he was all right in Carleton, others
averred that he had gone away in a ship, while others again stoutly
maintained that they had seen him put out to sea in a boat and that he
would turn up all right. But when these tidings reached his poor wife,
she always turned with a sad smile of gratefulness to those who brought
her such news, in the hope that it might cheer her up, and said that her
heart told her better. Her husband's place was by her side, and he knew
it as well as she. What would he be doing out in a boat so long, when he
did not even know whether his wife and family were alive or not; no, she
never believed the rumours which came to her, thick and fast, as the
hours of those anxious days went by; and when the dread news came at
length, the widowed mother and her fatherless children had known it in
their hearts long before.
Another terrible death was that of Mr. Samuel Corbitt, a gentleman
esteemed and respected for his many good qualities, by all who knew him.
He was a furniture dealer, and his store was in Prince William Street. A
gentleman exchanged a few words with him while the fire was in full
career. Mr. Corbitt went into his own building, to get some things and
he never came back. The greatest sympathy is felt in the community for
Mrs. Corbitt and family.
An old resident of the city, Mr. Joseph Bell--a painter, lived in Duke
Street, where he kept his shop. On the night of the fire he went in to
remove a painting it is said, but when he turned to come out he could
not pass the flames, and he too perished, and was buried in the ruins
of his old home. A man named Johnson is still missing, and it is
probable he lost his life in the fire. Mrs. Coughlan, Timothy O'Leary,
Michael Donohoe, and Mrs. Fitzgerald, are also supposed to have lost
their lives in the same sad way, and as many are still missing, the loss
of life, it is expected, will be quite large. The heavy buildings came
down with such rapidity after they became hot, that it is feared that a
good many people were buried in the ruins, and the intense heat which
followed would render them never again recognisable, even if a portion
of the remains were found.
An incident has come to hand which deserves more than a passing notice.
Young Johnny Murphy, a mere child, who lived with his mother in
Charlotte Street, bravely jumped from the second-storey window of his
residence with his younger brother in his arms. The act was that of a
hero, and worthy the admiration and applause of thousands. Such bravery
and heroism should indeed be rewarded. The little fellow wears his
honors meekly.
FOOTNOTES:
[P] March 8th, 1877.
[Q] It had a three story granite front on Prince William Street
250 feet long, by 92 feet deep towards Water Street, which face was
built of brick four stories high. It cost Mr. Walker $120,000.
CHAPTER XI.
The Old House on the Hill--A Wily Commissary--The Bags of
Gold--What was done at Midnight--The Dead of Night Deposit--The
Old Vault--A Timid Money-Lender--Mr. Peter Johnson--The Board of
Commissioners--The Old Gentleman's Little Joke--The Inspection--
How it was Discovered--The Fight with the Flames--"How much will
I Get?"--What he Got--The Oil Barrels--Dashing the Water on the
Kerosene--A Lively time on Reed's Point Wharf--The Bridge of
Fire--On the Ferry-Boat--The Western Union Telegraph Office--The
First Dispatch.
The fire in that portion of Princess Street, from Prince William street
to Charlotte Street, was a great leveller, and destroyed a number of
useful buildings as well as a few very excellent ones. The Wiggin's
building on Rocky Hill, north side, which was erected about twenty years
ago found a fate which was common enough that day. The destruction of
Ritchie's building, though not expected by some, followed soon after. It
was admirably built, and the large number of division walls which it
had, rendered it almost invincible against any element however strong.
Look at it to-day after the fire has done its worst, and there is much
of it standing that can be utilized again. Its splendid supports are
ready for duty, and though the structure was on fire for seven hours and
subjected to great heat, the walls show that they could stand a good
deal of such endurance yet, and not crumble. The site on which this
edifice was erected, has in common with some others which have been
mentioned in the course of our story, a history of its own. A frame
building many years ago, before Rocky Hill was cut down, was built here
by Dr. Thomas Paddock, who afterwards disposed of it to Price, the
Commissary, who subsequently sold it to the Government. The house was
used as the Commissariat for a number of years. About 1823 or 1824 a
good deal of excitement was created by the arrest of Mr. Price who was
charged with defalcation in his accounts. He was closely guarded, and
after a court of enquiry was held, he was confined for a time and
finally allowed to depart. The story goes, and there are many who
remember it perfectly, that a wealthy gentleman knowing that Price lived
too fast, and had become involved, had offered to lend him the bags of
money which would make good his position when the commissioners came to
examine his accounts. It was proposed that they be sent over and
deposited in the house, and after the examiners were satisfied and had
left the city, the bags of coin would be conveyed back again to the
owner. This was satisfactory, and Price thanked his good friend. In
those days commissioners did not move as rapidly as they do now, and the
board did not arrive for a few days. In the meantime, the money was in
Price's possession, and he slept at night the peaceful sleep of the
innocent and just. But delays are ever dangerous, and Mr. Price's friend
was the timidest of the most timid men. He had no sooner sent his bags
of gold out, when he began to ruminate. What if the commissioners
decided to take the money with them and deposit it somewhere else? What
if the thing leaked out and his friend Price got dismissed, and he lost
his money? It worried him, and though Price slept, the money-lender did
not. He began to grow more and more anxious. Every day he grew worse,
until at last just as the commissioners had arrived and Mr. Price was
getting ready to show them around in the morning, and give them his
papers to examine, and show them the money, the friend acted on the
thought which was burning his heart out, and he sent for Peter Johnson.
Now Mr. Johnson, who figures in our narrative, for the first time was a
negro, and he it was, who, in the dead of night when all was still,
wheeled the mysterious bags of bullion to and from the old vaults in the
Commissariat. The money-lender sent for Peter Johnson and told him that
he had altered his mind, and that the bags and their contents must be
home again that very night. Peter proceeded at once, and stealthily
approaching the vaults, opened the heavy doors with his key, got out the
money, and wheeled it home again, and Mr. Commissary Price slept on in
babe-like innocence. And so did his friend. And so did Mr. Peter
Johnson. And so did the Board of Commissioners. In the morning, Mr.
Price rubbed his hands and dressed himself with scrupulous propriety,
that he might meet his masters in a becoming manner. And the Board of
Commissioners got ready too, and they drove round to Mr. Price's in a
body, and before entering on their duties there was much merriment among
them, and one facetious old gentleman who was always joking and saying
good things, you know, remarked to the others in his delicious way, that
almost every man had a price, but none had a Price like their's, and
then he chuckled and slapped Price on the back, and Price chuckled, and
the Board chuckled, and I have no doubt whatever but that Mr. Peter
Johnson and his master would have chuckled too had they heard it. And
then the party went down to the office and began to overhaul things, and
everything was all right, and the books were found correct. And then a
stupid old member of the Board asked to have the money brought in to be
counted, just to comply with the regulation, not that they doubted
friend Price. "O, no, but an absurd form demanded it," &c., &c. And Mr.
Price was affable and kindly, and said, "O yes, gentlemen, I shall be
quite happy to show you the funds which are all safe in the vault, I
assure you. Saw them myself no later than the other day," &c., &c. And
everyone said that was all right, and the iron doors were unlocked and
swung back! But where was the money? Mr. Price was as pale as death, and
turned to the astonished commission, when he said, "Come, gentlemen, now
a joke is a joke, what have you done with the money?" But Mr. Price
discovered before long that the world was not quite a smile, and he was
marched off to prison, and the facetious old gentleman said to the
gentleman who only wanted the money produced to gratify an absurd whim
of the Government, "Who would have believed it?" And so the Inspectors
walked out, behind Mr. Price, who was placed in durance vile and
suffered as we have seen.
In 1843 Mr. Oliver Goldsmith, a descendant of the family of the poet,
and a gentleman who wrote poetry too, occasionally, and whose "Rising
Village," a companion piece to "The Deserted Village," was not without
some slight merit, called on Judge Ritchie and told him that he had
received orders from the Government asking for tenders for the old
building on Rocky Hill, and he suggested that he had better tender for
it. The judge did so, and to his great astonishment, his was the only
tender sent, and he got the whole of the property, including the house
and a stone barn which were on it, for £500 sterling, three months after
his tender was accepted. He immediately rented it to Dr. Simon Fitch,
who was beginning practice and who occupied it for a number of years. It
was idle for a while after Dr. Fitch left it, and then Judge Ritchie had
it altered and modernized, and he and Mr. L. J. Almon lived in it. It
was still located high up on the rock. The judge, whose taste for
architecture is well known, often planned the style of building he would
like to put up. In the evenings after reading a while it was no uncommon
thing for him to draw near to a table, and with pencil and paper plan
buildings of infinite variety. It was good employment for the mind, and
less expensive than actual building, and the paper houses could be
altered and improved and altered again at very little cost. One day the
judge planned in earnest, and his ideas took practical shape. He pulled
down the high house, excavated the rock and proceeded to build. In 1853
he began work and by the month of February, 1854, his building was
pretty well up. He had expended some five thousand pounds on it, and was
about leaving for Fredericton when Mr. L. J. Almon came in and remarked
to him that after he was in Fredericton a week or so he would feel
rather foolish to get word that his building was burned down, and that
there was no insurance on it. This troubled the judge, and he began to
feel quite uncomfortable. He told Mr. Almon to lose no time but go at
once and effect insurance. Mr. Almon put £5,000 on the unfinished
edifice. The judge went to the capital, sat in the Assembly, and in a
few days received intelligence that his building had been burned to the
ground. He returned to St. John at once and began to rebuild. This time
he proceeded with great care, and the chaste and handsome building
destroyed the other day was the result. The first occupants of the
offices were W. H. Tuck, Duff & Almon, Chas. Watters, Geo. Blatch,
Wetmore & Peters, E. B. Peters, St. John Insurance Co., the Electric
Telegraph Co., D. S. Kerr, Chamber of Commerce, Thos. T. Hanford, the
Masonic body and some others. The stores below were not rented for some
time after the building was ready.
The Society of Free and Accepted Masons, after leaving the Old St. John
Hotel, met for some years in the upper story of the residence of the
late Mr. Marshall, father of Mr. John R. Marshall, Chief of Police. This
house was on the corner of Princess and Sydney Streets. When Judge
Ritchie's building was finished, the Masons rented about half of the top
story, and had it finished and furnished for masonic purposes. They have
occupied these apartments ever since. Up to January, 1868, the various
lodges in the city held their warrants from either of the Grand Lodges
of England, Scotland, or Ireland. In the Province there were twenty-six
lodges, viz: twenty English, three Irish, and three Scotch. When
Confederation came to pass, it was deemed imperative by the leading
masons of the Province to separate from their respective parent Grand
Lodges in the mother country, and form a new Grand Lodge of their own
for New Brunswick. This conclusion was reached only after mature
reflection, and when it was found that the great political changes which
had taken place in the country rendered it necessary. Three Grand Lodges
were already represented in the Province. The Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia
was working, and the Grand Lodge of Canada would be formed soon. Unless
the craft established a Grand Lodge in and for the Province of New
Brunswick, the exercise of masonic jurisdiction by so many governing
authorities would only tend to hopeless confusion and detriment to the
Order. It was a thing which could not be helped. Either an Independent
Grand Lodge of New Brunswick must be formed, or a general Grand Lodge of
Canada would be created, which would have entire jurisdiction all over
Canada. At a preliminary convention of masters, past-masters and
wardens, the subject was fully ventilated, and the motion to form a
Grand Lodge of New Brunswick was carried by a large majority. The office
of Grand Master of the new Grand Lodge, was first offered to R. T.
Clinch, Esq., who was then District Grand Master, under the Grand Master
of the Grand Lodge of England, but he declined the honour on account of
the position which he held. Benjamin Lester Peters, Esq., was then
elected Grand Master by acclamation; William Wedderburn, Esq., Deputy
Grand Master; Hon. W. P. Flewelling, Senior Grand Warden; David Brown,
Junior Grand Warden; Rev. W. Donald, D.D., Grand Chaplain, and Wm. H. A.
Keans, Esq., Grand Treasurer; Mr. W. F. Bunting was made Grand Secretary
at the meeting in January, 1868, and the following officers were
appointed: John Richards, Senior Grand Deacon; Benjamin R. Stevenson,
Junior Grand Deacon; John V. Ellis, Grand Director of Ceremonies; Robert
Marshall, Assistant ditto; Jas. McDougall, Grand Sword Bearer; John
Mullin, Grand Standard Bearer; Henry Card, Grand Organist; James Mullin,
Grand Pursuivant; Edward Willis, S. S. Littlehale, Robt. R. Call, Hugh
A. Mackenzie, Thos. F. Gillespie, John Wallace, Grand Stewards, and John
Boyer, Grand Tyler. Grand Lodge was instituted in January, in the year
of masonry, 5868. The craft has made great progress, and preparations
before the fire were on foot for the erection of a fine new hall in
Germain Street. The greater portion of the stock was subscribed, and
operations were to be begun at an early day. The brethren lost heavily
by the recent fire. All the warrants were destroyed, but these can be
replaced. The private lodges met in several instances with irreparable
losses, and the full set of jewels, which Bro. Oliver Goldsmith several
years ago presented to Albion Lodge, No. 1, was not the least of these.
In the summer of 1863, the St. John Gymnasium (joint stock) Company
began building the Gymnasium, which was located opposite St. John's
Presbyterian Church, King Street East. Its dimensions were 40 x 100,
three stories front, and the Gymnasium proper was 40 x 80. The cost was
a little over $5,000. The building was heated by steam, well lighted
with gas, and neatly and tastily arranged, containing bath-rooms,
parlours, drawing-rooms, &c. The first president was John W. Cudlip,
Esq. Mr. J. S. Knowles was secretary, and Fred. A. Jones, the lessee and
manager. Mr. M. W. Maher was the builder. A few years ago, the building
was sold to Carson Flood, Esq., dealer in piano-fortes, and was by him
converted into a commodious hall, suitable for dancing parties,
tea-meetings, &c. The Gymnasium caught from the rear of the water-works,
and was soon a heap of ashes. The _Globe_ office in the Globe Building,
Prince William Street, was burning about the same time as the Bank of
New Brunswick, and the proprietors did not save even their fyles.
The fight with the flames on Reed's Point Wharf, which lasted from three
o'clock in the afternoon until late the next morning, was one of the
most dreadful encounters of the day. A prominent medical man of the
city, who lost the house which he had considered fireproof, was hurrying
away, when he found his services no longer needful, to a place of
safety. All means of exit from the fire were cut off, except one--the
route towards Reed's Point. He hastened in that direction, for he saw in
a moment that soon that avenue would be closed against him. He fled down
Germain Street to St. James's Street, thence along the latter till he
reached the wharf. There he saw an immense crowd of refugees from the
district round about, numbering fully fifteen hundred persons. The men
were very disorderly, and the liquor they had taken was showing its
effect. There was fighting, and quarrelling and swearing. The roughest
element of the city was here. A long row of barrels containing kerosene
oil or petroleum lay upon the wharf, and the sparks from burning
buildings near by came whirling along in dangerous proximity to the
barrels. The danger was growing more and more near. Should these barrels
ignite and explode, a hundred lives at least must perish. No time must
be lost. Water must be carried up to the barrels and the fire kept off.
An attempt was made to roll some of them over the wharf into the
harbour, but they were too heavy, and the fire was leaping in great
strides towards them. The doctor shouted himself hoarse trying to induce
the crowd to help him, but he was answered with either a be-sotted stare
or a vulgar oath. He kept on running to the water, filling his pail, and
dashing it on the barrels till his arms ached. Once he got a response
from some rough men on the wharf, and a bargain was made with three of
them. He offered them all the money he had--three dollars,--if they
would come and help keep the fire away from the deadly oil. But the
assistance was of short duration, and after working for about twenty
minutes the fellows gave up, and would work no more. Still, nothing
daunted, the doctor toiled on. He had all the women put on board the
International Line steamer, through the kindness of Captain Chisholm,
who was busily employed on the other end of the wharf in beating back
the flames which were massing there, and then with a will he continued
his self-imposed labour. None but he seemed to realize their danger.
Maddened by drink and worry, and perhaps driven to desperation by the
havoc the fire was making, they did not appear to take in the deadly
peril in which every one on that wharf stood. The crowd stood about
idling away, smoking, drinking, talking, jeering, and quarrelling. A
lithe young fellow of twenty sat dangling his legs over the wharf and
smoking a cigar, when the doctor called on him to come down and give him
a hand. He returned a careless reply, and in a sneering tone asked how
much he would get if he gave his help. The doctor grew maddened at this,
and turning on him in a moment, cried out, "I am an old man; I have lost
all that I was worth, and have nothing left. I have been watching you
for an hour, doing nothing while I was working; and as you won't come
for asking, I'll make you come down here and carry water if I have to
drag you to the very water's edge." So, saying he pulled the young man
down, grasped him by the neck, ran him to the water, and giving him a
pail set him to work filling it while he carried it to the barrels
himself. The lesson was a salutary one, and the unwilling assistant will
probably never forget it. He had some manhood left in him after all
though, for he worked well and hard, and after a time he apologized to
the doctor and said he was sorry for having spoken as he did. It was
some hours after this episode, that the doctor hailed a passing
tug-boat, and the captain learning what was wanted, ran his little
steamer alongside the wharf and got ready his hose. In a few minutes the
wharf was deluged with water and the great danger was averted. It was
this hose and the well directed efforts of the doctor which saved the
wharf and the lives of many people. It is a matter of regret that the
name of the captain of the tug could not be got as he deserves well of
the country, and should make himself known that he may receive something
more tangible than thanks. Hemmed in by the streets of flame to the
right and left of them and directly in their front, from fifteen hundred
to two thousand persons were imprisoned on the wharf from three o'clock
in the afternoon till four the next morning, when the fire had gone
down, and one of the loveliest mornings of the year dawned on the
stricken city.
One of the prettiest sights was to be seen from the head of King Street,
looking down in the direction of the market slip. When the schooners
therein had caught, the flames mounted the masts and communicating with
one another formed a complete bridge of fire from the north wharf to the
south. It was like a gala-day celebration of fire-works on a large
scale.
LIST OF VESSELS TOTALLY BURNED.
SCHOONERS.
1. Schooner "Angie Russell"; 25 tons; Boylan; Canning, N.S., was
discharging cargo of fish; owned by Captain.
2. Schooner "Brill"; 74 tons; St. John, N.B., had discharged part
of cargo and was going to Fredericton with balance; owned by
McSherry's Insolvent Estate.
3. Schooner "Brilliant"; 18 tons; Patch; Campobello; light cargo.
4. Schooner "Bear River"; 37 tons; Winchester; Bear River, N.S.,
outward bound with cargo; owned by Captain.
5. Schooner "Ella P."; 23 tons; Thurber; Barrington, N.S., fish.
6. Schooner "Eliza Jane"; 27 tons; Bent; Bayshore, N.S.; salt.
7. Schooner "L. L. Wadsworth"; 12 tons; Brown; Westport, N.S.;
owned by Captain; fish.
8. Schooner "Lily"; 8 tons; Israel; Weymouth, N.S.; outward bound;
owned by Captain.
9. Schooner "Martha Rowan"; 25 tons; Peters; Westport, N.S.; fish.
10. Schooner "Parrot"; 27 tons; Hutton; St. George, N.B.; owned by
Captain.
11. Schooner "Star"; 13 tons; Benson; Westport; fish.
WOOD-BOATS.
"Burnett," 46 tons, Captain Reed; "Linda," 26 tons; "President," 46
tons, Captain Orchard; and "Messenger," 33 tons.
Four lime scows laden with lime, two owned by Mr. Raynes, of
Fairville; two owned by Mr. Joseph Armstrong, of Greenhead.
CASUALTIES.
Schooner "Justice," Westport, hauled out of slip badly burned.
Schooner "George Calhoun," lying in Walker's slip, mainmast burned,
hauled out without further damage.
On board the ferry-boat between three and four o'clock in the afternoon,
the appearance of the city burning in four places at once, was a grand
as well as an awful sight. The passengers gathered together and wore
very anxious looks, when it seemed for a time to be the intention of
the captain not to land. The houses and stores of many who were on board
were in danger, and all wanted to be at the fire. From the water it
appeared to be levelling houses to the ground at the rate of one a
minute, and the frightful ratio seemed never to slacken its speed. The
ships lying near the wharves moved out into the harbour, and some sailed
far down the bay. The path of the ferry-boat was crossed more than once
by vessels which had succeeded in getting away in safety, and collisions
now and then were threatened; but fortunately none occurred. At length,
to the relief of all on board, the boat succeeded in getting safely to
her landing-place, and a grand rush was made up the floats for the head
of Princess Street.
Perhaps one of the best and first specimens of enterprise which occurred
on the night of the fire was that which was displayed by the chief
officers of the Western Union Telegraph Company. The office was burned
down, and only the books and some of the instruments were saved. The
Fairville wire would not work, and no means of sending abroad
intelligence of the ruin of the doomed city remained. It was fully
eleven o'clock when R. T. Clinch, Esq., the superintendent of the
company, Mr. Thos. Robinson, the manager, Mr. Dawson, Mr. Black and
other gentlemen connected with the company, met the writer of these
pages on Germain Street. The fire was still raging, though not at all
fiercely in the lower part of the city. The party went down to the
railway station, and we give an illustration of the building so that
the reader may see the temporary Western Union Telegraph Office during
the first few days of the fire, and after a little while a wire was put
in working order. The first and only dispatch which left the city that
night, and which on Thursday morning was read all over Canada, and in
the United States, was sent forward, and each page was telegraphed as
rapidly as it was written. In the morning the office was ready to
receive and deliver messages, and those who stood by the counter, and
every day watched the enormous crowd of people all anxious to be served
first, can realize how hard the operators had to work in order to meet
the requirements of the citizens. At one time there were between five
and six hundred messages on the operator's table, and the sender might
consider himself fortunate if his telegram got off three hours after it
was written. Some miscreants in some instances cut the wires a few days
after the fire, and the company had to send out twenty-five or thirty
patrol men to look after them. Mr. Clinch lost no time in getting
suitable quarters for the patrons of the company, and in a week he had a
comfortable office, working finely, in the Market House. He began work
at once on the new building which the company intend putting up, and in
six months the new telegraph office will be ready for occupancy on its
old site at the foot of King Street.
[Illustration: THE TEMPORARY W. U. TEL. OFFICE.]
CHAPTER XII.
A Thrilling Incident--The Burning House--The Tall Figure in the
Hall--Escape cut off--The only Way Out--The Street of Fire--
Walking on Coals--The Open Boat--The way to the Wharf--Terrible
Suffering--The Awful Death in the Street--Worn Out--The Escape
--Saved--The Firemen--How they Fought the Flames.
In olden times men who had performed deeds of bravery on the
battle-field were canonized as saints, and those who had shown daring in
other ways were revered as gods. There is a fascination about the
stories which come down to us through the long centuries of time, and
from the middle ages, and we are accustomed, almost from the cradle, to
revere the names of the great ones who have filled the world with the
splendour of their exploits in the defence of cities and the protection
of fair ladies. In the nursery we learn to lisp the names of stalwart
knights and doughty warriors, and the great deeds which they performed,
ages and ages ago, live again in the memory of all mankind. And it is
well that it should be so. It is well that the splendid actions of the
world's great men should be remembered for all time. Who is there who
does not feel the blood mantling his cheek when he thinks of a Clive and
of a Marlborough? Who can think of a Napier and a Wellington, and not
experience for a time a thousand emotions coursing and careering madly
through his breast? And Robert Bruce on his little palfrey giving battle
to the last of one of England's proudest and sternest knights, in full
view of Stirling Castle, the day before the great battle was fought, is
a story which every Scottish lad is taught before he is old enough to
read. And the lives of such men as Bonaparte, Turenne, Wolfe, the Great
Frederic, Von Moltke, and a hundred others, are undying records in the
histories of nations, the memory of whose deeds shall last when time
shall be no more.
In a young country like ours, whose territory has not often felt the
hostile tread of invading armies, and whose broad acres are almost
wholly unstained with the blood of battles, the heroes we have developed
have earned their reputation in another and nobler way. Halifax has had
her England, whose name will be remembered as long as ships sail the
seas; and in St. John, we have long learned to bless the name of a hero
in humble life, honest Tom Sloven. And now from the ashes of the fire
two names arise, which in after years, when their owners shall have
passed away, will live in the hearts of the people, and leave there an
imperishable record. We applaud success, and oftentimes let honest
effort and endeavour go unrewarded. We worship the rising sun, and when
a man works hard to achieve a certain success and fails, we are apt to
pass him by. And though the object, in the instance which we are about
to relate, was not successful in the end, let us never forget the deed
which was attempted at the imminent risk of the lives of the chief
actors. When the story of the fire is told at firesides in the years to
come, generations now unborn will listen with blanched cheeks and
curdling blood, to the great incident in the conflagration, when a
woman perished by the roadside, and two men escaped a dreadful death.
Mr. John E. Turnbull's sash factory, in Main Street, despite all
exertions, caught so quickly that the workmen narrowly escaped from the
ruins with their lives. Mr. Turnbull crossed the street to his
residence, which, like many others on that eventful day, he considered
impregnable. He had worked long at the factory, and had stored in his
house a large quantity of belting and tools of his workshop. He had
carefully gathered up everything of an inflammable character, and had
swept the yard clean, so that nothing could ignite and spread around the
fire, that but too readily devoured everything in its way. A vigorous
defence was inaugurated to save the house. Mr. Turnbull had good
assistants. His sons were there, working like beavers, and Mr. Walker
Frink in his department, stayed the flames for a long time. The
neighbours, believing like Mr. Turnbull, that nothing could harm this
house, had piled large quantities of furniture against its front, these
were lying before the windows of the cellar, and after a while took
fire. Mrs. Turnbull fearing that the house might after all be burned,
and at the request of her husband, made her escape by the back window,
and had to be lifted over the fence. It was well that she did go, for in
a few moments the house was threatened from a dozen quarters. The fence
in the rear was crackling, and Mr. Turnbull went down into the cellar
and began to shove off the blazing furniture from the windows. He worked
away at this for some time, never dreaming that the fire was so near
him, or that escape would soon be cut off. He had lost his hearing some
years before, and did not hear the roar of the fire nor feel its
approach. His son James was up-stairs battling with the fire, and Mr.
Frink was on the roof. James Turnbull, realizing in an instant the
condition of his father and his infirmity, and knowing well the
determined character of his nature, was about to rush into the cellar
and tell him how near the fire was, when he turned and beheld a dark
shadow in the doorway. It was coming towards him, and for a moment
struck terror into his soul. The tall figure of a woman, deeply robed in
black, holding up a long train in her hand, and with head-dress all
aflame, stood before him in the hall. He advanced towards her, as soon
as he could recover himself, and at once tore off the burning head-dress
and stamped it with his foot. He then brushed the kindling sparks from
her dress. She seemed demented and unable to understand the nature of
these proceedings. Indeed she remonstrated with him, and begged him not
to destroy her bonnet. _The fire had crazed her brain_, and after
escaping from her house she had wandered into Mr. Turnbull's blazing
residence, unheedful of the terrible burns she had received, and
notwithstanding that she was on fire herself in several places. James,
realizing the state of affairs at once, coaxed her to go with him to the
cellar to see his father, but she hung back and implored him to leave
her there. He was forced to drag her unwillingly along, and together
they both arrived at the place where the father was still labouring to
extinguish the fire that was coming from all sides. He knew nothing of
the great headway that had been made upstairs, and had not even begun to
realize the danger of his situation below. As soon as he saw the lady he
told his son to go and fetch a mat and throw it over her, and he would
be with them in a few minutes. This was done, but as often as this mat
was wrapped around her, it was thrown off again. Some moments passed,
and Mr. Turnbull finding that he could do no more, resolved to leave the
house. He and his son and the lady went upstairs where a sight that
would have appalled a heart of stone met his eyes. All hope of escape
through the alley in the rear was cut off. The house was on fire in the
back. The flames were melting the roof in a dozen places. On either side
the blaze was at its height, and not a moment was to be lost. Escape lay
in one direction only, and that was hazardous in the extreme. _They must
face the fire and escape by the front door_, or perish where they stood.
The position they were in was trying, but fortunately for them their
nerves were strong, and they were cool and collected. And now they began
preparing for the struggle. The warrior formerly buckled on his armour
of steel before venturing on the fray, but the armour of the
fire-fighters consisted of old coats and wet clothes. A coat was
fastened around the lady, who was still unknown to Mr. Turnbull, and her
head was covered. His son James enveloped in the same way, stood by her
side. Mr. Turnbull tied a wet handkerchief across his mouth, and after
putting a coat over his head, they began the memorable race for life.
James seized the lady, lifted her on his shoulders and followed his
father out of the door. She was heavy, very tall, and had passed in age
the allotted three score and ten. In addition to this, she was unwilling
to leave the house, and twice she had to be dragged away by main force
from the sofa. In no instance did she seem to comprehend what was being
done or how great her peril was. She was more concerned about her
parasol and head-dress than she appeared to be about her own personal
safety. James seemed endowed with superior strength, and he seized his
burden with a sort of death grip from which despite her struggles, she
could not escape. She afterwards became calmer, and while she made no
attempt to get off his back, he had her full dead weight to carry. The
three stepped into the street and walked into the furnace. The heat was
intense, and holding down their heads they hurried along. They ran over
blazing coals, and hands and feet burned to the very bone. They had not
proceeded twenty-five yards from the house, which was situate near the
corner of Main and Sydney Streets when they came upon a boat, thirty
feet long, which was lying directly across their path on its side. They
could not pass by the inside and had to go around by the bow. They were
hastening along to Charlotte Street, and intended going down that street
to the Ballast Wharf, and when the worst came the intention was to leap
into the sea. But the lady grew very violent just as the boat was passed
a few feet, and refused to go any further. She straightened herself up,
and slipping from James's shoulders, fell prone upon the ground. In
vain she was reasoned with, in vain she was asked to make an effort, in
vain she was appealed to, she would not move, but lay on her back
helplessly, saying, "O leave me alone, leave me here, I'm very, very
comfortable." The great fire, like a whirlwind, brushed against the
exposed flesh of the three human beings, and wore it to the bone. It was
like some invisible fiend. Before them they saw no flames, but a dead
white heat that was all the more terrible because it could not be seen.
Every time the covering was removed from their heads as they sought to
look out and see where they were going, this intense, imperceptible heat
burned their very eyeballs. The trees alongside were grasped by this
unseen power, and their trunks were twisted and turned in its cobra-like
embrace. Every thing in the road seemed charged with an element that
appeared to draw the flames on. Though Main Street is one hundred and
five feet wide, and the fire was for the most part confined to the
houses on the side of the road, a cat could not run the gauntlet that
night, and live. No one can realize the awful power of the heat, which
the Messrs. Turnbull and the lady they were striving to save experienced
on that thrilling march through the melting valley, without having
passed through a similar experience. It was a trial that can never be
blotted from their memories.
So much time was lost in trying to induce their charge to continue on
with them, that their chance of escape by Charlotte Street was cut off,
and the only hope that remained now, was to return by the terrible
route they had come. The battle had to be fought over again. The race
back had to be run once more. The boat must be crossed again, they must
go nearly two blocks forward, or die in their tracks. The street was
full of smoke now, and flying embers alighted on their shoulders and
burned their clothes, and the wild heat and the scorching flames were
madly tearing through to their faces. Their charge remained as helpless
as before, and there was something pitiable in her beseeching cries,
that almost tempted them to accede to her request and leave her there in
the street. But not a moment must now be lost, the fire-king was
trampling down all before him. The two men seized her. She struggled and
would not move. They dragged her to the boat, and she fell from their
now powerless arms. Weakened by the fire, and sick at heart at their ill
success, they could do no more, and could scarcely resist themselves the
desire to stay there by the upturned boat, and yield their lives back to
Him who gave them. The old lady fell back, and died with a smile upon
her lips. The men, too weak to carry her further, placed her close by
the boat, and shouted loudly for help. But the streets were bare of
people, and no sound could be heard but their own voices rising above
the crackling of the flames. They ran over the lava-like street,
stopping every now and then to catch breath. On, on they sped, the
youthful spirit of the one being roused when it lagged, by the inspiring
words of the wiry and vigorous elder. It was a terrible journey, fraught
by direful dangers on every side. Each foot of the way was gained by a
struggle, every yard was won by a battle. It was not until Carmarthen
Street was reached, that father and son could realize that they were
saved. They removed the covering from their heads, and looked back at
the road they had passed. A moment more in that fire would have been
their last. A figure was coming towards them, as they, arm in arm,
almost reeled up Carmarthen Street, and it proved to be the brother of
the woman Mr. Turnbull and his boy had tried to rescue. He was told that
his sister was left by the boat dead, and that no earthly power could
have saved her. One can imagine his agony when he learned these tidings.
The old lady proved to be Mrs. Reed, mother of Mr. T. M. Reed, a former
mayor of the city. At three o'clock the next morning, Mr. Turnbull went
back to Main Street, and on coming up to the unburned portion of the
boat, found close by it, the remains of Mrs. Reed. Mrs. Reed lost in the
fire two sisters--the Misses Clark, one of whom, it is thought, was
burned in her house, on the corner of Sydney and Main Streets. These
three ladies were highly respected and loved by all who knew them, and
their afflicted relatives meet with the sympathy of all.
Mr. Turnbull's loss is very heavy and foots up fully twenty-five
thousand dollars. He lost absolutely everything he possessed, and the
deeds and bank-notes which he had in his safe were all burned. He does
not despair now of being able to retrieve himself in some way. He was
the first man to erect a wooden shanty and send a flag flying from its
summit.
A large number of persons escaped from the resistless and giant-striding
flames by means of rafts and small boats. Others got a friendly sail to
Partridge Island in the tugs and steamers which approached the wharves
whenever it was safe to do so. Many of those who were on Reed's Point
Wharf and the Ballast Wharf got away in this manner.
The contingent of firemen from Portland worked with a will, and did much
to check the flames--as much, indeed, as mortal man could do in a fire
like this, with a high wind blowing a perfect gale all the time. The
city firemen performed, with their brethren of the adjacent town, signal
service. They drew lines round the burning buildings and tried again and
again to confine the fire to one place, and prevent its spread. But the
effort was futile. The flames broke down the lines, rose up in a hundred
new places, and drove the firemen and their engines away from the spot.
Some splendid work was performed in the vicinity of King Street East,
and down towards Pitt. Here they were partly successful, and did all
that could be done under the circumstances. Many of them are heavy
losers, having lost everything they had in their own houses, while they
were engaged in trying to save those of others. In a fire which never
ceased to rage at its height until it came to the water's brink, and
which poured an unceasing stream of flame for nine steady hours, and
which burned in fifteen sections of the city at once, it was a
difficult matter for them with only four engines, to do anything like
stopping the conflagration until it had spent itself, no matter how
efficient and perfect the organization might be. No one expected the
firemen to accomplish anything. There was something in the air which
seemed to breed a sort of contagion, and the fire paralyzed buildings in
a moment, and no one could tell how they caught. The fire struck men
down where they were standing, and an invisible heat bore to the earth
the trees on the sideways.
CHAPTER XIII.
A Chapter of Incidents--Agony on Board--Coming Up the Harbour
--The Story of the Moths--The Newly Married Lady's Story--No
Flour--Moving Out--Saving the Drugs--The Man with the
Corn-Plasters--Incendiarism--Scenes--Thievery--The Newspapers
--Enterprise--Blowing Down the Walls--An Act of Bravery--The
Fatal Blast--Danger and Death in the Walls--Accidents--The Fire
and the Churches--The Ministers.
As the "Empress" was steaming up the harbour, from Digby, on the night
of the fire, the passengers on board, many of whom belonged to St. John,
beheld the city in flames. Some of them even saw from the water their
own residences on fire, and witnessed the alarming rapidity of the
flames and the almost powerless efforts of the people to stay their
ravages. One can imagine the feelings of those passengers who had left
children at home, and who now began to experience the greatest anguish
and suffering. What made the matter worse was, that some time had to
elapse before the captain could venture to approach his wharf, and this
added largely to the bitterness of the fathers and mothers on board. A
mother who had left a little one in the city, while absent on a journey
to Nova Scotia, told the writer that the agony she endured while making
the approach to the city completely deadened and prostrated her. She
grew perfectly helpless, and for a time nothing could rouse her from the
seeming state of insensibility under which she sank. Those were
terrible moments of suffering--awful moments of uncertainty.
Among the curious incidents of the fire which are constantly coming to
the surface, is the rather good story which is told of one of our
neatest housekeepers. Her house is noted for its spotlessness, and some
who profess to know, say that such a thing as a spider's web could not
be seen about the premises, even in the cellar or wood-shed. The lady
has a natural abhorrence of those pests, the moths which _will_ get into
our furs sometimes and defy all the camphor and snuff in existence to
keep them out. One day, about six months ago, some handsome newly
upholstered chairs were purchased, and duly placed in the parlour. In a
week a moth was found in one of the new chairs, and there was much
consternation thereat. The rest of the furniture was examined carefully,
and the offending chair was sent to the upholsterer for his examination.
The result proved to the lady's satisfaction that she was right, and
that the flock which had been put into the chair with the hair had
caused all the mischief. The whole set was sent back to the
furniture-man, and he was ordered to take the flock out. He returned
them after a time, but in less than a week the persevering house-keeper
succeeded in finding moths in every one of the chairs. She sent them to
another upholsterer this time, and was awaiting their return when the
fire occurred, and they were burned up, moths and all, while her own
house was untouched.
A newly-married lady fearing the fire would reach her dwelling,
succeeded in hiring a team, and putting into it her best furniture,
bedding, husband's clothes, and all her silver, sent them up to her
mother's house at about four o'clock in the afternoon. At six o'clock
her mother's residence was burned down, and with it all that was in it,
while her own house was about half a mile from the vicinity of the fire.
The lady was quite annoyed when the folks came in for a night's lodging
that night, shortly after tea was over.
Considerable consternation prevailed among the people when it was known
that nearly all the flour in town had been burned. The estimated loss
was considered to be about fifty or sixty thousand barrels. One man is
said to have hurried out and paid $18 for a barrel, while there were
several persons who paid twenty cents a loaf for bread.
A good many people who feared the fire was coming their way moved out,
and put their furniture, etc., in the street, and watched it till after
midnight, when the expected flames not arriving, they marched the
effects back again. The goods were almost as much damaged as if they had
remained in the fire. Large quantities of material were lost in this
way, and a lady saved an old pewter-box which once contained her
husband's sleeve-buttons and studs, while she wrapped the latter up in a
bag and never saw them again.
Quite a number of cases of petty thieving occurred. A drug store,
shortly before the fire came to it, was filled with a gang of roughs and
pickpockets, who insisted on helping the proprietor to save a few
things. They were saving them with a vengeance; opening every box and
package that came in their way, and taking a dip out of each. One young
man, whose face bore the picture of health, had managed to save, when
detected, enough Blood Mixture to cure the scrofula in his family for
the next fifteen years. Boys, who should have stolen soap, were going in
for that excellent capillary restorer, Mrs. Allen's Zylobalsamum, and a
man, hobbling along with a wooden leg, was filling his pockets with
bunion and corn plasters. The boxes had a neat look, and he thought he
would see the next day what the contents were good for. Everyone wanted
to help, and one could not but admire the zeal with which these gentry
emptied drawers and boxes on the floor, and scrambled for the contents.
One young gentleman in his anxiety to save a mirror-stand, which
certainly could never be of any use to him, cut it in two and hastened
away, leaving a drawer full of toothpicks, and a bottle of rat poison
behind him, which he might have had just as well as not. A citizen, who
said he felt dry after working so hard all day, regaled himself with a
pint bottle of Ipecacuanha wine, and left immediately after it was down,
to see how the fire was getting along in another place. One can never
forget these little acts of kindness. It is the performance of deeds
like these which exalts a nation, and makes us feel that the world is
not altogether a fleeting show or a snare.
The cry of incendiarism was raised during the first days of the fire,
and a good deal of alarm prevailed. Special constables patrolled the
city, volunteer soldiers were placed on guard, and the policemen were
ordered to be vigilant. Several arrests were made; but the greater
portion of these were unnecessary, and, in nearly all cases, the persons
arrested turned out to be noisy, drunken men, whose actions were
misinterpreted by the officers. Some cases of incendiarism did really
occur, however, and it was just as well that the city should be guarded,
and the rougher element closely looked after. There is no doubt but that
the fire at half-past two in the morning, in J. and T. Robinson's brick
building, York Point Slip, was caused by the torch of the incendiary;
and on Monday afternoon, a man was actually caught in the act of setting
fire to Mrs. David Tapley's house in Indian-town. A good deal of talk
about lynching was indulged in, but no one was lynched, though rumours
came thick and fast, that one man had been shot, another hanged, and any
number of people, according to the fertility of the narrator's
imagination, were thrown into the sea. Drunkenness was rampant, and all
saw how necessary it was that this evil should be stopped short. The
licenses to the sellers could not be taken away, and it was optional
with them whether they would listen to the appeals of the citizens or
not. A committee, at a meeting of the people was appointed to ask the
bar-tenders to close their bars for one week. To the credit of these
gentlemen, be it said, they acceded to the request at once, and the
bars were closed. This had a salutary effect on the morals of the
community.
For days after the fire, stolen goods were being constantly recovered by
the police and special constables. Large quantities were found concealed
in houses situate a little distance away from the city, while even in
the city limits, the officers met with a good deal of success in tracing
articles that had been surreptitiously carried off. Some outward-bound
schooners arrived at their places of destination along the New Brunswick
and Nova Scotia coasts, laden with spoils from the fire, but in most
cases these were got back.
H. M. S. Argus arrived from Halifax with the Marine Artillery and some
soldiers. A number of the sailors did patrol duty in Carleton, and the
artillery spent several days blowing down the walls of the buildings,
and doing other work entrusted to their care. A number of soldiers of
the 97th Regiment also arrived from Halifax, and these together with a
company of the 62nd Battalion of volunteers, and some men of the
volunteer artillery under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Foster, the
senior Lieutenant-Colonel of the Dominion, performed guard and other
duty until the 6th of July, when the volunteers were disbanded, and the
regulars were continued for a time. The men behaved excellently and did
good service. They were all encamped in King's Square.
[Illustration: KING SQUARE AFTER THE FIRE, ENCAMPMENT OF THE 97TH
REGIMENT.]
The U.S. Revenue Cutter "Gallatin" made two trips from Boston laden with
supplies from the generous people there, for the relief of the sufferers
by the fire.
With commendable enterprise, many of the merchants who were burned out,
and could not secure premises in which to carry on their business, by
permission of the authorities, erected shanties on King and Market
Squares, which they promise to pull down before the first of May, 1878.
The city now looks quite primitive. Turn where you will, shanties of
various sizes and styles meet the eye.
Some very good work was done at the ferry floats by the employes of the
boat. Through their exertions the fire was kept away for a considerable
time from the handsome new Magee Block, which stood on the corner of
Water and Princess Streets. This building will be put up again at once.
The newspaper men were heavy losers, but nothing daunted, they went to
work at once and lost no time. The _Telegraph_, through the courtesy of
Mr. George W. Day, printer, was out on the very morning after the fire,
with a smaller, but very spicy and interesting little sheet. The
_Telegraph_ proprietor and editor, Mr. Elder, did not save even his
fyles. The _Globe_ also did not lose an issue, and on Thursday evening
it was as bright and attractive as usual, and contained an excellent
account of the fire. The _Daily News_ lost its issue on Thursday, but on
Sunday, the proprietors, Messrs. Willis & Mott, issued a very
interesting paper, and so made up for what it lost on Thursday. The
resume of the work of spoliation in this number of the _News_ was very
graphic. The _Freeman_[R] did not issue a paper. The three principal
papers immediately set to work buying type, paper, and presses, and in a
fortnight after the fire, the _News_ was issued full size from a new
press on the site of its old office. The _Globe_ and _Telegraph_
followed with new presses, &c., a day or two after. The _News_ and
_Globe_ were issued after the fire for a few days from the _Weekly
Herald_ office, Germain Street.
At the blowing down of the walls of the Post Office, an act of valour
was performed by some men belonging to the volunteer Battery of
Artillery, which deserves prominent mention. Major Cunard, Captain A. J.
Armstrong, and Lieutenants Inch and Ewing, together with a detachment of
the Brigade of New Brunswick Artillery, under the command of
Lieutenant-Colonel S. K. Foster, marched to Prince William Street, and
proceeded to blow down the walls of the Post Office. Sentries were
posted all round a circle of nearly two hundred yards, and everything
being in readiness the work was begun. Two bags of powder were placed
against the building with the length of spouting which would contain the
port fire fuse that was to connect with the powder. Two charges went off
and the effect on the walls was slight. The men thought of the
expediency of placing a charge against the inside as well as one on the
outside of the building. The trains were laid and the fuses lit, but
some loose powder igniting in a moment with the train, it exploded with
a deafening crash before the men could get away, and half of the wall
facing Prince William Street, came down as if a thunder-bolt had struck
it. Gunner John Nixon, of No. 2 Battery, was covered with the debris,
but escaped uninjured, save a few scratches on the arm and a cut or two.
Gunner Walter Lamb, of No. 10 Battery, was stricken down and every one
deemed him dead, the smoke and debris completely hiding him. The second
70lb blast was still burning and was momentarily expected to go off,
when Lamb's hand was observed to rise over his head and touch his cap.
In a moment five men, unmindful of the terrible fate which threatened
them, rushed in and bravely dragged from the mass of ruins, their fallen
comrade. He was borne away just as the second charge went off with a
roar, carrying away at a bound the remainder of the wall. Stones and
bricks flew in every direction and John Anderson, who was standing in
Germain Street, but whose presence there was unknown, fell badly
wounded. He was conveyed to the hospital and died in a few days. The
names of the five artillery men who behaved so bravely are, Lieutenant
Inch, No. 10; Lieutenant Wm. King, No. 10; Corporal J. R. Andrews, No.
3; Corporal Anderson, No. 1; and Gunner R. McJunkin, No. 10. Captain
Ring, of Carleton Battery, was standing within three paces of Gunner
Lamb when he fell. His escape was certainly miraculous.
The pulling down of the walls has been attended by a good many
accidents, some of them terminating seriously. A week after the fire
some men were engaged in taking down the walls of the building in Dock
Street, belonging to the Johnston estate. Two men were cleaning out the
foundation at the same time. The wall trembled in the breeze, and the
men looking up fled for their lives. One of them, James Wilkins
escaped, but Thomas Sullivan was caught by the pile of bricks and his
head was badly cut and his limbs bruised. A day or so after this
accident, another one occurred which ended fatally. Some workmen were
removing the rubbish from a building, when a wall that enclosed a vault
of some seven or eight feet in height fell, and George Gallagher was
buried in the ruins. He was taken to the Hospital (Dr. E. B. C.
Hanington, resident physician), and it was found that his spine was
broken, his thigh fractured, and he had sustained serious injuries
internally. He died in a few hours.
The Sunday after the fire, the ministers referred in their sermons to
the very general conflagration, and its lessons. At St. Paul's Church,
in the morning, Rev. Mr. De Veber preached. In the afternoon, the Rev.
Mr. Mather, and in the evening, Rev. Mr. Brigstocke, of Trinity,
officiated. Rev. Mr. Windeyer preached both morning and evening in his
church, the Reformed Episcopal. Rev. S. P. Fay, a Bangor clergyman,
preached in the Union Street Congregational Church, morning and evening.
Rev. James Bennet preached in St. John's Presbyterian in the morning,
and Rev. A. McL. Stavely in the afternoon. Rev. Dr. D. Maclise, in the
morning preached in Calvin Church; and in the evening, Rev. Mr.
Mitchell, of St. Andrew's Kirk, preached. The Exmouth Street Church held
three services, Rev. Mr. Duke in the morning, Rev. Howard Sprague in the
afternoon, and in the evening Revs. Messrs. Hartt and Sprague addressed
the congregation. Rev. Mr. Fowler preached in Carleton Presbyterian
Church in the morning, and there was no service in the evening. The
Baptist pulpit was occupied by Rev. Mr. Hickson, the pastor, both
morning and evening. Rev. Theodore Dowling preached in St. George's
Church. At the Free Christian Church, Rev. George Hartley preached in
the afternoon. At the Portland Baptist Church, Rev. Mr. McLellan, the
pastor, preached morning and evening. The Portland Methodist Church had
Rev. Mr. Barrett in the morning, and Rev. Mr. Teed in the evening. St.
Luke's, Portland, had sermons from Rev. Mr. Almon, the rector. Brussels
Street Church had Rev. Mr. Alexander. At the Roman Catholic Cathedral,
at nine o'clock mass, Bishop Sweeny addressed the congregation, and at
eleven, Bishop Power, of Newfoundland, preached. Rev. Mr. Wills
delivered a sermon at the Unitarian Hall; and in the St. Stephen
Presbyterian Church, Rev. D. Macrae preached in the morning, and the
Rev. Mr. Donald, of Port Hope, in the evening.[S]
Thirty-nine orphans were kindly taken care of by Mr. R. B. Graham, the
visiting agent of the Baldwin Place Home for Little Wanderers, who
carried them to Boston, Massachusetts.
Some months ago a clever poem in several books, entitled "On the Hills,"
from the pen of a Nova Scotia lady of excellent reputation as a writer,
Mrs. Morton, _née_ Irene S. Elder, was placed in the hands of Wm. Elder,
Esq., of the St. John's _Daily Telegraph_, to read. On the day of the
fire, he put this manuscript in his safe, for protection. When the safe
was opened, the manuscript was found quite legible. The scene of the
poem is laid in our sister province, and it is said to contain some
genuine touches of true poetry.
_Apropos_ of manuscripts, it may be said that Prof. Wm. Lyall, of
Halifax, lost a very valuable treatise "On the Emotions," which was
burned in Mr. Stewart's safe, King street. Mr. W. P. Dole lost all his
sonnets, and his late paper "On Definitions," upon which he had expended
a good deal of time.
FOOTNOTES:
[R] The _Freeman_ will be issued shortly as a daily.
[S] Rev. Geo. M. Armstrong preached in Stone Church, (built
1824) and on the Sabbath following the Bishop of Fredericton preached in
the same church.
CHAPTER XIV.
"I went againe to the ruines, for it was no longer a Citty"--the
Drive by Moonlight--Through the Ruins--After the Fire--A City of
Ashes--The Buried Silver--The Sentinel Chimneys--The Home of
Luxuriance--A Recollection--The Moon and the Church--Back Again.
Shelley's white-orbed maiden sits in the sky, and already her pale torch
is silvering the peaks of the ruins. Let us take a carriage, and drive
round the desolate city, slowly and softly, and view the giant wreck
which the fire has made. There is no better time than the present. The
moon is up, and quietness reigns. It is as light as day. We will drive
first to the barrack-ground, and look up the long hills. Three days have
passed, and the first excitement is now over. A thousand weary pilgrims
have made the journey to this desert of desolation a hundred times since
the fire, and vainly dug on the site where their homes once were, for
relics, or perhaps something more. Why, look there! it is past midnight,
and those three men you see working by that blackened wall, seem so
wrapped up in their occupation, that they scarcely speak to one another,
or note the presence of any one but themselves. See, they are carrying
away the still hot bricks, and throwing into the street bits of iron and
charred wood. Look, watch them for a moment--witness how they--
"Dig, dig, dig, amid earth, and mortar, and stone,
And dig, dig, dig, among ruins overthrown;
Spade, and basket, and pick, the toiling Arabs ply."
How monotonous the work appears, and how strangely weird everything
looks. To speak now, and hail these men, would break the charm--would
interrupt the gaunt and gloomy silence of the place. But the presence of
these excavators, at such an hour as this, arouses our curiosity. We
know that the standard authorities tell us, that no matter how deeply
men may dig for the pirate's buried treasure, if any one speaks during
the performance of the work, the spell becomes broken, the enchantment
passes away, and the iron box of doubloons vanishes. We have no means of
disputing this, and wouldn't if we could. We have no desire to attempt
to prove the contrary, but rather incline to the belief that the
authorities are right, for we have it on the word of a gentleman who
once owned a mineral rod, and whose word is undoubted, that a certain
Miss Pitts, who was engaged all her life in digging about the gardens of
her neighbours, and who never found anything up to the day of her death,
confessed to him during her last illness, that her tongue had spoiled
all. Had she but kept quiet when her spade struck the iron-box, all
would have been well. But her joy was so great at the sight of the
treasure, that she couldn't contain herself longer, and giving utterance
to her feelings she spoke, and the box of course, immediately sank. The
truth of this narrative can be established by excellent witnesses, and
Miss Pitts, whatever her other faults might be, had always a splendid
reputation for veracity. She made and sold mineral rods too, and, in
explaining their miraculous properties, gave out the advice that, by a
judicious and constant use of her peculiar make of mineral rod, the
whole world might speedily become rich, and at very trifling cost, thus
exhibiting a vein of disinterestedness, as generous as it was rare. We
say then, in the face of all this, and at the risk of destroying what
happiness yet remained in the minds of the men who were thus toiling
through the ghostly hour of twelve, we drew rein and hailed them. We
couldn't help it. Our curiosity got the better of us, and we asked them
what they were digging for. They were hunting for treasures, truly, not
the pirate's though, but their own. During the fire, and unable to hire
a team at any price, they had dug a deep hole in the cellar of the house
and buried there, what jewelry and silver-ware they could scrape
together. They were now hunting for it, and eventually they found it, in
not even a discoloured state.
But let us go on. A very pleasant wind is fanning our foreheads, and
there is a charm about this drive which we never experienced before. A
grim charm truly, but nevertheless, a charm after all. Are we not going
to see the ruins. The ruins which came to us in a night--the heritage of
the fire. We have a Dunga and a Dugga, and a Carthage of our own. In a
few brief hours we had a desolation here, which, in other lands it took
great centuries to create. We have crumbling ruins, and shapeless masses
of stone in the very heart of a community which boasted, but a short
time before, of a civilization and an enterprise unsurpassed the world
over. Let the eye wander as we pass along the deserted streets, and take
in the full view as it appears. What a fascination there is about this
district of sorrow. Why is it we pause, and wonder if Troy ever looked
like this; or the ruins of Sodom stood out against the sky like that
house there, this edifice here or that once noble structure beyond. All,
all is desolation, all blackness, despair, decay and misery. Look at
those ponderous walls, which defied the flames to the last. See they are
still standing, broken it is true, but standing proudly and defiantly
for all that. See, the moon is throwing her light upon that church
yonder. See how she dances, now high, now low, look, she disappears
behind the tall wall, and all we see for a moment is a dark shadow. Now
there she is again. Here comes the glittering Cynthia with her robes of
white. She is coming along up, up, up by that angle there. Now she is
soaring along the sky. Now she seems to stand right over our heads. How
light it is. How bright and beautiful the moon is to-night. How playful
the mad thing is, how merrily and joyously she disports herself in the
heavens, and yet how kindly she turns her sympathetic face on the vale
below. She sails along, casting lingering and tearful glances on the
havoc-stricken land.
We will drive over to that eminence there and look at the squares of
ruins, and notice the fragments of columns which remain. Turn your head
round, and look at those sentinel chimneys standing so erect, and so
regularly in line. Ah, that is where the old barrack stood, and those
chimneys, no doubt, heard many a well-told tale of the bivouac and the
battle-field. Could they but speak to-night, what reminiscence would
they relate of Lucknow and Cawnpore, of the Heights of Alma, and bloody
plain of Inkerman. What stories would they tell you of the gallant
fellows who on bleak winter nights gathered round their base, and
chatted and talked of battles fought and won, and the great deeds of
bravery they had seen. These high chimneys have many bits of history
locked within them which the world shall never know. They stood there
when the city was almost as bare of houses as it is now. They have seen
the busy workman, and heard the sound of his axe and saw; they have seen
the city grow more and more strong and beautiful; they have watched its
growth from a mere hamlet to a metropolis; they have witnessed the
erection of noble structures on sites where trees and bushes flourished
before; they have seen St. John on the morning of the 20th June
prosperous, enterprising, and full of energy and life; and they have
seen her again before the sun went down, stricken to the earth, with her
buildings in ruins, and the work of almost a hundred years in ashes. The
old sentries keep guard to-night, blackened and bared.
Turn the horse a little this way. Now look up the street. Do you see
that pile of bricks and mortar and those heavy stones lying near? That
_debris_ is all that is left of a house where in my youth, I spent many
happy hours. I must take you into my confidence and tell you that the
owner of that house is to-day a poor man. The day before the fire he was
comparatively comfortable, rich I should call it, but the way wealth is
computed now-a-days, I will content myself with saying that he was
comfortably off. He had his carriage and horses--such splendid drivers,
and how well he kept them--he had a library, and such books, and he knew
what was in them too. History, belles-lettres, biography, science, all
departments were here. You could read if you chose on an idle afternoon,
in that alcove off the library, over there, a few feet from those
bricks, anything your fancy dictated. I used to love to sit there and
pull down his books--not to read them always, but merely to skim the
cream off a dozen or so of them of an afternoon. He had some charming
old books which he always kept in the extreme corner of his case. I
remember with what awe I used to approach this section, and take down
from the shelf his luxuriant copy of Milton, printed early in the
eighteenth century, and illustrated with a grand old portrait of the
blind bard. I read Pope's Homer here for the first time, and actually
waded through the Chesterfield Letters. I used to sit over towards the
left of where we are now, just close to that old stove-pipe which you
can just see peeping through the bricks. I may live many years, or I may
pass away to-night, but I shall never forget that dear old house, and
the many happy, happy hours I spent there. Come away. Something seems to
choke me, and one wants all his strength these days. Continue along in
this direction. We shall see all that is left of many beautiful houses
from here. There's the Wiggins' Orphan Asylum. The tower and the walls
are there. What exquisite ruins they are. Let us look at them awhile.
One can almost fancy he has seen somewhere a picture of the remains of
an edifice that looked like this. I can almost hear the guide tapping
his cane on the walls, and telling me to note how excellently preserved
the building is, and how admirably the builders put it up. See how solid
and strong it is, and hardly a discoloration marks its handsome front.
That dingy and dismal-looking old wooden building near at hand is the
Marine Hospital--that was saved all right.
Did you notice the jagged, fringe-like edges of that building which we
passed just now, in that bend near the road? How intense the heat must
have been there to wear it down like that. And did you observe that
wooden door lying in the vestibule scarcely touched by the flames, while
everything around it was burned to a crisp? What odd freaks the fire
takes sometimes. Drive a little faster keep well to the left. The
streets are full of stones and broken brick yet. We are now coming past
Queen Square, and let us look in a moment on Mecklenburg Street. What a
beautiful sight those burning coals make in Mr. Vaughan's house. You can
see better by the left, there, now stop. See the pale light is above,
the deep blood-red light is below. What a curious meeting. You can
scarcely see the dividing line between them. Drive through the street to
Carmarthen, take in on the way Mr. Nicholson's Castle, and the houses
of Messrs. Magee on the left, and before you turn up the street look at
that immense mass of burning coals belonging to the Gas Company, blazing
away like some volcano in a state of eruption. There are smouldering
fires all round the city, and ruins upon ruins meet us at every turn. My
heart sickens at the sight. Let us drive home. We have visited the ruins
by moonlight.
Chapter XV.
Aid for St. John--The First Days--How the Poor were Fed--
Organization of the St. John Relief and Aid Society--Its
System--How it Operates--The Rink--The Car-shed--List of
Moneys and Supplies Received--The Noble Contributions.
No sooner was it known abroad that a great fire had swept away the
principal portion of St. John, and that thousands of people walked the
streets, homeless and hungry, than, with wonderful unanimity, generous
offers of aid came pouring in from all sides, for the relief of the
ruined city. Large sums of money, cargoes of supplies, and carloads of
breadstuffs, furniture, and clothing arrived; and committees of
citizens, notwithstanding that they were burned out themselves, and had
suffered severely, forgot everything in the desire to do good, and
instantly proceeded to take charge of this relief, and administer it to
the needy. The spacious skating rink was at their disposal, and this
splendid building soon became the house of refuge for over three hundred
homeless persons. These men, women, and children lived, slept, and ate
here day after day, for a week and more after the fire. The rink was
also converted into a provision storehouse, and from its centre the
poor, daily, received the necessaries of life. The ladies' dressing-room
was thrown into a clothes department, and from this place the wants of
applicants were attended to. Of course the system employed at first was
very loose, and while many deserving persons received aid, others,
again, who had no claims on the fund, fared equally as well. The
committee took the ground that it was better a few impositions should
occur than that one deserving person should "go empty away," and
accordingly none were refused alms and other assistance. The greatest
credit is due to these gentlemen for their kindly and disinterested
labours. While in office they did much good, and the generous donors of
the material which was so freely sent, can rest assured that their
bounty was not misapplied. Everything passed through the hands of His
Worship, Mayor Earle, the chief civic officer, and was by him placed
immediately after its receipt, in the possession of the proper ones who
were delegated to receive it. But this committee could not be expected
to distribute the relief, after the first week or two. The sums of
money, and the immense quantity of supplies, which continued, and still
continue, to come, and the large increase of applicants who only now
began to realize their loss, caused the work to grow more and more
arduous and cumbersome. Some regularly organized system of administering
aid must be devised, and a proper board of workmen selected, who would
be paid fairly for their services. This was what was done in Chicago,
during the days of her calamity, and our people wisely considered that a
leaf out of her book would answer the purpose. A meeting was called, and
though some dissatisfaction existed at the precise _manner_ in which the
thing was done, yet, after all, the error in such times as these should
not be accounted as anything very serious. The movers meant well, and
every one could not have a place on the board of directors.
[Illustration: SKATING RINK.]
Mr. C. G. Trusdell, the General Superintendent of the Chicago Relief and
Aid Society, was sent down to St. John to give what counsel he could,
and relate his experience to the people, and point out to them the
beauties of the organization which obtained in Chicago during her
troubles. He counselled the instant formation of a similar society here.
He knew its workings intimately. It was thorough; it was business-like.
No one, after the system was in full working order, could impose on the
managers, and order would come out of chaos, and confusion no longer
exist. His words had weight, for he had passed through the fire himself;
and steps were at once inaugurated for the establishment of "The St.
John Relief and Aid Society," with full control of the funds and
supplies. The men who were selected for the task are those in whom the
citizens have every confidence. The Directors are:--
S. Z. Earle, Mayor, _President_.
W. H. Tuck, Recorder, _Vice-President_.
Chas. H. Fairweather, _Treasurer_.
James A. Harding.
Hon. Geo. E. King.
Harris Allan.
Fred A. King.
Andre Cushing.
James Reynolds.
H. J. Leonard.
James I. Fellows.
Wm. Magee.
Chas. N. Skinner.
Ezekiel McLeod.
Gen. D. B. Warner.
A. Chipman Smith.
John H. Parks.
E. Fisher.
Aldermen Maher, Peters, Ferguson, Kerr, Adams, Duffell, Brittain,
Glasgow, and Wilson, with L. R. Harrison, _Secretary_.
These gentlemen then organized the St. John Relief and Aid Society, and
assumed charge at once. The moneys were deposited in the bank, to the
credit of Chas. H. Fairweather, the Treasurer; and General D. B. Warner,
U.S. Consul, entered upon his duties as General Superintendent, and
opened his office at the rink.
The sufferers by the fire, who had lived in the rink up to this time,
were housed in tents on the barrack green. The rink was thrown into
compartments. Fully two-thirds were placed at the service of the
store-keeper, who dealt out the provisions, the manager of the furniture
department, and the overseer of the space allotted to clothing. The
space directly in front of the door-way is occupied by the different
officers who perform the preliminary work. The gentlemen's dressing-room
is devoted to the use of the visitors, and the other dressing-room is
where the General Superintendent is to be found. No more admirable
system of giving out help to those whose wants require it, could be
formed. It is perfection itself, and though mistakes may occur
occasionally, on the whole it moves like a piece of well-appointed
machinery. The reader must understand that thousands of applications are
made daily, and all sorts of tricks are resorted to by those whose
necessities require no help, and every dollar given away to the
undeserving, is so much carried from the mouths of the honest and
honourable, for whom this magnificent donation was made. The greatest
care must be exercised, and it is the business of quite a staff of
officers to see that these impositions are checked, and no one is served
twice on the same order. No one has been refused aid, if he was
legitimately entitled to it.
The actual working of the system is an interesting study. Everything is
done regularly and methodically. There is a substantial reason for every
movement, and it is surprising how quickly the officers can detect an
informality, or notice any attempt at deception. A brief account of the
system as it works will be interesting to many. Upon entering through
the main entrance, the visitor will notice, in stepping down to the
floor of the rink, a number of benches. On these the applicants sit,
each awaiting his or her turn, as the case may be. Before them are the
interviewers, six or seven in number, seated at convenient desks. The
applicant steps up and answers the questions propounded on a sheet of
paper. This document is signed, and one of Mr. G. B. Hegan's (the chief
of the clerks' staff) clerks numbers it. It then goes before Mr. Peter
Campbell, the superintendent of visitors. He allots it to the visitor of
the district to which the applicant belongs, for his name and address
are on this paper. The next day this house is visited, and the wants of
the residents being made known are entered on the paper, if in the
opinion of the visitor, after thorough examination, they come under the
proper head for relief. The applicant is told to call at the rink, where
he receives orders for furniture, clothing or provisions, or all three
if he needs them. After that has been gone through, it is only the
question of a few minutes when he gets what he wants. He presents each
ticket to the department of the various supplies, and after receiving
his quota he passes out. The process is very simple, though it appears
at first sight a little involved. It is the only way, however, by which
a complete check may be put on what goes out or by which every dollar's
worth of supplies can be strictly accounted for. Cases calling for
immediate aid often come before the managers. The applicant's needs are
urgent, and he cannot wait two days. He must have something now and at
once. Even here the wheels of the system are not clogged. In half an
hour or less he goes off with a day or two's full supply. An interim
ticket is furnished for just such cases as his, and he gets enough on
that "Immediate Relief" card, in advance of visitation to keep him from
actual suffering, until his regular supply can come to him in due
course. The plan adopted to prevent fraud works excellently, and without
the remotest possibility of a mistake. This is the famous vowel index
system and there is no better way than it. This is in charge of the
book-keepers under W. H. Stanley, the Chief Book-keeper, whose fine
ability has full scope in the management of this department. A complete
registration is made of the name and number and residence of every
applicant. The vouchers bearing these statements are fyled away in
packages of a hundred, and it is only the work of a few seconds to find
out all about the applicant as soon as he presents himself. In this
department only the "issued" documents are kept. Before they pass into
the book-keeper's hands they are retained by another set of clerks who
hold them until the supplies are issued; when this is done the words
"issued to ----" are written down on the face of the voucher in red ink
and at once recorded at the book-keeper's desk and fyled as before
mentioned. Mr. Hegan, whose desk faces the door, performs his functions
with excellent executive skill, and the other gentlemen in charge of the
different departments have the system at their fingers' end and already
show much familiarity with the work. It is the duty of the visitors who
call on the people named in the circulars handed them, to make every
legitimate enquiry and strive to learn the fullest particulars of the
applicants, as much depends on their report to headquarters. This duty
is entrusted to persons of discernment and reliability, and few
complaints have reached the General Superintendent of negligence and
incompetency. As soon as they occur, however, the offenders are promptly
dismissed. The Provision Department is in charge of Mr. Geo. Swett,
formerly Manager of the Victoria Hotel. He has an efficient staff of
clerks, and his store-room reminds one of a well regulated wholesale
grocery store. The meat is cut up into convenient pieces by butchers,
and the whole management here is reduced to a system; Mr. Swett is
always courteous and looks carefully after those under him. Mr. Kerrison
is chief of the Clothing Department, and Mr. P. Gleason, is the
principal officer of the Furniture Room. Miss Rowley is Superintendent
of the Ladies' Clothing Department. The heads of the different
departments are held responsible for the doings of their subordinates,
and the utmost vigilance is accordingly exercised.
The large car-shed immediately adjoining the rink, has been converted
into a store-room and receiving office. Here, Messrs. Wm. Magee and
James Reynolds receive the supplies as they come to the very doors of
the shed by rail, and are brought from the steamers by carts. As most of
the relief comes by train there is no cartage or expense attached, and
this besides being very convenient is wholly inexpensive. Not an article
can leave here to go to the various departments in the rink, unless an
order comes for it from some chief of a department. The supplies are
usually ordered in large quantities in the morning and in sufficient
amounts to last one day. The warehouse is kept well, and the goods
therein are carefully looked after and subject to constant examination.
Everything here, as well as in the other rooms, is done by check, and
nothing can go astray.
The Directors are husbanding their resources and looking further ahead
than the present hour. Care is taken to render judiciously the relief
which has come from the generous friends abroad. It is likely that the
St. John Relief and Aid Society will continue several years in active
operation. They will have much to do, and the trials which will come
with the winter will be very trying.
LIST OF BUSINESS HOUSES BURNT OUT.
Academy of Music A. M. Ring, Pres. Germain Street.
Adams, James & Co. Drygoods King Street.
Allan, Harris Brass-founder Water Street.
Allan Bros. Foundrymen " "
Allan, J. Howe Provisions South Mkt. Whf.
Allan, John Tinsmith Canterbury Street.
Allen, Geo. Em. Commercial agent Prince William Street.
Ames, Horace T. Ship chandlery Walker's Whf.
Albert Mining Co. Albertite Pr. William Street.
Armstrong, Aaron Bonded warehouse " "
Armstrong, Bros. Founders Main Street.
Armstrong, John & Co. Dry goods Prince William Street
Austin, W. H. Livery Stable Princess Street.
Andrews, Wm. Mountain,
& Co. Manuf. Agents Prince William Street.
Arrowsmith, J. E. Victualler Germain.
Abel, Mrs. Boarding-house "
Aitken, Allen & Co. Machinists Sydney Street.
Anglin, Hon. T. W. "Freeman" Prince William Street.
Almon, L. J. Insurance Princess Street.
Brown, Silas H. Builder Pitt St.
Ballantine, J. E. & Co. Boots and shoes
(retail) King St.
Barbour Bros. Provisions South Mkt. Whf.
Barbour, M. C. Dry goods (retail) Prince William St.
Barbour, Robt. Painter
Bardsley, Bros. Hats King St.
Butt, W. F. Bonded warehouse Nelson St.
Brennan, Henry Oyster saloon Water St.
Barnes, A. B. & Co. Hotel-keepers Prince William St.
Barnes & Co. Booksellers " "
Benn, J. C. Insurance Germain St.
Barnes, Jos. W. & Co. Dry goods (retail) Market Square.
Betts Azor, W. T. Comm Ward St.
Bridgeo, D. Boarding-house Prince William St.
Bartsch, A. J. H. Watches and
Chronometers " "
Beard & Venning Dry goods " "
Benson, John Millinery " "
Beek, Henry S. Bookbinder " "
Bell, Joseph Painter Duke St.
Bellony, John Pictures Dock St.
Bent, Geo. R. Musical instruments,
organs Main St.
Bent, Gilbert Provisions South Mkt. Whf.
Bertain, G. W. E. Ship-owner Prince William St.
Berton Bros. Groceries Dock St.
Berryman, Drs. J. &
D. E. Physicians Charlotte St.
Best, Norris Metals Water St.
Bone, Peter Liquors Smyth St.
Birmingham, Michael " Dock St.
Biddington, George " Canterbury St.
Black, Wm. Ship chandler Ward St.
Blackall, Michael Coaches Prince William St.
Blanchard, W. E. Women's wear Germain St.
Blizard, S. G. Lumber yard Britain St.
Blizzard, Wm. Fish packer Prince William St.
Bostwick, C. M. Provisions Water St.
Bourke, T. L. Groceries and liquors Dock St.
Bowes & Evans Tinsmiths and stoves Canterbury St.
Bradley, Bros. Block & pump makers
Breeze, Dudne Liquors and groceries,
bonded warehouse
burned
Brims, A. & Son. Brewers Wentworth St.
Bruce, J. Boots and Shoes Sydney St.
Brockington, H. & Co. Tailors Germain St.
Brown, John C. Commission & W. I goods Brown's Wharf.
Brown & Nugent Liquors Dock St.
Burns, G. M. Boarding-house "
Bruckhof, Wm. Mouldings Germain St.
Bullock, Jos. Oils Nelson St.
Baillie, Chas. Fly tyer Prince William St.
Burnham, C. E., & Co. Furniture Germain St.
Burpee, I. & F. & Co. Iron and hardware North wharf.
Butt, John H. Tailor Germain St.
Buist, A. Liquors Water St.
Buxton, Thos. B. Liquors Dock St.
Brundage, Thos. Sail maker Merritt's wharf.
Brennan, B. Liquors Canterbury St.
Bank New Brunswick Hon.J. D. Lewin, Pres. Princess St.
Bank Nova Scotia J. M. Robinson, Agent Market Square.
Bank Montreal E. C. Jones, Agent " "
Brown, Miss Milliner Germain St.
Bustin, A. T. Circulating Library Germain St.
Bayard, Dr. Wm. Physician " "
Brewster, E. E. Bottler Dock St.
Burke, John Undertaker Princess St.
Bryden, Bros. & Co. Bakers
Bertaux, Geo. E. Ships Prince William Street.
Cain, Antony Liquors & groceries Mill St.
Callaghan, John " " Reed's Point.
Cameron, J. R. & Co. Oils and lamps Prince William St.
Campbell, P. & J. Blacksmiths Union St.
Campbell, Thos. Gas fitter Germain St.
Carleton, Robt. Blockmaker Wood St.
Carroll, David Plumber Princess St.
Carvill, Geo. Iron Nelson St.
Carvill, McKean & Co. Merchants Office, Walker's wharf.
Chubb, H. & Co. Stationers Prince William St.
Churchill, David Fancy goods Prince William St.
Clarke, Alfred T. W. I. goods Smyth St.
Clarke, James Flour Inspector
Clarke, G. H. Auctioneer Prince William St.
Clementson, F. & Co. Crockery Dock St.
Climo, J. S. Photographs & frames Germain St.
Coholane, John Grocer Dock St.
Collins, Francis Commission Dock St.
Connolly, Capt. Nautical school Water St.
Colpitts, Thos. R. Photographer Germain St.
Conroy, H. & Son Hair goods Canterbury St.
Corbitt, John Block & pumpmaker Ward St.
Corbitt, Samuel Furniture Prince William St.
Cornwall, Ira, jr. Insurance Agent Princess St.
Cotter, W. & Sons Victuallers Prince William St.
Coughlan, Daniel Clothing Dock St.
Coughlan, R. Liquors Ward St.
Coughlan, Thos. L. Jewelry King St.
Cox, Joseph Stone cutter
Crawford, W. K. Books King St.
Cruickshank, James F. Ship owner Office Maritime Bank
Cushing, Andre & Co. Lumber Office Prince Wm. St.
Cotter, B. Fruit Dock St.
Cochrane, F. J. Drugs Charlotte St.
Daniel & Boyd Dry goods, wholesale Market Square.
Davidson, Wm. Lumber Office Water St.
Davidson, Wm. J. Tug boats " " "
Dun, Wiman & Co. Mercantile Agency " Maritime Bank.
Dearborn & Co. Spices Nelson St.
De Forest, Geo. S. Provisions & W I goods South wharf.
Della Torre, C. & W. &
Co. Toys King St.
Deveber, L. H. & Sons Merchants Prince William St.
Devine, George F. Sheet Music " " "
Dalzell, J. W. Furniture Germain St.
Devoe, John D. Liquors & groceries Water St.
Daniel, Dr. J. W. Physician Germain St.
Dodge, Isaac A. Blacksmith
Doherty, Wm. & Co. Clothiers Market Square.
Domville, Jas. & Co. Merchants North Wharf.
Donovan, Jeremiah Boots and Shoes Dock St.
Driscoll Bros. Ship-owners Water St.
Driscoll, M. Ship-chandler " "
Duff, Alexander Tug Boats " "
Duffell, Henry Lumber Charlotte St.
Dunham & Clarke Architects Prince William St.
Dunn, J. E. Insurance Ritchie's Building.
Dunn, Jas. L., & Co. Iron and Ship-owners Smyth St.
Dyall, James Gas-fitter Water St.
DeBlois, T. M. News Room Prince William St.
Doody & Tole Plumbers " " "
Driscoll, Daniel Liquors Carmarthen.
Eastern Express Co. Jos. R. Stone, Agent Prince William St.
Eaton, Geo. Commission Nelson St.
Emerson, R. B. Tinsmith Germain St.
Emery, Oliver & Co. Provisions and Ships South Wharf.
Erb & Bowman Flour North Wharf.
Everitt & Butler Wholesale Dry Goods Canterbury.
Everett, C. & E. Hatters Prince William St.
Everett, Geo. F. & Co. Drugs King St.
Elder, Wm. _Daily Telegraph_ Prince William St.
Ellis & Armstrong _Evening Globe_ " " "
Finlay, Hugh _Printer's Miscellany_ Prince William St.
Finnegan, H. Liquors Prince William St.
Flinn, Geo. Saloon Canterbury St.
Fairweather, H. H. Coal York Point Slip.
Fairweather, A. C. & G.
E. Insurance Princess St.
Fairall & Smith Dry Goods, Retail Prince William St.
Fairbanks & Co. Gilders King St.
Farrell, Michael Clothing Prince William St.
Ferguson, John C. Grocer and Auctioneer South Wharf.
Flood, Michael Builder Wentworth St.
Finn, M. A. Wines Water St.
Fisher, Samuel Shoemaker Charlotte St.
Flewelling, G. & G. Matches Water St.
Foley, H. T. Notions Duke St.
Foster, John Grocers and Liquors Prince William St.
Foster, S. K. Shoes Germain Street.
Foster, S. R. & Son Tacks North St.
Fleming, J. W. Liquors Britain St.
Francis, Manuel Shoes Prince William St.
Furlong, Thos. Wines Water St.
Fiske, Dr. J. M. C. Dentist King St.
Fitch, Dr. Simon Physician Princess St.
Firth, Wm. M. B. Wharfinger Walker's Wharf.
Frith, Henry W. Clerk of the Peace Princess St.
Fitzpatrick, F. G. S. Bonded Warehouse Nelson St.
Ferguson, Miss Gordon House King St.
Gabel, Z. G. Rubber Goods Prince William St.
Gallagher & Young Coopers Ward St.
Gard, W. T. Manu. Jeweller Germain St.
Gerow, Geo. W. Ship-owner Prince William St.
Gibbon, W. H. Coal Mill St.
Gibson, W. C. Watch materials King St.
Gilbert, & Co. Merchants Prince William St.
Griffith, Dr. Jas. E. Dentist Germain St.
Gilmour, A. & T. Tailors Germain St.
Gleeson, Patk. Provisions South Mkt. Whf.
Griffin, Bros. Fish " "
Godard, J. W. Ship chandler North Whf.
Gorman, Thos. Provisions Ward St.
Grant, J. Macgregor Insurance Robertson Place.
Green, Nathan Cigars Prince William St.
Greenough, A. R. Saloon " "
Gould Bros. Dyers " "
Gunn, Thos. Tailor " "
Guthrie & Hevenor Bakers Charlotte St.
Gale, E. W. Insurance Prince William St.
Guy, Stewart & Co. Lumber Office, Water St.
Gardner Sewing Machine
Co. Princess St.
Gregory, Hugh S. Stevedore North Mk. Whf.
Grace, R. Umbrellas, etc. Princess St.
Gorrie, Henry Tailor " "
Gavin, P. Liquors Water St.
Hall, David H. Sewing Machines Germain St.
Hill, Rowland & Co. Crockery Mkt. Square.
Hall & Fairweather Flour South Whf.
Hall, Thos. H. Books King St.
Hamilton, Lounsbury &
Co. Manufacturer's agents Germain St.
Hammond, E. P. Sewing machines King St.
Holden, Chas. Physician Princess St.
Hanford, Bros. Commission Nelson St.
Health Lift Co. R. J. Moffatt, agent Germain St.
Hanington, Bros. Drugs King St.
Hanington, Thos. B. Auctioneer Princess St.
Harding, Chas. E. Lumber yard Reed's Pt.
Harding, John H. Mining agent Prince William St.
Harrison, J. & W. F. Flour North Mk. Whf.
Harrison, Matthew Boots and shoes Prince William St.
Hart, S. H. Cigars " "
Hammond, John Shoemaker " "
Hatfield & Gregory Ship chandlers North Whf.
Hatheway, Dr. J. C. Dentist Germain St.
Hatheway, Dr. Can. " "
Hatheway, W. H. Fish
Hawker, W. Drugs Prince William St.
Hay, A. & J. Jewellers King St.
Hayes, Edw. Baker Mill St.
Hayward, S. & Co. Hardware Prince William St.
Hamilton & Gray Barbers " "
Hayward, W. H. Crockery " "
Hegan J. & J. & Co. Dry goods " "
Hevenor & Co. Brass-founders Water St.
Hillman, W. H. Silver-plater Charlotte St.
Hilyard, C. E. Commission North Whf.
Holstead & Co. Trunks Water St.
Holstead, John S. Stevedore "
Horn, John Liquors "
Hubbard, W. D. W. Auctioneer Canterbury St.
Hughes, John E. Custom House broker Prince William St.
Hunter, James Locksmith Princess St.
Hunter, Roger Printer Dock St.
Hutchings & Co Mattresses Germain St
Hutchinson, Geo Jr Jeweller " "
Hyke, R S International Hotel Prince William St
Hinch, James United States Hotel Charlotte St
Henderson, Jas D Fruit, etc. Princess St
Hancock, F M Fish St James's St
Isbister, O R S Painter Dock St
Inches, Dr. P R Physician Germain St
Isaacs, Joseph Tobacco Mill St
Irvine, Bros. Grocers Germain St
James, S K F Ship broker Walker's Whf
Jardine & Co Wholesale and retail
grocers Prince William St
Jarvis, C E L Insurance Princess St
Jarvis, Wm M " " "
Jack, Henry " Canterbury St
Jewellers' Hall King St
Jewett Bros Lumber Office, Water St
Jewett, E D & Co " " "
Johnston, James J Tailor King St
Jones, Simeon, & Co. Bankers Prince William St
Jones, Thos R & Co. Dry goods (wholesale) Canterbury St
Jones, Wm Tailor King Square
Jones, Mrs. Wm Florist Germain St
Jordan, Jas G Ship broker Lawton's Whf
Jordan, W W Dry goods Mkt Square
Kivenear, Wm Liquors North St
Kearns, A G " Dock St
Kennedy, Jas Grocer South Whf
Kennay, E E. Organs, etc. Germain St
Keohan, Thos H Gilder " "
Kerr & Scott Dry goods Mkt Square
Kilnapp, Geo Shoemaker Germain St
King Bros Groceries Princess St
Kinnear Bros Commission Nelson St
Kirk, J T & Co. Clothing Mkt Square
Kirkpatrick, Hugh " King St
Knowles, S N Trunks Germain St
Kavanagh, M Liquors Dock St
Knox & Thompson Furniture Princess St
Knodell Geo A Printer Church St
Kaye J J & J S Insurance Princess St
Kain Mrs. Green grocer Prince William St
Lumber Exchange H J Leonard, Sec Market Square
Larter, S Shoemaker Carmarthen St
Landry & Co Organs King St
Lantalum, E & Co Junk Union St
Lauckner, S J Baker Sydney St
Lawton, A G Drugs King St
Lawton, Edmund " Prince William St
Lawton, James Wharfinger Lawton's whf
Lawton, J. Fred Saw manuf North St
Lawton, W G Dry goods King St
Livingston, John Watchman office Canterbury St
Leach, Danl E Billiard saloon Charlotte St
Lee J W Stoves Princess St
Lee Mrs Intelligence office " "
Lee & Logan Grocers Dock St
Leonard, R J Ship broker Water St
Leonard, S & Co. Fish & ships Water St
Leonard, Robt. Sail maker Water St
Lester, E H Auctioneer King St
Lewin & Allingham Hardware Market Square
Leitch John & Co Woodenware Germain St
Lewis Wm B Ship smiths Britain St
Lipman, S & Son Cigars King St
Littlejohn, Thos Liquors North wharf
Lloyd & Co Coal Lloyd's wharf
Lockhart, W A Auctioneer North wharf
Logan, Lindsay & Co. Grocers King St
Lordly, Howe & Co. Furniture Germain St
Lorimer, J B Grocer Carmarthen St
Lorimer, Wm. " South wharf
Lunney, Thos. Clothier Dock St
Lunt, Enoch & Sons Steamboats Dock St
Lyman, C E Machinery agent Market square
Lear, James Manufacturer's agent King St
Lyons, Ann Second-hand store Germain St
Lawton, Benj Boat builder Nelson St
Lordly, Mrs Brunswick Hotel Prince William St
McAllister, James Dentist Germain St
MacIntyre, R & Co Paint manufacturers Sydney St
Maclellan & Co Bankers Prince William St
Magee & Co J T Tinware " " "
Magee Bros Dry goods " " "
Malcolm, Andrew Grocer South wharf
Manson, Jas. Dry goods King St
Maritime Warehousing &
Dock Co. Office, North Whf
Maritime Bank Jas Domville, M.P.,
President Mkt Square
Maritime Insurance Office Pr. Wm. St.
Co. Wm. Pugsley, Jr., Sec.
Maritime Sewing Machine
Co F S Sharpe Charlotte St
Marshall, Robt. Insurance agent Pr Wm St
Marsters, John F Custom-house broker " " "
Martin, Wm. Clothier Dock
Masters, A W Oils, &c Nelson
Masters & Patterson Provisions South Whf
Maxwell, Elliott &
Barclay Shipsmiths Nelson
Maxwell, H & Sons Lumber Britain
May, Jas S Tailor Pr Wm St
McAndrews, Robt Shoemaker Germain St
McAndrews, R jr Grocer King St
McArdle, Patk " Pr Wm St
Macfee, Wm Blacksmith Ward St
McAvity, Thos & Son Hardware Water St
McCafferty, Hugh Liquors North Whf
McAvenney, Dr A F Dentist Germain St
McCourt, Patrick Merchant North St
McCarthy, Timothy Coal Water St
McSweeney, John Shipowner Office, Union St
McClure, Jas & Co Photographers King St
McConnell, Jas Boots and shoes "
McCormack, Jas Clothing Ward St
McCulloch, H & H A Dry goods Mkt Sqr
McDonough, M Tailor Germain St
McDougall, John Cabinet-maker Mill St
McFarlane, John R Soap and candles "
McFeeters, W W Clothier Mkt Sqr
McGivern, R P Coal North Whf
McGill, L Shoes Mill St
McCoskery, C A Liquors Pr Wm St
McGovern, W F Hatter King St
McInnes, J A Tailor Princess St
McKenzie & Scott Stone cutters Charlotte St
McLachlan, D & Sons Boiler makers York Point Slip
McLauchlan, Chas & Son Ship-brokers Office, North Wharf
McLaughlan, D J Commission North Whf
McLean, Wm M Ship-broker Office, Peter's Whf
McLaren, L Physician Charlotte St
McLeod, Geo Merchant Water St
McMann, L & Sons W I goods Smyth St
McManus, J N Clothing Mkt Sqr
McMillan, J & A Booksellers &
stationers Prince Wm St
Masonic Hall Ritchie's build Princess St
McSorley, J Groceries & liquors Duke St
Melick, John Ship-broker Water St
Meneley, W Blockmaker Ward St
Merritt, E M Liquors Dock St
Merritt, Chas Capitalist Water St
Miller, J O Confectioner Charlotte St
Milligan, J & R Marble-cutters King Sq
Mills, Alf Chronometers Pr Wm St
Mitchell, John Carver
Mitchell, John Boots & shoes Pr Wm St
Moore, Wm Painter Germain St
Moore, Robt Auctioneer King St
Moore, Ellen Milliner King St
Morrisey, W C Undertaker Charlotte St
Morrisey, Patk Liquors Duke St
Morrison, Geo jr Grocer South Whf
Moulson, Jas Grocer Water St
Moynehan, Daniel Clothing Dock St
Mullin, Bros " Dock St
Mullin, J J " Prince William St
Mullin, John Boots and shoes King St
" " Liquors Dock St
Munroe, John J Trunks Princess St
McGinley, W Barber Canterbury St
McKillop & Johnston Printers " "
McKillop, John, & Co Geo Em Allen, agent Prince William St
McLeod, Ezekiel Official Assignee Princess St
McAvity, John D Grocer " "
Muldoon, E Liquors Duke St
McDonald & Hatfield Clothiers Dock St
McAleer, Mrs Liquors Duke St
Michaels, M Tobacconist Prince William St
Major, Wm Toys " "
Nash, Thos Ærated waters Dock St
New Brunswick Paper Co T P Davies, manager Canterbury St
Nicholson, J W Wines Robertson Place
Nicoud, Simon Jeweller Germain St
Nixon, Geo Glass and paper
hangings King St
Noble, Geo A Boot-maker Canterbury St
Notman, W & J Photographers Germain St
Normansell, H S Victualler Duke St
O'Brien, Richard Liquors Germain St
O'Gorman, John Groceries and liquors Dock St
Olive, W H Ticket agent Office, Prince Wm St.
O'Regan, Chas Ship broker Office, South Whf
O'Connor, T J Boarding-house South Whf
Osgood, S P Marble-worker King Square
Oulton, Bros Ship-broker Office, Water St
Oddfellows' Hall Germain St
Odell, Mrs Fancy boxes King St
O'Hara, Chas Barber Mill St
Provincial Building
Society C W Wetmore, Pres Prince William St
Paddock, M V Drugs Mill St
Partelow, C J Liquors South Whf
Partelow, G L " Ward St
Patterson, W H Jeweller King St
Patton Bros Liquors Water St
Patton, Danl Liquors Dock St
Peiler, E & Bro Piano dealers Prince William St
Pengilly, T M Drugs " " "
Pengilly Oil-clothes " " "
Percival, Purchase & Co Fancy goods King St
Peters, Albert Tanner Britain St
Peters, Thos W Capitalist Prince William St
Phillips, Miss S Hair worker Germain St
Philps, Geo Banker Prince William St
Potter, C E Painter Germain St
Potts, J W Grocer Water St
Powers, M N Undertaker Princess St
Powers, Stephen Liquor Mill St
Price, James Tailor Princess St
Prichard & Son Iron Merritt's wharf
Pullen, James H Painter Charlotte St
Purchase, Wm Watchmaker Dock St
Provincial Ins Co H H Reeve, agent Princess St
Pattison, Geo Tinsmith Church St
Purdy, Wm H Shipowner Maritime Bank
Quick, Augustus Ship Chandler Water St
Quinn, P J Dry goods Market Square
Quinn, Wm Blocks Britain St
Rankine, Thos & Sons Bakery Mill St
Ranney, H R Insurance Prince William St
Reeve, H H " Princess St
Ray, Chas R Agent Market Square
Raymond, Thos F Royal Hotel Prince William St
Redmond, P C Clothier Market Square
Reid, Miss Kate Boarding
Reed, J & R Shipowners Water St
Reed, Thos. M Drugs Market Square
Richardson, Alex & Co Saw manufacturers Union St
Ring, Z Shipowner Maritime Bank
Ring, Allan M Homoeopathic Phys Germain St
Rising, Wm Grocer South wharf
Risk, John Broker Nelson St
Richards, John Liquors Prince William St
Roberts, D V Ship chandler Water St
Robertson, C A Livery Stables King's Square
Rodgers, James Liquors Charlotte St
Robertson & Corbett Grocers, retl King St
Robertson, D D & Co Ship brokers Smyth St
Robertson, Geo Whs grocer Water St
Robertson, Le Baron Cigars Prince William St
Robertson, R & Son Sailmakers, &c Water St
Robinson, C & Co Undertakers Princess St
Robinson, C E Shipbroker Reed's Point
Robinson, T. W. Salt, W I Goods Union St
Roop, John Sailmaker Water St
Ross, John Saloon Prince William St
Rogers, John Tailor Prince William St
Ring, G Fred Commission Maritime Bank
Rowan, Archd Gasfitter Water St
Ruggles, St Clair Grocer Charlotte St
Runciman, John Gasfitter Water St
Rural Cemetery Co G Sidney Smith, Sec Princess St
Russell, J H Hotel King St
Rolph, A P Agent Duke St
St John Gas Light Co A Blair, Pres Carmarthen St
" Halifax
Lithograph Co L D Clark, Manager Church St
" Mutual Ins Co O D Wetmore, Sec Princess St
" Building Soc C N Skinner, Pres Prince William St
" Board of Trade S J King, Sec Market Square
Salmon, Geo Variety King St
Sancton, G F Tugboats Office, Water St
Salmon & Cameron Photos King St
Scammell Bros Ship-brokers Water St
Scammell, C E, & Co Ship chandlers " "
Schofield & Beer Produce Walker's Whf
Schofield, Samuel Ship owner Office, Prince William
St
Scott & Binning Dry Goods King St
Scott, Geo A Provisions & groceries Prince William St
Scott, T A Saloon Charlotte St
Seely, A McL Merchant Germain St
Seely, D J Comm, etc Water St
Sharkey, P & Son Clothiers King St
Sharp & Co Dry Goods "
Sharp, Laban L Jeweller "
Sheraton & Skinner Carpets Prince William St
Skinner, F S Grocer King St
Small & Hatheway Steamboats Office, Dock St
Small's Hall Dock St
Smith, A Chipman Drugs Market Square
Smith, Geo F & Co Ship chandlers North Whf
Smith, H R Bookseller King St
Smith, Wm Ship-smith
Snider, G E Auctioneer Robertson Place
Sparrow, Geo Saloon King St
Spence, W A Hay York Point Slip
Stafford, Jno W Liquors Ward St
Spring Hill Mining Co Coal Office, Water St
Starr, R P & W F " Smyth St
Steeves Bros Merchants Prince William St
Stephens & Figgures Grocers Dock St
Stephenson & McGibbon Lumber Office, North Whf
Stephenson & McLean Provisions, etc North Whf
Stephenson, Robt Boots and shoes Prince William St
Stewart, Geo, jr Chemist King St
Spencer & Wortman Patent Medicines Church St
Stewart, John Grocer Carmarthen St
Stewart, Luke Shipbroker North wharf
Stewart, Robt Toys Germain St
Stewart & White Furniture and
Auctioneers Prince William St
Storey, J K Dry Goods King St
Strang, Saml Commission South wharf
Street, A L B Wines Princess St
Suffren, Geo Jewelry King St
Sweeney, John Boots & Shoes Prince William St
Swift & Johnson Painters Church St
Saunders, James Boots and shoes King St
Street, W W Stadacona Ins Co Prince William St
Temperance Hall King St
Talbert, A J Dry Goods Dock St
Taylor Bros Shipowners Prince William St
Taylor & Dockrill Grocers King St
Taylor J M Commission North wharf
Tennant, R H B Shirt mfr Prince William St
Thomas, Geo Shipbroker Water St
Thomas, Geo E Adjuster " "
Thompson, G F & Sons Paint mfrs Princess St
Thompson, Richd Fancy goods Market Square
Thomson, Wm & Co Shipbrokers Smyth Street
Thorne, W H & Co Hardware Canterbury St
Thurgar & Russell Liquors North wharf
Tippett, A P Manufacturers' agent Water St
Toll, James Fisherman Water St
Troop & McLauchlan Ship chandlers Water St
Troop & Son Ship owners Water St
Trueman, James Grocer South wharf
Tufts, Francis Provisions, &c " "
Tufts, H K Boots & shoes Prince William St
Tufts, Samuel Grocer Germain St
Turnbull & Co Flour, &c Ward St
Turnbull, J E Sash factory Main St
Turner, James D Oysters Water St
Turner, Joshua S Fruit " "
Thompson, Mrs Annie Boarding house Germain St
Travers, B Physician Sydney St
Valpey, J H Shoe mfr Prince William St
Vassie, Jno & Co Dry Goods whs Canterbury St
Vaughan & Donovan Boots & shoes Princess St
Vaughan, J R Boots & shoes Prince William St
Venning, J H Engraver Germain St
Vroom & Arnold Ship-brokers Water St
Ward, Wm M Liquors Charlotte St
Walker, Jno & Co Ship chandlers Walker's wharf
Walton, Wm Crockery King St
Waterbury, Wm Hardware King St
Waterhouse, L H Coal North wharf
Watson, A C Fruit Water St
Watson, W C Shipbroker Nelson St
Watson, W H Groceries & liquors King St
Watson & Co Books " "
Watts & Turner Dry Goods Market Square
Webb, W E Cordage Smyth St
Welch, Richd Tailor Germain St
Wetzell, R Ice-dealer Prince William St
Walsh, M & Son Boots & shoes Reed's Pt
Wetmore, C W Broker Prince William St
White, G & V S Merchants North wharf
White, James E Stock broker Prince William St
White, Thos Confectioner Germain St
White & Slipp Flour North wharf
Wheeler, Miss Boarding Charlotte St
White & Titus Flour, etc North Whf
Whiting, G H Agent Canterbury St
Whiting, W J Flour, etc South Whf
Warn, Wm & Son Barbers King St
Willis, E, & Co Paper Collar Manufs Canterbury St
Willis & Mott "Morning News" " "
Wilson, Gilmour & Co Mantels Prince William St
Wilson, J N Liquors Church St
Wisdom & Fish Machinery Prince William St
Wishart, John Merchant Walker's Whf
Wetmore, E J Flock Manuf North St
Wills & Rubins Ship-smiths Water St
Woodworth, J L Agent Mispeck Mills "
Weiscoff, Jacob Liquors Prince William St
Walker, Thos Physician Princess St.
Young, Adam Stoves Water St
Yeats, A, & Sons Iron Union St
CHAPTER XVI.
The Odd Fellows and the Fire--Relief Committee at Work--Searching
out the Destitute Brethren--Helping the Sufferers--The Secret
Distribution of Aid--List of Donations.
The Society of Oddfellows is a Mutual Relief Association, one of the
first duties of its members being to search out worthy and distressed
brethren, and relieve their necessities. The member who neglects to
carry out this noble principle, violates his obligation. The order has
obtained a strong foothold in the city, and many benevolent men have
joined it that they might thereby be actively instrumental in doing good
to their fellowmen. The brother who suffers, and whose family requires
assistance meets with no obstacle in his way, for a liberal hand almost
as unseen as those blessings which come to us disguised, is near, he
receives the offerings of his companions, not as charity, but as his
due. He is an Oddfellow, and that talismanic word is all sufficient. In
_his_ time he had helped many. When his turn comes the same rule is
observed. The mode of giving relief is twice blessed. It is done in
secret, and without ostentatious parade. No member ever deems his spirit
crushed when he takes aid like this to his family. And no widow, however
proud, thinks for a moment that she is accepting alms, when her
immediate and other wants are supplied from the "Widows' and Orphans'"
Fund. So anxious are the members to have it thoroughly understood that
the aid that is given is not that which is known as charity by the
outside world, but is the legitimate due of the Oddfellow, that it is
expressly laid down, that no member, however well circumstanced he may
be, can refuse the sums which are from time to time placed at his
disposal. If he be sick he receives weekly a sick benefit allowance.
This he is bound to take. He may if he choose, it is true, donate it
back to any fund he likes, but it is preferred that this should not
occur. In addition to money benefits the order provides something else
which is more enduring than money, and which cannot be bought at any
price. The member is no sooner sick than he finds a warm-hearted brother
by his side, eagerly trying to interpret his wants, and perform some
little act of kindness that may perhaps assuage his pain for a time. In
a hundred ways this excellent society does good. The distressed are
relieved, the sick are watched over, and the dead are buried. Where it
is necessary, the brethren sit up during the night with the patient, and
in a thousand ways the good work goes on.
Up to the present time no calamity has disturbed the prosperity of the
Order in the Province. Indeed, on the contrary, its career has been
wonderfully successful. The different lodges have grown prosperous, and
the two principal funds, the "Widows' and Orphans'," and the "sick
benefit," have for some time had quite a respectable balance at their
banker's. These still remain intact, and are held strictly in trust to
enable the ends of the society to be carried out when required. The
recent fire, of course, destroyed a considerable amount of the property
belonging to the organization; but the actual suffering was confined to
the private members of the order. Many of these endured great hardships,
and met with reverses of no ordinary kind. Men who had all their lives
helped others, now found themselves in a moment dependent on their
friends for relief for pressing needs. They had saved nothing from the
burning, and some of them who were insured had trusted to offices which
went down with the general crash. The result was immediately apparent.
Something had to be done and at once. Their distressed and harassed
members must be relieved. The whole tenets of the order demanded this.
The common humanity which dwells in the hearts of so many members cried
out to the afflicted ones, "Your loss is ours; we are ready to divide
with you." A meeting of the leading members was had on the 22nd June, at
the Oddfellow's Hall, Town of Portland, and steps were taken for the
administration of immediate relief. The same spirit which actuated the
brethren here seemed to prompt the members abroad to deeds which can
never be forgotten while a Lodge or an Encampment exists. The chairman
of the meeting, D. D. G. M. Murdoch, on the evening of Friday, announced
to the assembly that the Lodge in Moncton had generously contributed
$25, and asked to be drawn on to the extent of one hundred dollars, and
Brother White, of Bangor, had forwarded the handsome sum of three
hundred dollars, and offered more if needed. Offers of assistance came
from Boston, Chicago and elsewhere. These tidings were received with
great joy by the members. They knew now of the sympathy which was felt
for them abroad, and their first duty was the organization of an
Executive Committee. This was done on motion of Bro. Vradenburgh and one
member from each Lodge, and the Encampment were appointed such
Committee. These were N. G. McClure, of "Siloam," N. G., Court of
"Peerless," N. G., Torrance, of "Beacon," N. G., Hea, of "Pioneer," and
Henry Hilyard, chairman of Portland Town Council, of the Encampment,
together with Bros. Gilbert Murdoch, and Rev. G. M. W. Carey. A
sub-committee was subsequently appointed on the recommendation of Bros.
Vradenburgh and Kilpatrick, whose duties it would be to seek out and
report to the Executive Committee any brother they found to be in
distress. This Committee was very judiciously selected, and comprised
the following gentlemen: R. R. Barnes, James Byers and J. Rubbins, for
Beacon Lodge; H. A. Vradenburgh, W. A. Moore, and Alex. Duff, for
Peerless Lodge; F. Barnes, Hamon and A. J. Smith, for Siloam Lodge; and
John E. Hughes, J. A. Paul, and Jos. Wilson, for Pioneer Lodge. Action
was then taken on the telegrams received, and a committee was appointed
to attend to the replying of the same, and the transmission of the
thanks of the St. John Oddfellows to their brethren in the United States
and Canada.
The Executive and sub-Committees held a meeting immediately after the
session of the General Body, and the following officers were appointed:
D. D. G. M. Gilbert Murdoch, Chairman; R. Radford Barnes, Treasurer;
and John E. Hughes, Secretary. The meeting then adjourned, and all
future sessions of committee were ordered to take place in Room No. 9,
Park Hotel, where the three heads of the Department of Relief would hold
daily meetings, receive reports, and supply all assistance needed by the
brethren. The system has worked admirably. The greatest secrecy has been
observed, and no one outside of the Committee know even the names of the
brethren who are being helped in the hour of need. The greatest care is
being exercised in searching out distress, and no one can ever tell the
immense amount of good which this society is doing. Relief from Lodges
and brethren continue to come in rapidly, and all moneys are deposited
in Maclellan & Co.'s banking house, and subject to withdrawal by check.
Up to this time, Aug. 20th, the following sums have been received.--
Moncton, N.B., Prince Albert Lodge $100 00
Bangor, Maine, Oddfellows 400 00
Boston, Mass, Howard Lodge 100 00
Charlottetown, P. E. I. 250 00
Summerside, P. E. I., Prince Edward Lodge 100 00
Fredericton, N.B., Victoria Lodge 320 00
Ontario, Grand Lodge, per J. B. King 400 00
Cannington, Ontario, Peaceful Hope Lodge 50 00
Pictou, N.S., Eastern Star Lodge 200 00
Memphis, Tenn. 300 00
Chicago, Ill. 500 00
Montreal, Quebec, Mizpah Lodge 50 00
Haverhill, Maine, Mutual Relief Lodge 100 00
Oldtown, Maine, Torratine Lodge 115 00
Dover, Maine, Kineo Lodge 50 00
Brampton, Ontario, Golden Star Lodge 50 00
Portland, Maine, Oddfellows 487 00
Oshawa, Ontario, Corinthian Lodge 50 00
Chicago, Ill., Northern Light Lodge 10 00
Portland, N.B., Peerless Lodge 140 00
Stratford, Ontario, Aaron Lodge 25 00
Granville Ferry, N.S., Guiding Star Lodge 30 00
Goderich, Ontario, Huron Lodge 80 00
Spring Hill, N.S., Eureka Lodge 50 00
Petitcodiac, N.B., E. J. Ritchie 1 00
Woonsocket, R. I., Palestine Encampment 10 00
Lewiston, Maine, Golden Rule Lodge 125 00
Belleville, Ontario, Belleville Lodge 50 00
Stellarton, N.S., Fuller Lodge 50 00
Vale Colliery, N.S., Moore Lodge 50 00
Staynor, Ontario, North Star Lodge 30 00
Eureka, California, Humboldt Lodge 50 00
Toronto, Canada Lodge 50 00
Rhode Island, per J. F. Driscoll 200 00
St. Catharines, Ont., Union Lodge 100 00
SUPPLIES.
Charlottetown, P. E. I., Bedding and Provisions.
Portland, Maine, 4 cases Clothing
LIST OF DONATIONS.
MONEY RECEIVED.
Amherst, N S $500 00
Augusta, Me 1000 00
Annapolis, N S 554 00
Accident Ins Co, Canada 200 00
Aberfoyle, Ontario 200 00
Armstrong, Ed (New York) 5 00
Albert Mines, N B 115 00
Ayer, Ontario 200 00
Attleboro', Mass, Methodist S School 15 00
Arichat, N S 367 00
Boston 5000 00
Boston Felt-roofing Co 100 00
Bank of British North America 2433 33
Bathurst, N B 400 00
Brantford, Ont 1000 00
Brockville, Ont 500 00
Bath, Me 1300 00
Bayside, St Andrews, N B 90 00
Brockville, Midland Counties 200 00
Brookville, N S 5 23
Bell, Mr., Dublin, Ireland 486 67
Boardman, Gorham, New York 100 00
Boynton High School Children, Eastport, Me 2 38
Bangor, Me 7000 00
Beveridge, B. & Sons, Andover, N B 100 00
Bridgetown, N S 393 92
Bridgetown, Me., Congregational Church 14 65
Bowmanville, Ont 300 00
Beder, S, New York 4 00
Bucksport, Me 320 00
Billing, W W, New London, Conn 100 00
Burt & Henshaw, Boston 50 00
Buffalo Board of Trade 332 68
Buffalo School Children 1000 00
Borgan, Capt, ship "Tros" 5 00
Baltimore, Md 541 97
Boston, Theatre Benefit 886 03
Belfast, Me 524 00
Bowman, J L, Brownsville, Penn 25 00
Blanchard, Chas, Truro, N S 10 00
Boyd, John E, Three Rivers, Quebec 10 00
Baird, John, & Co's Employes, Alamonte 13 00
Berlin, Ontario 300 00
Chicago Union Stock Yards 1200 00
Chicago Clearing House 1000 00
Chicago Produce Exchange 1000 00
Chicago Board of Trade 5274 10
Chicago City 10,000 00
Charlottetown, P E I 5000 00
Canning, N S 279 90
Clarke, Dodge & Co, N Y 250 00
Canada Screw Co, Dundas, Ont 200 00
Canada Life Ins Co 500 00
Crerar, Capt W G, Pictou, N S 50 00
Carleton County Council, N B. 1000 00
Clarke, Ontario, Municipality of 400 00
Campbell, J W, Chicago, Ill 50 00
Commercial Union Ins Co 2500 00
Citizen's Hose Co, St Catharines, Ont 200 00
Carmody, Rev Canon, Windsor, N S 10 00
Caton, Judge, Ottawa, Ill 50 00
Campbellton, N B 147 00
Clifton, Ont 300 00
Chatham, N B 700 00
Crain, Marshall, Brunswick, Me 25 00
Chatham, Ont 500 00
Chatham, Ont, Masonic Concert 169 18
Clinton, Me, Masonic Service 53 00
Cornwall, Ont 300 00
Dominion Government 20,000 00
Dorchester, N B 615 00
Digby, N S 700 00
Dalhousie, N B 200 00
Dublin, Lord Mayor of 486 67
Dover, Me 245 75
Detroit, Mich 1000 00
Dominion Organ Co, Bowmanville, Ont 102 00
Dungannon, Ont., Orangemen 29 10
Elliot National Bank, Boston 647 00
Eldon, Ont 500 00
Fredericton, N B 8000 00
Fuller & Fuller, Chicago 50 00
Flanagan, R J, Newcastle, N B 5 00
Fredericton Lime Rock Church 24 00
Fowler J & G, Charlottetown, P E I 100 00
Fox J J, Magdalen Islands, per J V Ellis 25 00
Galt, Ont 500 00
Guelph, Ont 1000 00
Garringe, Wm, Chicago 4 25
Glasgow, Scotland 14,600 00
Grand Rapids "friend" 1 00
Guysborough, N S 121 00
Grace Church, Detroit, Mich 97 42
Gloucester, Mass 100 00
Grey County Council, Ont 500 00
Galt Churches 674 17
Grant, Capt I I F, Bermuda 5 00
Halifax, N S Bay 1 08
Halifax, N S 10,000 00
Hawson, John Gloucester 5 00
Hallowell 500 00
Hamilton, Ont 13,900 00
Hamilton, C C, Cornwallis, N S 5 00
Harvey N B 15 00
Halifax Garrison 564 71
House of Commons, Ottawa 1000 00
House of Commons Clerks 150 00
Harrington Methodist E C, Me 20 00
Howe Scale Co 250 00
Hillsboro, N B 60 00
Haldimand 200 00
Hartford, Conn 42 00
Imperial Fire Ins Co 2433 33
Johnson, John C, 250 00
International Mines, N S 100 00
Kingston, Ont 1584 00
Knox Church, Hamilton Ont 100 00
Knox Church, Woodstock, N B 185 25
Liverpool, England 14,600 00
London, Ont 5000 00
Lawrence, Mass 500 00
Liverpool, N S 819 27
Lynn, Ont, Presbyterian Church 20 20
Londonderry, N S 15 00
Lincoln Methodist E Church 5 00
Lincoln, Me 500 00
Louisburg, C B 27 00
Lawrencetown, "from a friend" 10 00
Lewiston, Me 500 00
Meahan, T, Boston 5 00
Moncton, N B 1300 00
Mount Vernon, Iowa, "friend" 1 00
Malden, Mass Congregational Church, 15 26
Maritime Association, New York 6800 00
Manchester, England 3660 00
Magee, Thos, Baie Verte 50 00
Mongaup Valley N Y, per Rev. W Ferrie 33 30
McIntosh, J S, Boston 50 00
McLean, Rev. James, Londonderry, N S 2 00
New York, Providence and Stonington Line 500 00
New York 8500 00
Newcastle and Douglastown, N B 1000 00
North Sydney 400 00
New Haven Chamber of Commerce 823 76
Nutting, G. S. Newton Mass 1 00
New Glasgow, N S 1000 00
North British and Mercantile Ins Co 2433 33
New Bedford, Mass 500 00
New York Stock Exchange 772 50
Norwich, Ontario 100 00
Nantucket Women 50 00
Odell, D S, Eastport, Me 10 00
Ottawa Custom House Officials 180 00
Orillia, St James' Church 20 00
Oak Park, Chicago, Ill 100 00
Philadelphia 5500 00
Parrsboro, N S 100 00
Portland, Maine 6000 00
Peterboro', Ontario 3124 00
Palmer & Embury, New York 50 00
Paris, Ontario 600 00
Pictou, N S 1232 46
Port Hope, Ontario 1034 20
Port Latour, N S 68 27
Portsmouth, N.H 697 00
Peel County Council, Ontario 1000 00
Rogers, J H, Boston 100 00
Rice, N W & Co, Boston 100 00
Richibucto, N B 410 00
Rosamond Woollen Co 50 00
Raymond, Percy J, Hebron, Yarmouth 1 00
River John, Pictou Co, N S 381 50
Rogers' Hill, N S 40 36
Sarnia, Ontario 1050 00
St Andrews, N B 650 00
Sayer & Co, Cognac, France 200 00
Sackville, N B 312 58
Smith, Mrs M W, Ipswich, Mass 25 00
Sherbrooke, Ont 1000 00
St George, N B 200 00
Summerside, P E I 1500 00
St Thomas, Ontario 500 00
San Francisco, "Caledonia Club" 500 00
San Francisco 5600 00
Salem, Mass 770 00
St Catharines, Ont 500 00
Sargent Ignatius, Machias, Me 25 00
Springhill Mines 200 00
Sternberg, J H, Penn 25 00
Shediac, N B, Amateur Comedy Club 11 00
St Martin's, N B 302 62
St Clements, Annapolis 20 00
Springfield, Mass, Children 14 00
Storer & Son, Glasgow, Scotland 121 76
St Matthew's Church, Quebec 100 00
Stratford, Ontario 564 00
Sons of Temperance, Detroit, Michigan 300 00
Toronto, Ontario 20,000 00
Truro, N S 2000 00
Todd, Edw & Co, per J & A McMillan 25 00
Trites, J S, Sussex, N B 8 00
Thurlow F, per A C Smith 85 00
Titus, Erastus 25 00
Telegraph Operator, St John 5 00
Thamesville 2 00
Uniacke, R J, Annapolis, N S 36 20
Victoria Municipality, N B 200 00
"Valley City" Lodge I O O F, Dundas, Ontario 105 00
Whitby, Ontario 200 00
Williston, Edward, Newcastle, N B 50 00
Windsor, N S 4287 32
Woodstock, N B 200 00
" " Methodist Church 30 00
W C B & G H F, Custom House, Ottawa 2 00
Weymouth East, N S Congregational Sunday School 20 00
Welland Co, Ontario 600 00
Westmoreland Coal Company, Philadelphia 100 00
Walker, J & Co, Montreal 250 00
Wilkins, Judge, of Nova Scotia 80 00
Wentworth Co, Ontario 1000 00
Waterloo Council 200 00
Walker & Sons, Hiram 200 00
Yarmouth, N S 836 73
York County Council, Ontario 3000 00
SENT TO MESSRS. DANIEL & BOYD FOR DISTRIBUTION.
W W Turnbull, Esq, St John, $200
G N Vanwart, Esq, Woodstock 100
Daniel Hawkesworth, Esq, Digby 20
B Rosamond, Esq, Almonte, Ont. 50
Messrs. Loch & Co., New York 50
Messrs. James McLaren Nephews, Manchester £100 Stg
Messrs. Marshall & Aston, Manchester 50 Stg
SENT TO JOHN BOYD, ESQ, FOR DISTRIBUTION.
James H Moran, Esq, St John, $100
Hon. Isaac Burpee, 100
Thos. Furlong, Esq, 50
Canada Life Assurance Co. 500
Thomas Nelson & Son, Edinburgh £50 Stg
This last through Dr. Rand, for teachers
Clothing from St Andrews Church, Montreal, by
Rev. Gavin Lang, value $280
George Sloane, Esq, New York U S C 50
Sent to Thos. Maclellan, Esq, from the Upper
Canada Bible Society, the Scriptures to the
value of 500
Liberal offers of books were sent to J & A
McMillan, to form the nucleus of a public
library, from the publishing houses of
Belford Bros, Toronto; Harper & Bros,
New York.
I Atwood Barnes, of New Haven, Conn, sends
through Gen. Warner 29
Capt. Ezekiel Jones, of Baltimore, sends
by Thos S Adams, 50
From Charlotte Co, N B, Bocabec, $41 75,
Elmville, Dig'deguash, $21 40, Bay Side,
$41 10, Waweig, $16. 120
W & T Spink, Duffin's Creek, Ont, send
through Hall & Fairweather 50
Mrs A Robinson, of Fredericton Junction, on
behalf of the ladies of that place sends,
through Everitt & Butler, a parcel of
children's underclothing.
SUPPLIES RECEIVED.
Amherst, N S, Supplies to value of $600 00
Annapolis, N S, Supplies 742 37
"Argus" H M S, by order of Admiral, provisions
Adams, Mrs Robt, Fall River, N Y, clothing
Alberton, P E I, supplies
Andover, N B, provisions
Andrews, A A, clothing
Avard, Wm, Botsford, N B, pork
Boston, Per "Gallatin" 2 cargoes supplies
Boston, Per W S MacFarlane, supplies
" Per Schr "G. G. Jewett," supplies, clothing, blankets.
Burnham & Morrill, Portland, Me, provisions
Barnard, E A & Sons, Calais, Me, provisions
Burns & Murray, Halifax, N S, supplies
Bridgetown, N S, clothing
Bangor, Me, supplies
Beals, Thos P, Portland, Me, spring-beds
Beer, E & W, Charlottetown, P E I, clothing
Boston, Y M C A, supplies
Billings & Wetmore, tea
Blouchard, Chas, Truro, N S, supplies
Bowmanville Ladies, clothing
Baird, John & Co, Almonte, clothing
Bowmanville, Ontario, 1 case clothing
Chicago Union Stockyards supplies to amount $3000 00
Charlottetown, P E I, supplies and clothing
Charlottetown, P E I, ladies, 2 cases clothing
Cummings, Wm & Sons, Truro, N S, supplies
Calkin, B H, Kentville, N S, clothing
Christian Temperance Union, Moncton, N B, three cases clothing
Cowdry, E T & Co, Boston, Mass, supplies
County Line, P E I, supplies
Christie, Brown & Co, Toronto, supplies
Campbellton, N B, supplies
Coats, J P, Chicago, clothing
Chatham, N B, supplies
Cambridge Queen's Co, N B, 47 Blankets
Crawford, Jas, & Co, Toronto, supplies
Dorchester, N B supplies
Derring, Milliken & Co, Portland, Me, two cases blankets
Digby, N S, supplies
Darling, Adam, Montreal, supplies
Dover, Me, supplies
Ellsworth, Me, ladies seven packages clothing
Fredericton, N B, two cases cooked provisions
Fredericton, ladies, five cases clothing
Fredericton, N B, large quantities supplies
Fletcher & Co, Portland, Me, provisions
Galbraith, Christie & Co, Toronto, supplies
Halifax, N S, 2525 blankets
Halifax, N S, large quantities supplies
Halifax, N S, 50 stoves
Halifax, N S, ladies' committee, supplies
Humphreys, N, Petitcodiac, N B, supplies
Herritt, T, " " supplies
Heney, A, New York, supplies
Hampton, N B, supplies
Hallowell, clothing
Harris, J & C, Moncton, supplies
Hay, R & Co, Toronto, carload bedsteads
Hillsborough, N B, supplies
Harvey, N B, supplies
Howe Spring Bed Co, New York, 50 beds
Jennings & Clay, Halifax, clothing
Jones, D F, & Co, Gananoque, Ont, supplies
Jodoin & Co, Montreal, 15 stoves
Kentville, N S, supplies
Lockport, N S, clothing
Lewis, J T, & Co, Portland, Me, clothing
Lawrencetown, N S, 29 packages clothing
Lawrencetown, N S, J W James, clothing
Leavitt, F A, Portland, Me, one tent
Leath & Gore, Portland, Me, 16 boxes soap
Londonderry, N S, supplies
Lewis, W N, Boston, one gross liniment
Lukeman, John R, Salem, Mass, supplies
Lugsden, J & J, Toronto, 25 straw hats
Moncton, N B, supplies
Montreal, per Hon P Mitchell, 17 carloads supplies
Montreal, large quantity supplies
Montreal, 36 packages clothing
Milltown, N B, provisions
Moss, S H & J, Montreal, 2 cases clothing
Malone Bay, clothing
McGuiness, P, & Co, Montreal, one bale blankets
McLean & Blaikie, Londonderry, N S, supplies
New York, supplies
Newcastle & Donglastown, N B, supplies
North Sydney, cargo of coal
New Haven United Workers, clothing
Norcross, Miller & Lee, Boston, clothing
Ottawa Ladies' Committee, supplies
O'Brien, James, Montreal, clothing
Portland, Maine, large quantities supplies
Primrose & Co, J W M, Halifax, 5 barrels flour
Power, J F & Co, Montreal, 50 barrels flour
Paul, M L, Syracuse, supplies
Pierce, E, and Co, per "Gallatin," furniture
Piper, Henry, Toronto, supplies
Philadelphia Maritime Exchange, clothing
Quebec, supplies
Quincy, Ill, 50 barrels meal and 50 barrels flour
Riddell, John, Montreal, clothing
St. Andrews, N B, supplies
Sackville, N B, supplies
" " stoves
Shaw Bros, St John, N B, bread
Scotch Bakery, St John, N B, bread
Sussex, N B, 1 carload provisions
Smith, Mrs. M W, Ipswich, Mass, supplies
Saratoga, N Y, supplies
Salem, Mass, supplies and clothing
Salem, Mass, "Fraternity," clothing
Salem Y M C A, supplies
Shediac, N B, supplies
Stewart, C J, Amherst, N S, supplies
St Clements, Annapolis, N S, supplies
Saratoga Springs, N Y, clothing
Toronto, Ontario, large quantity of supplies
Toronto Ladies' Committee, quantity of supplies
Tupper, Hon Chas, C B, Toronto, supplies
Toronto Coal Mining Co, 250 tons coal
Temple, Mrs, Fredericton, N B, clothing
True, Geo W, Portland, Me, 5 barrels flour and 5 barrels meal
Thompson & Bligh, Halifax, N S, supplies
Truro, N S, supplies
Thurston, Hall & Co, Cambridgeport, Mass, 5 bls flour
Unitarian Parish, Portsmouth, N H, clothing
Upper Canada Furniture Co, Bowmanville, 50 bedsteads
Upper Clarence, N S, Supplies
Unitarian Society of Dedham, Mass, supplies
Upper Canada Trundle Bed Co, beds
Vincent & McFate, St John, shoes and slippers
Wetmore Bros, London, Ontario, 20 bls oil
Wilson Packing Co, New York, 50 cases beef
Woodstock, N B, per Connell & Hay, supplies
Woodstock, N B, supplies
Wolfville, N S, clothing and supplies
Warman Bros, London, Ontario, 20 bls flour
Waterman, Bros., London, Out., 20 bls oil
Woodcock, A, Toronto, supplies
Yarmouth, N S, supplies
Y. M. C. Union, Boston, 6 cases clothing
THE PROPERTY OWNERS.
The following is a list of persons whose properties were destroyed.
Where the number of houses owned by each is more than one, it is so
stated:
NORTH MARKET SLIP.
Heirs Dougald McLauchlin
G Sidney Smith
Heirs R L Hazen
G W Gerow
NORTH STREET.
Wm Kievenar (2)
SMYTH STREET.
Geo Moore
Heirs P McManus
P McCourt
P McDevitt
Thos Sheehan
Peter Bone
Mrs Kievenar
Maloney
D Rooney
J Dunlop
J C Brown estate
Heirs Chas Brown
Margaret S Robertson (6)
Mrs Espy
DRURY LANE.
Mrs Ann Leonard
Heirs John Ansborough
John Allen
Wm County
Jas Morrow
John Donovan
Heirs Henry Graham (2)
Heirs Thos Daley
Heirs Helen O'Leary
Thos Hourihan
Ed Mullin (2)
John Holland
Catherine Healy
Margaret McCarron
Heirs John Bryden
MILL STREET.
Mrs Mary Ann Carleton
W Finn
Robert Grace (2)
John Lloyd (2)
Heirs John Frost
Heirs E Lawrence
Thos A Rankine
Thos A and Alex Rankine
John Bellony
Thos A Peters (2)
Mrs Ann Leonard
A G Kearns
John Allen
J Brittain
James Morrow
John Ryan
Ed Hayes
GEORGES STREET.
Heirs Peter Sinclair
Thos A and Alex Rankine
Michael Burke
S R Foster
Michael Dineen
Heirs Wm Sullivan (2)
DOCK STREET.
John McSweeney (2)
John O'Gorman
Heirs B Ferguson
Johanna R Ritchie
Heirs F W Hatheway
Heirs Wm Hammond
James Dever
Heirs John Stanton
Henry Melick
Heirs John Melick
Robt Robertson
Heirs Hugh Johnston
Thomas Parks (2)
Heirs ---- Robertson
W F Butt
Otis Small
J W & G H Lawrence
Trustees Varley School
R Grace (2)
S J & W D Berton
Heirs Elijah Barker
D Moynehan
Joshua Corkery
John Gallivan
HARE'S WHARF.
Margaret Hare.
ROBERTSON PLACE.
Mary Allan Almon.
FIRE PROOF ALLEY.
Heirs of Benjamin Smith.
Wm Carvill.
NORTH MARKET WHARF.
Eliza Robertson.
John Kirk.
D. J. McLaughlin.
J. Hendrick.
R. P. McGivern.
Heirs of John Duncan.
George F. Smith.
Heirs of D. J. McLaughlin.
J. V. Thurgar.
Hannah A. Bates.
Diocesan Church Society.
Heirs of George Bonsall.
NELSON STREET.
Jane Inches
Jos R Stone
James Lawton
Eliza Robertson
John Fitzpatrick
B R Lawrence
Mrs William Hammond
Ed T B Lawton
Wm Scovil
W H Brown
Chas Lawton
Heirs of B Smith
Heirs of D J McLaughlin
Fred Fitzpatrick
George Carvill
Benj Lawton
SOUTH WHARF.
Heirs H W Wilson
Heirs of Thos Merritt
J H Allen
Jas Trueman
G C Wiggins
W Scovil
Barbour Bros
Heirs T Gilbert
G S DeForest
H & B S Gilbert
J E Masters
Heirs I L Bedell
J & R Reed
Heirs of B Smith (2)
WARD STREET AND WALKER'S WHARF.
Heirs of B Smith
W B Smith
G S DeForest
Mrs Catherine McNamara
M Lawrence
John Mitchell
Gallagher Young
Turnbull & Co
Heirs of J Walker
H & B S Gilbert
B R Lawrence
Wm Breeze
Wm M B Firth (3)
William Meneally
W T Betts
JOHNSON'S WHARF.
Hall & Fairweather
Heirs John Walker
John Wishart
W A Robertson
DISBROW'S WHARF.
Magee Bros.
WATER STREET.
Sarah A and Jane Tisdale
Wm B Jack
W W Turnbull
James Harris & Co
G Carvill
The City (3)
Henry Brennan
W A Robertson
Mrs Louisa Hanford (2)
Alex Keith (2)
James E Holstead
Henry Vaughan
Archibald Rowan
Bank of New Brunswick
Heirs E Stephens (2)
Heirs Richard Sands
Heirs Andrew Hastings
B R Lawrence
B S & H Gilbert
Allan Brothers
James Ferrie
Heirs John Walker, (3)
Magee Bros
Chas Merritt (4)
J & R Reed (2)
Geo McLeod
Heirs Wm McKay
Norris Best
Heirs G L Lovitt
Geo G and Thos Chubb,
Thos Furlong
Stephen Whittaker
Heirs Wm Parks
Heirs J M Robinson
MARKET SQUARE.
Heirs J M Walker
Heirs John Wilmot
Daniel & Boyd
Heirs Thomas Merritt
J N McManus
J. Melick
Richard Thompson
PRINCE WILLIAM STREET.
Ed Sears
The City (4)
Henry McCullough
Maritime Bank
Heirs John Gillis
Mrs. John Kinnear
Isaac Burpee
Heirs John Ennis
Heirs Noah Disbrow
Heirs S Nichols (2)
John Armstrong
L H Vaughan
J L Dunn
John Anderson
J & A McMillan
Heirs of J M Walker
F A Wiggins
Heirs Jane Boyd
Bank of Nova Scotia
Maria S Bayard
A B Barnes
Heirs Geo. L. Lovitt
Hugh Davidson
Nathan Green
Susan and Phoebe Purdy
Mrs John McIntyre
Patrick McArdle
Wm Cotter (2)
Heirs F Ferguson
T F Raymond
Thos McAvity
Heirs Thomas Pettingill
Heirs James Pettingill
Heirs Ed Finnegan
Robt S Hyke
John Foster (2)
John McCoskery
Moses Lawrence
Chas King
Geo A Freeze
Robt Pengilly
Heirs Thomas Reed
Heirs Wm McFadden
C E Robinson
C E Harding
Joggins Coal Mining Association
W H Hatheway
Wm Blizzard
Heirs Wm McKay
Rev Wm Scovil
J J Kaye
Dominion of Canada (2)
Hanford Estate (2)
P Morrissey
Wm Finn
Ann Thomas
John Tilton
Henry Vaughan and heirs Simonds & Vaughan
Ellis & Armstrong
Chas Merritt (3)
Charlotte Gibbons
Bank of New Brunswick
Heirs H Chubb (4)
Heirs Ambrose Perkins
Heirs Wm Major
Heirs J M Walker
Rich S & J S Boes DeVeber
Jessie H Nickerson
Alex Jardine
Heirs Richard Sands
John Hegan
Heirs John Hastings
Robt Douglas
Heirs Benjamin Longmuir
Daniel & Boyd
CANTERBURY STREET.
W G Lawton
John Vassie
A G Bowes
Jas O'Connor
Heirs W H Owens
Sarah Owens
A R Wetmore
Jas Walker
Willis & Mott
North British and Mercantile Insurance Co
Thos R Jones (3)
Geo V Nowlin
Geo. Moore
Heirs D J McLaughlin
GERMAIN STREET.
Heirs John Ward (2)
Heirs W Tisdale
Jas E White
Rector and Wardens Trinity Church
John A Anderson
D J McLaughlin, Jr (2)
Ed Sears (2)
Trustees Wesleyan Methodist Church (2)
Trustees St John Grammar School (2)
Trustees St Andrew's Kirk
Victoria Hotel
Otis Small and Moses Lawrence
Heirs Edwin Bayard
H R Ranney
John McMillan (2)
Heirs Robertson Bayard
Heirs Sam'l Seeds (3)
Trustees Home for the Aged
Trustees Germain Street Baptist Church (2)
John Harding (2)
John Chaloner
Mrs Duncan Robertson
Heirs Wm Hammond (3)
Wm Thomas
W C Perley
Chas Phillips
Heirs G E S Keator
Jas Miller (2)
Caleb Larkins
Heirs Donald Cameron
Wm J Stevens
Heirs Alex Balloch
Mrs Samuel Seeds
J W Climo
Chas R Ray
J R Ruel
Mrs H Johnston
Heirs Thos Parks (2)
Heirs Ed Ketchum
Heirs Lachlan Donaldson (2)
Wm Bayard
Alex Sime
Jos Bullock
Jas Lawton
Wm Davidson
Academy of Music Co
Wm Breeze
J C Hatheway
Geo V Nowlin (3)
Heirs Dan Leavitt
James H Peters (4)
Trustees Mrs Alexander
Robt Robertson
Heirs D J McLaughlin
S K Foster (3)
CHARLOTTE STREET.
Chas Merritt
John Holden
James Vernon
Dr L McLaren
Dr John Berryman
Mary L Wheeler
P Doherty
James Mason
Mrs T Coughlan
S Corbitt
S Hayward
Mary A and heirs Samuel Crawford
Eliza Chapman
Johannah Dacey and heirs
Timothy Dacey
Thos Welly
John Farren
Heirs Benj Longmuir
Heirs Francis McAvenney
Heirs Wm Potts
C E Harding
Pugsley, Crawford & Pugsley
Wm Breeze
R P McGivern
Jas Vernon
Agnes Stewart (2 houses)
John Marvin
S Smith
John Watson
Charlotte Stevens
T McAvity (2)
W McDermott
Alexander and heirs R Jardine
Maritime Sewing Machine Co
A McDermott
J Fisher, Sr
J McGivern
Dominion of Canada
John Sandall
J D McAvity
H Duffell
Mary and heirs Peter Fleming (2)
M Flood
Kate Mulherrin
H Maxwell (3)
Wm White
W H Harrison
John Fielders
Wm McAuley
Jane Murray
Eliza McLaughlin
Louisa Hanford
John D Devoe (3)
Nancy Hazen
Ann D Thompson
James Williams
Wm Davidson
Mary Earley
Mrs Fred James
P Besnard Sr
Geo Stockford
John Lawson
John Nugent
D Mullin
Rev A Wood
James H Pullen
John Berryman Sr (3)
J O Miller
Jas Langell
Corporation Trinity Church (3)
G Prescott (3)
J Guthrie and B Hevenor
G Williams
J D Gaynor (2)
John Winters (2)
SYDNEY STREET.
Dr Travers
W J B Marter (2)
T C Humbert
John McBrine
Roman Catholic Bishop (3)
Geo V Nowlin (2)
Ed McAleer
E Kinsman
Trustees Reformed Presbyterian Church
W S Marvin
William Davidson
John Anderson
Susan Dobson
William Meneally
George J Coster
R Gregory
M Flood
J R Armstrong
Wm Wedderburn
N Best
H Thomas
John Murray
J Knox
Wm Burns (2)
Robt McKay
E M S Stewart (3)
Wm Vassie
T W Peters
E L Perkins
R Rolston
Sarah McRory
John Carney
Alex Kearns
Ellen Mooney
Coldwell Howard
Jas Lemon
Sarah Taylor
Elizabeth Robbins (2)
J D Vanwart
Ann Wane (2)
Dominion of Canada
John McAnulty
Alex McDermott
Mary Clark and heirs
John Clark
C Longstroth
R W Crookshanks
E L Perkins
Chas Hillan
S K F James
Margt Maloney
W Morrison
M McAleer (2)
S J Lauckner
J Milligan (2)
John Gray
Trustees St David's Church
E Richey
Rebecca Schoular and heirs
David Marshall
L S Currie
James Vernon (2)
Wm B Aitkin
Robt McIntyre & Co
J L Taylor
D J Laughlan
Henry Jack
HORSFIELD STREET.
J H Pullen
Mrs W McKay (2)
P Besnard (2)
John Lowe (2)
Ellen McAvenney
John Nugent (2)
Sophia McLean
Mary Durant
Thos Bedell
Catherine Noyes
M Perry
Knox & Thompson
W Breeze
HARDING STREET.
R Carleton
Mary Donahey
Sarah Gillis (2)
John Wilson (2)
Mary Richard
Neil Morrison
Geo Henderson
James O'Connor (3)
Wm McDermott (2)
Heirs J W Young (2)
PAGAN PLACE.
Joseph Sulis
Louisa Donald
Mrs Emma Allison
A L Palmer
Moses Lawrence (2)
R Leonard
Chas S Taylor
S G Blizard
ST. ANDREW'S STREET.
T W Peters (2)
R Gaskin
H Aldbone
John Kee (2)
James Gilmour
James Ritchey
John Ritchie
James Sterling (2)
John Wishart
Margaret Suffren
E Woodley
John McCaffery
Robert Wetsell
CARMARTHEN STREET.
Ann Cronin
Elizabeth and Samuel Gardner
Heirs Aaron Eaton (3)
H A Austin
George E King
Charles Barnes
Mary A Ward
E E Lockhart
James Adams (3)
J D Lorimer
Samuel Ferguson (2)
Geo P Johnston (3)
Hugh Bell
Catherine Bonnell
James Hill (2)
W D Carron
James Muldoon
Gas Light Co.
Trustees Methodist Church
Trustees Orphan Asylum
Margaret O'Neil (2)
James McKinney
James Crockford
Mary Ann Pointer
Daniel Smith
John Kirk (2)
Samuel Dunham (two)
Alex Steen
S Scribner
Daniel Doyle
Mary Doyle
John Kirkpatrick
-- Smith
H S Normansell
Jane Carson
Catherine Nagle
R Evans
John Richey
Thomas Rankine
Thomas Doyle
John Wilson
Chas McLean
J Henderson
H Henderson
Rev J R Narraway
Andrew Kenney
L H Waterhouse
Wm Nixon
D Driscoll
R Wetsell
George Sparrow & J S Richardson
Wm Finley
WENTWORTH STREET.
E E Lockhart
Thos Dobson
G Sparrow
George Blatch
C Sparrow (2)
J W Fleming
H Whiteside
John Fitzpatrick
H Coffey
M Barnes
C Flaherty
C E Sulis
B P Price (3)
James Moulson (2)
John A Anderson
B McDermott
R B Emerson
J T Barnes
George Doherty (2)
C Cathers (2)
Alex Steen
William Hill (2)
Knox and Thompson (4)
John Carr
MAIN STREET.
John E Turnbull (4)
John Woodley
J G Jordan
A Steen (2)
J Tole
James O'Brien
Wm Bowden
Wm Coxetter & Michael Tucker
T M Reed
Sarah L Collins (2)
D McDermott
P Vanhorn
James Mahoney (3)
James Moulson
Jane Halcrow
L Markie
G J Sulis (2)
Wm Lewis
J & R Magee
J W Nicholson
G R Bent (2)
A L Rawlins
D Knight
F Mahoney
Ed Thurmott
Wm McKinney
Archibald Dibblee
George Thomas
John Guthrie
Mary Ann Ratcliff
James McKinney
O V Troop
Rector and Wardens St James' Church
C Langstroth
Andrew Armstrong
BRITAIN STREET.
Sarah McFadden
Jane Barbour
John Collins
John Scott
H Spears
Thos Miller
Thos McCullough
Thos Crozier
Jas Price
Wm J Colson
P McGonagle
C Larkins
H W Purdy
E Murray
Heirs D Hatfield
Jas McAvity
Wm Furlong
John Abbott
John Bartlett
Albert Peters
Mrs O'Keefe
Geo Garraty
B Coxetter
E Thompson
Margaret McPartland
F Stewart
D Jordan (2)
Wm Ennis
Jas Nicholson
Robt Barbour
Albert Betts
W H Purdy
C Merritt (3)
Geo W Belyea
J Jardine
Jas Gorman
J Moore (2)
Lawrence McMann (2)
J Packthall
F M Hancock
C J Ward
Mrs Jas Bell
W H Hatheway
John Hutchinson
Peter Besnard, Sr (3)
R Johnston (2)
J Hayes
Neil Hoyt
N Carroll
M Barnes
Heirs L H DeVeber (2)
F Pheasant
A Doyle
R Dalton
W J Pratt
D Robinson
W A Magee
S McGarvey
Bridget Murphy
Thos Bisset
Bridget Farren
J George
Ed Duffy
J E Turnbull (2)
E Thompson (2)
John Moran (2)
John Crowley
W H Quinn (3)
F S Williams (2)
John Wishart
D J Schurman
Mary McCurdy
H Maxwell
S G Blizard
Thos Robinson
ST. JAMES STREET.
O Cline
R Cline
J Kemp
John Bridges
W I Whiting
J McLarren
E Thompson
Patk McManus
Wm Leahy
S Rutherford
John Doody
John Sherrard
John Knowles
John Sears (3)
C Cain
Wm Furlong (2)
Bridget Murphy
John Watson
Thomas Viall
Geo Young
Jas Ellis
E L Perkins (2)
Wm Simpson
Alice McKean
P McGonagal
M Burk
Mrs Thos Hanlon
Samuel Fisher
Eliza Wilson
John Wilson, jr
J & A Campbell
D Sullivan
R Holmes
C Moriarty
John Runciman
Robt J Caldwell
W Casey
School Trustees
Rev William Scovil
John Fisher
John Cain
Rev Wm Scovil and Trustees of Wiggins' Orphan Asylum
J Drake
Wm Duffell
Thos White
Thos Pike
F P Robinson
John Winters
Jas Price
Wm Gilfillan
Jane White (2)
Wm Russell
Mrs David Millar
Heirs Thos King
P Condon
Jos Akroyd
David Stewart
Patrick Ferrie
Chas Osburn
Elizabeth Spence
Rev M Ritchey
Thos Kedey
Wm Lewis (3)
M Flood
John Wishart
John S Mullin
John Littler
Heirs Daniel Hatfield
Heirs F Dibblee
Purdy heirs
B Coxetter
T G Merritt
Heirs R Sands
Caleb Larkins
T F Raymond
Mrs Francis Clementson
D J Schurman
Thos Littlejohn
Chas Sinclair
John Callaghan
T M Reed
PITT STREET.
Silas H Brown
Henry Lawlor
James Cummings
F Jordan
Rebecca Fisher
Ed K Fisher
D S Robinson
James Hewitt
C Lawton (2)
SHEFFIELD STREET.
Gilbert estate
Matthew Thompson (2)
James Carr
E Vanhorn
James Brown
Heirs Geo McKelvie (2)
John A Anderson
R Robertson
Margaret Hennigar
Joseph Kimpson
Ferguson & Rankine (2)
Y M C Association
M McVane (2)
Robert Cunniff
John Kirk
Alex Harvey
Jane Wasson
Mrs. P. Riley
J H Anthony
John McCabe (2)
John Woodburn
C O'Keefe
Richd McCluskey
John Fisher
A McDermott
Purves & Moore
J Drake
E Magee
John Porter
Rector and Wardens St James' Church
Stephen & James Oakes
S Dunham
Mary Ann Pointer
Catherine O'Neal (2)
Daniel Smith
Joseph McCullough
McKelvey heirs
Trustees Methodist Church
David Dodge
Elizabeth Nixon
Lewis Wheaton
Geo Anning
Joseph Sulis
Jas Vanhorn
QUEEN SQUARE.
Thos Furlong
Isaac Woodward
John Boyd
Geo B Cushing
R Cruikshanks
A L Palmer
Jas Manson (2)
W B Smith
John Horn
J W Barnes
D Robertson (2)
Mrs Charles Brown and heirs of Chas Brown
John Stewart
F. Tufts
John Tucker
H. Jack
E. L. Jewett.
QUEEN STREET.
John Foster
R Longmaid
Thos P Davies
H. Hawkins
Jessie Day
Mrs Alex Dalsell
J H Harding
J U Thomas
Joseph Sulis
Geo Riley and heirs
Robt Riley (2)
J O'Connell
Wm Davis and heirs
John McNichol
Mary Bersay
John R McFarlane
James McCart (2)
Ed Edson
Mrs Jane McPherson
Heirs John Thomas
Hugh Kelly
S Benterell
John Hamilton
Margaret Homer
Heirs John Roberts
Geo S Fisher
Robt Turner
John McBrine (2)
R Cassidy (2)
Thos Jordan
D. S. Kerr
John Pettingill
C Flood (2)
Geo Suffren
Chas E Raymond
John Fitzpatrick
James Gallagher
Geo J. Nixon
A. Quick
Heirs R Bayard
R J Leonard
G F Soley (2)
Alex Steen
Hugh Carswell
Mrs John Millidge
H S Normansell
Heirs John Whitne
John Wilson, jr
John Wilson (2)
Margaret and heirs Joseph Hanley (2)
Thos Doyle
Andrew Evans
Robt Marshall
Wm Black
F M Hancock
Alex McKelvy
Wm Pike (2)
Heirs D J McLaughlin
J McFarlane
Thomas McAvity, jr
Robt Hickson
M Francis
D Brown
Mary Crothers and heirs John Crothers
Ann Thomas
Andrew Keohan
Mary Williams
John Scallon (2)
Simon Leonard
MECKLENBURG STREET.
Jas Hutchinson and heirs Jos Stevenson (2)
Richard Longmaid
H Vaughan
John Vassie
Chas Maclean
Heirs James Whitney
Margaret Hillman
C McIver
Chas Whitney
John Dyers
Mary Dockrill
W M Jordan
Jas Emerson
Jas McNicholl
Heirs Joseph Atkins
Mary Ann McLean
F L Lewin
T W Seeds
Benj Dodge
John Ennis
John Dick
James Woodstock
Phoebe Bookhout
Martin Burns
Edward Purchase
Thos Dobson
Ann Atkins
Jas Knox
Francis Gallagher
Mathew Steen
Wm Causey
Geo V Nowlin
Andrew Armstrong
W McVay
Wm McKeel
Heirs Aaron Eaton
John Magee
William Magee
J. W Nicholson
J R Armstrong
DUKE STREET.
P McArdle
Peter Flannigan
Mrs Francis Ferguson (2)
Joseph Bell
John McSorley (3)
Heirs R Bayard (2)
A Blain
Peter Besnard (3)
Mrs Livingstone
Mrs W Fraser
John Marven
S Tufts
J Shannon
O Bailey
Trustees Madras School
Seely & Besnard
R W Crookshank
Susan Stephenson
B Brennan (2)
Robt Thomson (2)
Samuel Gardner
Andrew Gilmour
R Robertson, jr
S K Brundage
Joseph Henderson
H Henderson
Wm H Randall
Wm McBay
J Wilkins, sen
J Wilkins, jr
Wm Francis
James Adams
Mrs Gilchrist
James Saunders
Wm Whitney
Sarah Partelow
Ed Purchase (2)
Robt S Jones
Geo Sparrow
Mary Ann McLean (2)
M Morrison
Charlotte Jones
Michael Burns
P Bushfan
William Wright
Heirs William Melody
Margaret Hartness
E Burnside
Howard D. Troop
John Marven
John Cook
James Adams
Sarah Ferguson
Heirs Edward Brundage (2)
W Stephens
Jacob Seely
Trustees Christian Church
John Wishart
L A Waterhouse
James Milligan
Sarah Jane Ferguson
George A Thompson
John Richards
W F Butt
Arthur Daniel (2)
Heirs Daniel Culbert
James Vernon
Mrs. Earley
Sarah Gillis
J. O'Connell
Peter Dearness
Heirs Michael McGuirk (2)
Ann Jane Ritchie
Geo Stockford
Caroline Wood
Hugh Davidson
Susan Chittick (2)
J & R Reed
ORANGE STREET.
Wm Meneally
John Smith
Andrew Gray
M. Hennigar (2)
Andrew Kinney (2)
Jas Adams
W R MacKenzie
D G MacKenzie
W E Vroom
G E King
H D Troop
C W Weldon
A C Smith
R R Sneden
E J Barteaux
Joseph Prichard (4)
Jane Cook
James McLean
Catherine Allen
Thomas Johnston
Henry Lawlor
B Murphy
James E Whittaker
J R Woodburn
Z G Gabel
James Estey
Charles Drury
Emma J Daley
John Sweeney
J W Hall
G McLeod
J A Venning
R Blair
Margaret Sinnott
Heirs R McAfee
Heirs Wm Bailey
James Morrison
Heirs P Williams
PRINCESS STREET.
Alexander Barnhill
W J Ritchie
E Thompson
Patrick Bradley
J C Hatheway
E Sears
P Fitzpatrick
Wm Burtis
A Buist
Jas Hunter
Knox & Thompson
John Burk
J H Lee,
Thos Rogers
John Anderson (2)
John Murphy
B Bustin
G Bent
Margaret Hunter
John Nugent
Mary Craig
James H Bartlett
Mrs David Miller
Thos Miller
James Bustin
Fred Dorman
O Doherty
Adam Young
C E Robinson
John Healey
John Gardner
Mrs Mary A & E E Lockhart (2)
Heirs of Geo A Lockhart
R W Thorne
H Williams
W Sandall
Robert McAndrews
James Robinson
Susan and heirs J Johnston
Ann Hamilton and heirs Clara Dean
William Fogg
Mary Ann Ellsworth
J V Troop
Simeon Jones
Alex Lockhart
Trustees Centenary Church (2)
Heirs John Mason
Heirs Thomas P Williams
W C Drury
J A Godsoe
D W Scammell
G Henderson
A W Whitney
T D Wilson
Mrs Ellen Smith
John Doherty
Trustees J S Turner
Thomas Bustin
P Halpin
B Paterson
Barbara Clark
W C Godsoe
James Trueman
Ed Willis
Joseph Miller
Robert Law
Geo Thomas
Judge Watters
Benj Lowe
H A Hatheway (2)
Harriet Trueman
W Walton
Geo Mathews (2)
S A Dixon
E M Merritt
Michael Thompson (2)
Rev Alex McL Stavely
H S Gregory
Helen York and Captain Thos York
John Anderson
Jas Sullivan
Geo F Thompson
J J Munro
J E Ganong
T G Merritt
Jane Woods
John Burke
Mrs Jas Drake
G C Wiggins
W H Hayward
M. N Powers
Catherine and heirs Michael Donnelly
F A Wiggins
Rev Mr McCarty
Trustees James Leitch
Charles Patton
LEINSTER STREET.
F Cassidy
James Milligan
Lydia Gardner (2)
Joseph Edgar
Mrs Wallace
Mrs Samuel Bustin
Trustees of Baptist Church
Jane Rutherford
H L Francis
Mary Murray
Francis McDevitt
Trustees Varley School
Mrs E Lunt and heirs
Jos Lunt
A W Masters
Silas H Brown
James Sullivan
Mrs Lydia J Calhoun
Joseph Reed
W H & D Hayward
A H Eaton
John Corr
S K Foster
John Gallagher
Dennis Sullivan
Heirs Wm Bailey
Francis Hewitt (2)
John Roop (2)
Geo W Masters
G V Nowlin
Chas H Dearborn
G Merritt
Gilbert Murdoch
T C Humbert
John McBrine (2)
CHURCH STREET.
G A Knodell
M Thompson
Geo Pattison
Thos S Wetmore
James H Peters
Mrs Jane Disbrow
Ellen Mahoney
Ed Maher
A Bowes
R T Clinch and heirs E Barlow
KING SQUARE.
C M Bostwick
C Merritt
Trustees Irish Friendly Society
Heirs B Ansley
R Milligan
C A Robertson
KING STREET.
Mrs John Gillis
Heirs John Gillis
James Manson
R T Clinch and heirs E Barlow
D J McLaughlin and heirs Daniel McLaughlin
S E Whittaker
James E Whittaker
Geo A Barker
Mrs Geo Taylor
John Dougherty
Heirs Wm Melick
Mrs John Hay
John Fisher
Wm Kennedy
Corporation of Trinity Church
Thos H Hall (2)
Samuel Schofield
Thomas Seely
Ann Howe
John Mitchell
Mary Piddler
Wm Peters
Heirs H Chubb
Joseph Nichols
James R Ruel & Robert Light
Mrs Chas C Macdonald (3)
Jos W Hall (2)
W H Scovil
R T Clinch and heirs E Barlow
UNION STREET.
J C Brown estate
Peter and John Campbell
Daniel Donovan
Mrs Lantalum (2)
J W Hall (2)
John Gallivan
John McSweeny (3)
Heirs D J McLaughlin
C Lawton
James Dever
J Fred Lawton
L Burns
J Hegan
John Lloyd
Hare heirs
Mrs John Bryden
John Higgins
A Richardson
A Yeats & Sons (3)
J & T Robinson (2)
CHAPTER XVII.
The losses of the Masonic Fraternity.--Great Destruction of Masonic
Regalia and Paraphernalia.--Organization of the General Masonic
Board of Relief.--Amount received in Aid of the Suffering Brethren.
The losses of the Masonic fraternity have been computed, and found to be
much greater than was at first supposed. The private lodges saved
nothing, and all their warrants, banners, jewels, clothing, and other
paraphernalia were lost. Some of them even did not rescue their seals;
and Hibernia, Union Lodge of Portland, and New Brunswick Lodge, lost
their records. The Union Lodge of Portland was a heavy loser. Her loss
amounts to $1,250; Albion, No. 1, $850; St. John's, No. 2, about $600;
Leinster, No. 9, and New Brunswick, No. 22, foot up to $750 each; and
Hibernia, No. 3, to $850.
The Chapters have also fared badly. Carleton Royal Arch Chapter, formed
in 1802, lost the seal and $1,150 worth of property; while New Brunswick
Chapter meets with a loss of $1,475.
There were two Encampments which met in Masonic Hall. St. John
Encampment not only lost $2,300 worth of property, which included the
rich regalia of the order, the jewels, banners, charters, and general
paraphernalia, but also the seal of the Encampment, and the regalia in
the armory, which was owned by the private members. This latter
consisted for the most part, of the chapeaux, swords, belts, gauntlets,
baldrics, aprons, etc., usually worn by the Sir Knights when on parade
and other duty. Hardly a member of the organization saved his masonic
clothing. The regalia of this body was especially gorgeous in character,
and no better dressed organization, before the fire, existed anywhere.
The Union De Molay Encampment experienced the same loss of general
wardrobe and appliances. Their loss reaches upwards of two thousand
dollars. The bodies of the Ancient and Accepted Rite lost everything but
the records. The Royal Order of Scotland--a very select body,--saved
their records only; the entire paraphernalia and regalia were lost. All
the furniture and furnishings, the organ, etc., belonging to the General
Hall Committee of the body, with all the paintings, photographs, and
engravings, were destroyed with the rest.
Only the regalia and records, and full register of members belonging to
the Grand Lodge were saved. The magnificent library of over four hundred
volumes, many of them rare and scarce, and the most complete thing of
the kind in the Dominion, was burned. In the work of collecting these
books, the Grand Secretary, W. F. Bunting, Esq., spent many years; and
the destruction of the noble volumes is a serious and irreparable loss
to Freemasonry; many of the books destroyed can never be replaced.
Besides this, a good many were of incalculable value, on account of
certain associations connected with them, and each one had a little
history of its own. Some of them were presentation volumes, others again
were out of print, and not a few were high-priced modern text-books,
especially valuable to the masonic student. All the blank forms and
certificates, fyles of documents and books of constitutions, and all
copies of printed proceedings were swept away in the common ruin. Grand
Lodge has suffered severely, and her total loss above insurance cannot
be less than one thousand dollars; while the loss she has met with which
money cannot replace is enormous. Even Carleton Union Lodge, which met
on the other side of the harbour, did not escape. Her beautiful banners,
which she had lent St. John Encampment at the time of the late ball,
were in the lodge room when the fire was sweeping all before it, and
they were consequently burned.
The walls of the Lodge-room were always tastefully decorated with well
executed engravings on Masonic subjects. These all perished, as well as
the handsome auto-type of H. R. H. the Prince of Wales in full Masonic
regalia, which was presented to the craft last year, by Thomas Furlong,
Esq., and which was greatly admired. An oil painting of P. G. M.
Balloch, by Holman, in full Masonic clothing, which hung near the
Master's Chair, and a fine picture in oil of "The Ascension," by Dr. T.
A. D. Forster, formerly of St. John, were burned along with everything
else. Indeed the fraternity will find it impossible to replace a tithe
of the useful and ornamental things with which it was surrounded. The
order in this city was well equipped, and amply provided with
everything.
Notwithstanding, however, that they had suffered so largely themselves,
publicly and privately, as individuals and as masons, the leading
members of the fraternity at once organized a board of relief and
proceeded to care for the wants of the brethren who had met with
reverses. The general masonic board of relief is a special organization
which grew out of the present calamity, and is separate and distinct
from the regular or ordinary relief board of the city. It is composed of
city members of the Board of General Purposes of the Grand Lodge, and
the presiding officers of all the Masonic bodies of the city. Grand
Master R. T. Clinch is Chairman, Grand Treasurer Jas McNichol, Jr., is
Treasurer, and Grand Secretary William F. Bunting is Secretary of the
board. R. W. Bro. Edwin J. Wetmore is clerk, and has charge of the
office and attends daily from three to five o'clock in the afternoon, to
receive applications from brethren in distress. The board meets every
day, in the office rented for the purpose, from four to five o'clock to
consider applications and grant such relief as they deem advisable. In
the administration of the fund at their disposal the board exercises
great discretion and discrimination. Not only are brethren of the craft
helped, but the hearts of their widows and orphans are made glad. Often
the board does not wait for a distressed brother to make application for
relief, but other means are taken to find out his necessities and aid is
sent to him whenever this can be ascertained. All benefits are granted
in money, and range from sums of twenty to fifty dollars, payable by
check signed always by the treasurer, and one other officer of the
board. As soon as money is received it is deposited in the Bank of
British North America, in the names of the Chairman, Treasurer and
Secretary. The system works admirably and already a great amount of
good, in really necessitous cases, has been done. The gentlemen at the
head of the board are men of sterling character and reputation, and any
funds placed in their hands are judiciously and properly disbursed.
Every provision is being made for the coming winter months, when it is
expected that sore distress will prevail in the city, and with this in
view the board feel the necessity of having a good fund at their
disposal to meet the wants of worthy but unfortunate members of the
fraternity. Thus far the craft abroad have responded to the needs of the
suffering brethren quite liberally. Up to late date these sums have been
received:
From Craft in Chicago, Ill. $930 00
" Grand Lodge of Canada 1,000 00
" " " Illinois 237 75
" Craft in Charlottetown, P. E. I. 300 00
" " Newfoundland 336 44
" Masonic Relief Board, Memphis, Tenn. 94 75
" St. Andrew's Lodge, Bangor, Me. 95 00
" St. John's Lodge, Bathurst, N. B. 50 00
" Star in the East Lodge, Oldtown, Me. 66 50
" Alexandria Lodge, St. Mary's, York Co., N. B. 20 00
CHAPTER XVIII.
The Destruction--The Loss--Estimates--The Acreage and
Streetage--Has the Land Decreased in Value?--Incomes swept
away--What is Left--Hope!--The Insurance--The Corporation
Loss--The Dominion Loss--Additional Deaths--The Wounded--The
Orange Body.
In forming an estimate of the destruction which the fire has caused
great care has been exercised. I have been careful to verify every
statement I advance. Thoroughly competent engineers have, at my request,
re-surveyed the area through which the fire raged, and I am therefore in
a position to give reliable information on a subject which has given
rise to much speculation and doubt. The acreage has been taken and the
streetage made and the result has shown that the fire destroyed two
hundred acres of territory and nine and six-tenths miles of streets. To
be more exact the acreage is not quite two hundred acres but so very
near it that it may be accepted at that estimate. Not more than
two-fifths of the city have been burned and the reader will see the
truth of this when he comes to consider that Carleton which forms a part
of this city has been untouched by the flames, and all the upper portion
of the city has escaped. While the acreage and streetage shew that the
city is not totally destroyed, yet what has been burned represented
enormous value. The fire penetrated to the very heart of the great
commercial centre of St. John. It laid waste the fairest portion of the
city. It swept away the palace-houses of our wealthy people and
destroyed nearly every public building in the place. When one considers
all these circumstances and begins to realize the situation, he is apt
to form too high an estimate of the loss. He looks around him while
going about surveying the ruins, and on every side he sees the great
waste and the figures forming in his head grow larger and larger as he
proceeds to sum up the result of the sad fire. Every man has his own
opinion, and it is curious to observe how widely diversified these
opinions are. The cautious man places it at fifteen millions, and his
hot blooded and visionary friend with equal show of reason estimates the
loss at nearly fifty millions. The estimate ranges widely and wildly.
The books of the assessors on examination show a loss to property of
much less value than even the owners put upon it before the fire. But
one can see how fallacious these results are, when the reader learns
that in making up the assessments the assessors value a merchant's stock
at not what it is, but what in their opinion they think it should be.
For instance, a man has three hundred thousand dollars worth of stock in
warehouse. He really owns about fifty thousand dollars worth and owes
for the balance. He is not taxed on his debts but on what he is worth.
Yet the fire carried away the sum total of the goods in his possession.
The assessors' books show hardly a tithe of the actual value of the
loss. It can only be correctly stated after a thorough examination, and
as nearly as can be ascertained the entire destruction throughout the
city reaches upwards of twenty-seven millions of dollars. This is the
loss in solid value. But that much money will not replace the goods
thus destroyed. There were many things burned which were of what might
be called fancy value, and which money can in no way replace. And in
making our estimate these things have been valued only nominally. The
loss, therefore, in round figures, is not a whit below the amount we
have given, $27,000,000. The talk about taxable property is all
nonsense. Every man who says so, knows that he is talking nonsense.
Hardly a man lives to-day who is taxed in the proportion that he should
be. The richer a man is, the more easily he can hide his wealth, and an
examination of the assessment books will enable any reader to find a
hundred examples in proof of this. Another argument is brought forward.
We are told that the land is not burned up, and in that land there is
great value. That is true enough, every word of it. The land is not
burned out of existence. It is still where it was, but it is by no means
as valuable as it was before the fire. A thousand circumstances were
brought to bear on it, locality, desirability, and necessity, and all
these had an influence in enhancing its value. Most of these reasons,
and cogent reasons they were too at the time, have now gone out with the
fire. Men who thought they must have a piece of land because it was in a
good situation, and because it was located near their own lots, were
ready to buy what they wanted at a good price, often merely to carry out
some hobby or idea paramount in their minds. But these ideas have
vanished. This hobby can be ridden no longer. He can have the lot now if
he wants it, at a good deal lower rate than he offered for it, but he
can't afford it. The owner's means are swept away, and he cannot afford
to build again, and is anxious to sell his land, that he can go and rent
a house to live in. The land in almost every part of the burnt district
will drop, and has already dropped, in value. It is still there, and so
it was there a hundred years ago. It is more valuable now than it was
then. I don't pretend to say that we are no better off than when the
loyalists landed, for we are. Our roads are laid out; our people are
thrifty, enterprising, and skilful. The greater portion of the city is
still intact. We have a splendid system of water supply and sewerage. We
have, or, will have very soon, gas burning again. We will have comforts
once more. But what I do mean to say is, that it will take very many
years to build the city up again as it was before the fire. It will take
very many years to enable the land-owner to realize anything like the
price he once commanded for his property. Of course, in the leading
business streets there will be but little difference, though it will be
felt in a good many quarters. Take some portions of King and Prince
William streets, for example. Some men realized a snug income from the
rental of the shanties which were erected on good business sites in
these streets. They owned the land, and the shanties were theirs. Their
whole income came from this source. Their wooden buildings yielded them
a far more handsome return for their outlay than many of the massive
brick buildings near them did to their owners. Why was this? Simply
because they were in a good locality. These shanties are now level with
the earth. The revenue is swept away. These men own the land, but their
means are gone. They cannot rebuild. If they did, the rent they would
receive would be far less than the rookeries yielded, and they must sell
their property or mortgage it. The land has lost a great deal of its
value, and it will take a long time for it to regain that loss. We must
look these things boldly and seriously in the face. No reflection is
made on the people when these statements are advanced. No more
enterprising populace lives than the people of St. John. Many are used
to hard work. They have hewn out of the solid rock one of the most
beautiful cities in the Dominion. They have met a thousand obstacles in
their path, and they have swept them all aside. And they will ride over
their calamity and begin again the hard road upward. They will rebuild
the city once more, and plant bright things where ruin and despair now
stand, but we must not flatter ourselves that we have lost nothing, and
that our land has not deteriorated in value. It is as wrong to be over
sanguine as it is to give way to gloom and do nothing to better our
misfortunes. We must work with determination and lose no time. We must
show the world--that kind world which has fed the mouths of our poor and
clothed the unfortunate--that there is backbone and muscle still left in
the city, and that while we have men to work we have no women to weep.
It might have been worse. We have lost lives, we have lost all our
buildings--we have lost everything that goes to make home happy,
cheerful and bright--we have lost our stores and shops--we have lost
a hundred comforts--but, thank God, we have not lost our glorious hope
in the future. In that hope is our salvation. It is that hope which
stirs us on, which quickens our energy, which tells us that it might
truly have been worse. It is the one beautiful thing that is left to us.
It is the angel which smiles back to us when we raise our eyes upward.
It is the figure in the cloud which says to prostrate man, "Rouse, rouse
yourself! all is not lost, there is a future for you all." Ah, yes, it
might have been worse. There is desolation all around--there is death in
many households--there is mourning and crying and moaning--but hope
still sailing grandly near us, so near that we can almost touch her,
still smiling sweetly on us, tells us all will yet be well and bids us
be of good cheer.
The number of houses burned on the several streets in the city, is
sixteen hundred and twelve. They were located as follows:
Georges Street 10
Mill Street 20
Drury Lane 17
Smyth Street 20
North Street 5
North Market Slip 8
Hare's Wharf 1
Robertson Place 1
Fire Proof Alley 2
North Market Wharf 11
Nelson Street 18
Dock Street 26
Market Square 6
South Market Wharf 16
Ward Street 10
Peters' Wharf 11
Johnston's Wharf 2
Lovett's Slip 1
St. John, "Water" Street 51
Canterbury Street 19
Prince William Street 95
Germain Street 87
Charlotte Street 84
Sydney Street 75
Carmarthen Street 59
Wentworth Street 34
Pitt Street 38
Sheffield Street 52
Main Street 58
Britain Street 101
St James Street 98
Pagan Place 9
Harding Street 15
Queen Square, south side 10
Queen Square, north side 10
St Andrew Street 17
Queen Street 80
Mecklenburg Street 44
Duke Street 105
Horsfield Street 17
Orange Street 42
Princess Street 106
Church Street 10
Leinster Street 45
King Square, south side 6
King Street 60
-----
Total, 1612
The number of people rendered homeless foot up to about thirteen
thousand, and the number of families to about twenty-seven hundred. As
near as can be got, the insurance on merchandise, furniture and
buildings, is placed as follows. This is not quite correct but at this
hour it is as nearly correct as can be ascertained. It will average this
at all events, and amounts in the aggregate to about seven millions of
dollars.
Queen $700,000
North British & Mercantile 800,000
Lancashire 500,000
Provincial 100,000
Liverpool, London & Globe 480,000
Guardian 420,000
Canada Fire & Marine 50,000
Citizens 200,000
National 140,000
Royal 520,000
Commercial Union 420,000
Royal Canadian 350,000
Western 90,000
Imperial 480,000
Ætna 246,000
Hartford 148,000
Phenix of Brooklyn 60,000
British America 27,000
Stadacona 320,000
Central, of Fredericton 60,000
St John Mutual 75,000
Northern 500,000
Canada Agricultural 8,000
Most of the Insurance Companies paid up at once "The Stadacona" pays
its liabilities within a year. The "Provincial" has suspended but
promises to pay in time and the condition of the "St. John Mutual" is
quite hopeless, and will pay scarcely anything. The "Central" of
Fredericton, N.B., will pay in a short time, it is said.
The loss to the shipping will amount to about fifty thousand dollars.
The St. John Corporation loses heavily, and the insurance which was held
on some properties is exceedingly light. The City Hall cost, at the time
of its purchase from the directors of the old Commercial Bank, the sum
of $23,000. Since then a good deal of money has been expended on it. The
insurance was only $15,000. The Police Court and station on Chipman's
Hill, which were both burned, the one a wooden building and the other of
brick, had insurance to the small amount of $2,000. The Fish Market,
useful and by no means ornamental, was insured for $600. The Lower Cove
Market, the upper or second story of which contained a public hall, and
was used by temperance societies sometimes, was insured for $1,200. In
the rear of the first floor of this building, a lock-up was situate, for
the accommodation of delinquents and law-breakers in that portion of the
city. The city stables on Carmarthen street were uninsured, as was also
the toll house at the Carleton ferry landing. The building occupied by
Mr. May at Reed's point, and which was owned by the corporation, was
insured for $1,000. Two cottages on Orange street were insured for
$3,000. These were occupied by Mr. A. J. H. Bartsch, the watch-maker,
and by Mr. Chas. Parker. Mr. Samuel Phillips' residence, on Duke
street, and which belonged to the corporation, was insured for $400. The
warehouses on Pettingill's Wharf had insurance to the amount of $5,000.
The barrack and sheds belonging to the city were uninsured. Two-thirds
of the fire alarm was destroyed, and all the watering-carts, slovens,
hose, &c., belonging to the corporation, were burned. No. 1 engine-house
was destroyed. No. 2 experienced a little damage after Dr. Travers'
house caught fire. The sidewalks can only be replaced at a heavy cost,
and the damage to the wharf property is enormously large.
The Dominion Government loses about half a million dollars. The Custom
House and Post Office will be rebuilt at once, and plans are already
prepared. All the Government military stores were burned, and the three
hundred rifles belonging to the 62nd battalion were lost. Most of the
new uniforms belonging to the corps perished likewise. None of the
Dominion Government's property was insured, and the loss will therefore
be complete.
The list of callings has been carefully gone over, and shows a return of
the following, who have been burned out:--
Architects 4
Auctioneers 7
Bakers 11
Banks 5
Bankers, Private 4
Barristers 80
Blacksmiths 10
Block and pump makers 8
Boarding-houses 55
Boat builders 5
Bookbinders 5
Book stores 7
Boot and shoemakers 38
Boot and shoe stores 14
Brass founders 6
Builders 27
Cabinet makers 9
Clothiers 29
Commission merchants 93
Confectioners 6
Dentists 9
Druggists 8
Dry goods (wholesale) 14
Dry goods (retail) 22
Dining and oyster saloons 10
Flour dealers 32
Fruit dealers 7
Grocers (wholesale) 40
Grocers (retail) 102
Gasfitters and plumbers 9
Hair dressers 13
Hardware stores 8
Hotels 14
Insurance agents 29
Iron merchants 8
Liquor dealers (wholesale) 27
Liquor dealers (retail) 116
Livery stables 8
Lumber merchants 12
Marble works 6
Merchant tailors 36
Newspapers 7
Painters 13
Photographers 6
Physicians and surgeons 15
Printers (job work) 10
Riggers 7
Sailmakers 5
Ship chandlers 14
Ship smiths 8
Stove dealers 8
Tobacconists 7
Undertakers 4
Watchmakers and jewellers 12
The following list shows the manufacturing establishments, using steam
power, which were destroyed, and gives the number of hands employed in
each:--
Name. Business. No. of
hands
employed.
Jeremiah Drake Block maker 5
John E. Turnbull Sash factory 18
Armstrong Bros. Foundry 10
T. Rankine & Sons Bakery 30
S. R. Foster & Son Tack manufacturers 50
W. D. Aitken Machinist 10
John Norris Auger maker 2
R. A. Saunders Pattern maker 2
Wm. Lowe Wood turner 1
Wm. Smith & Co. Ship-smith 8
H. Allan Brass foundry 8
Maxwell, Elliot & Bradley Ship smiths 4
Dearborn & Co. Coffee and spices 10
J. Akroyd Machinist 1
J. Smith Foundry 4
Geo. F. Thompson White lead man'r 7
D. McLaughlin & Sons Boiler makers 15
T. McAvity & Sons Brass manufacturers 16
Bradley Bros. Block makers --
Geo. R. Bent Organs --
This, and the list above, I use through the permission of Mr. Elder, of
_The Telegraph_, who had them carefully made up from reliable sources.
In addition to the number of deaths mentioned in one of the earlier
chapters of this book, very large addenda must be made. Since that
chapter was written, a good many more persons are known to have
perished. The list on the death-roll is very large. Mr. Garret Cotter, a
young man, working in the tailoring establishment of Mr. James S. May,
as a cutter, and an old man named Peter McGovern, who lived on Straight
Shore, met their deaths at the same time and at the same place. A
cornice fell from the Adam's building and killed them. Young Cotter
lived in Crown Street with his mother. His father met with a violent
death some years since, having been killed on the railway. Two young men
were drowned in the harbour before the very eyes of horror-stricken
spectators. James Kemp, aged 21, formerly a clerk in Michael Farrel's
clothing store, and Thomas Holmes, a lad of seventeen years, and who
resided in Harding Street with his mother, put out to sea in a small
boat laden with what little property they could get into it. The bottom
of the boat broke, and the craft filling at once, both men were drowned
in a second. The people on vessels in the harbour lying close by the
ill-fated boat, were so excited at what they saw, and the men sank so
rapidly, that nothing could be done to save them, and they perished in
full view of those on board. Kemp leaves a wife and one child. Mrs.
Cohalan, wife of Wm. Cohalan, was lost in Smyth Street. Her body was
never recovered, but it is established beyond all doubt that she fell an
early victim. All that was left of Mrs. Bradley, who once lived in
Princess Street, were some human bones which were found on her door-step
after the fire. The remains of Richard Thomas, an employé in Fred.
Fitzpatrick's warehouse in Nelson Street, were found on the site of
Richard O'Brien's saloon in Germain Street. Robert Fox, who belonged
about the Marsh Road, has been pronounced dead.
The accidents were very numerous, and were of various degrees of
importance. In the hurry, the names of all persons who suffered by the
fire, and had experienced bruises and fractures, could not be obtained.
Some were sent at once to the Public Hospital, and even here there was
not time to fully record the names of all who were brought in. The
physician in charge, Dr. Hanington, did all in his power to make the
unfortunates comfortable and easy. The matron of the establishment and
other assistants also rendered efficient and prompt aid. The names of
those who were for a while in the Hospital, and received injuries at the
fire are Daniel Dooley, John Ross, Patrick Brady, William Coxetter,
William Donohoe, Helen Davidson, Bayard Thompson, Walter Lamb (injured
at the explosion), Andrew Donovan, Michael Barrett, William Porter,
Jeremiah Sullivan, Thomas Sullivan, Richard Powers, John Anderson and
George Gallagher. The last two men died in the Hospital from the effects
of their wounds.
The thanks of the people of St. John are largely due to C. J. Brydges,
Esq., and R. Luttrell, Esq., of the Intercolonial Railway, who promptly
placed fast trains at the service of the Relief Committee, and forwarded
free passengers and supplies. Excellent service was thus performed, and
Mr. Luttrell lost no time in meeting the emergency. Indeed he spent
several days in relieving the wants of the sufferers. Few will forget
these kindly acts.
In concluding this chapter I might add that the Orange Lodges which met
in Mr. Thos. H. Hall's building, King street, lost quite heavily. Their
regalia was, for the most part, entirely consumed, but the banners were
saved. The insurance on the hall and furniture was only five hundred
dollars. The members had gone to a great deal of expense lately in
fitting up their lodge-room, which was one of the tastiest in the city.
The decorations were very handsome. The loss will reach at least two
thousand dollars. A relief organization has been formed by leading
brethren of the order, and the wants of sufferers by the fire are being
looked after. The Grand Master, Edward Willis, and Messrs. A. G.
Blakslee, John A. Kane, J. B. Andrews, Walter McFate, W. A. King, W.
Roxorough, James Elliott, and Samuel Devenne, comprise the Relief
Committee.
CHAPTER XIX.
The Books we have Lost--"The Lost Arts"--The Libraries of St. John
which were Burned--The Pictures which were Lost--The Few that were
Saved--A Talk about Books and Pictures--The Future--What St. John
men must Do--Acknowledgments--Conclusion of the Story of the Fire.
It is only when we come to look around us that we can discover how much
we have lost. In one's lifetime a thousand little things are gathered
and put away, and we find ourselves turning to them every now and then.
Money cannot supply these. Many of them are endeared to us through
association. Some are the gifts of friends who have since passed away,
never to return, and others again came into our possession in various
ways. We may supply, with a portion of our insurance money, a few books,
copies of the ones which we have lost, but these will not be the same.
They will not be our copies. We love to read our own books. No Suckling
can be the same as the one we lost the other day. It was not a rich
copy, but it was a whole-souled, generous old fashioned volume, full of
the old Knights daintiest bits of melody. We used to love to linger over
the little age-stained page, and recover lines we had lost. And dear old
Shenstone, too, is gone. We can easily get another Shenstone, but it
won't seem at all like the old copy. In our own books we know just where
to find what we want, and new copies never seem the same. And then there
are books we like to take up now and then, just to fill in the odd
moments of our lives; books of engravings and the like, and volumes of
_Punch_, and great volumes of cartoons of say forty and fifty years ago.
These are all gone now and few can be replaced.
What great inroads the fire has caused among our private libraries, what
a wreck it has made of those precious books we all loved so dearly. And
those pamphlets, too, upon which we placed so much value, and the
thousand little odds and ends of literature which we so tenderly
gathered year in and year out. And our scrap-books--great, good-natured
fellows, with broad sides and liberal pages, ready to take in all sorts
of matter. These are no more. And whole hosts of unbound magazines,
which we had tied together, and expected every day to send off to the
binders. These are ashes too. We hesitate before we turn over the books
we rescued from the burning, lest we discover greater losses, and miss
fairer treasures. How many sets of books have been destroyed, how many
massive tomes have been withered by the heat, how many dainty books of
poetry have been swept away!
What lovely companions books are. What glorious friends they make. How
kindly they speak to us and tell us what they think. We read gruff Tom
Carlyle, and pause at his estimate of Cromwell, and hunt through the
histories of England to see what Smollett and Hume have to say about the
same grim protector. We run through a few pages of Taine and discover
how grandly he criticises the masters of English literature, but after
all we go back fondly to our own Arnold, and read what he has to tell us
before we quite make up our mind that the clever Frenchman is right. We
sit at the feet of Holmes and read a chapter or two of his matchless
Autocrat, and then with our mind full of the delicious sweets, we get
down our copy of Hunt and after skimming a page or two of his "Seer,"
dip into the crisp and sparkling pages of Hazlitt's _Round Table_. Ah,
yes! the fire may take all else we have if it will only leave us our
books. True, a man, as the bard hath it--
"May live without books--what is knowledge but grieving?
He may live without hope--what is hope but deceiving?
He may live without love--what is passion but pining?
But where is the man who can live without dining?"
But after all the mind craves as much for food of its kind, as the
stomach does for meats and bread.
Though in St. John we had no public library, there were very many
private collections of books in the city. Some of them were very large
and well-selected. Dr. Wm. Bayard's collection, not one volume of which
was saved, was beyond all question the fullest and ripest medical
library in the Dominion. It was the accumulation of many years. The
collection was begun by his father and added to largely by the Doctor
himself. Some rare medical works, rich in plates, costing as high as £30
sterling each, were to be found here, besides books covering the whole
range of medical thought and practice. The English classics, exhibiting
the very cream of letters, and some fine specimens of modern literature
filled acceptably the doctors shelves. Not a volume was saved. Indeed a
photograph album was the only article rescued from the burning house.
Mr. James R. Ruel, the Collector of Customs had a fine library, rich in
theology and literature of the higher class. Controversial works, books
of science, and the whole range of British Poetry, ever found a welcome
on Mr. Ruel's library table. In the departments of History and Geography
this library was especially rich and full, and every work of character
about the Reformation in England could here be consulted. Mr. Ruel's
reading in this department was extensive, and he made writings of this
kind his especial study. His whole collection, rare and costly as it
was, and representing the labour of many years, perished before a hand
could be raised in its defence. Mr. B. Lester Peters's library showed
great care and culture in its selection. It too was very complete in
History, Biography, Belles-lettres and Theology. Mr. Peters's fine
literary taste served him well in making his collection of books, and
nearly all his volumes displayed wonderful skill in rich bindings. In
old play-wrights, such as Shakespeare, Jonson, Massinger, Beaumont and
Fletcher, and the other famous ones of that glorious age in
literature--The Elizabethan--Mr. Peters's library was ample. Indeed, in
works of this class no finer collection existed in the city. And in
poetry which exhibited the rarest thoughts of the bards, in the works of
such poets as Milton, Chaucer, Spenser, Dryden, Pope and Clough, Mr.
Peters's shelves contained a perfect mine of wealth. His collection of
pamphlets, the labour of thirty years, was unique and full. He had the
whole of the famous Connolly and Wilmot controversy, the scattered
papers of the late Dr. Gray, the Maturin pamphlets, the Colenso
pamphlets, the notes on the Lost Tribes of Israel, and a thousand
others, neatly and carefully put away in cases specially prepared for
them. Those are all gone, and not a fragment remains. The gorgeous
library of John Boyd, Esq., of Queen Square, with its enormous
collection of works belonging to modern literature, its rare list of old
books, its magnificent sets of presentation volumes from the authors,
its numberless volumes that come from the publishers to Mr. Boyd as
gifts, were swept away in an instant. The books in Mr. Boyd's cases were
a reflex of the owner's taste and judgment. He had not a poor book among
the whole. The entire range of English and American essayists, the whole
course of British and American poetry, the cream of historical books,
the ripest thoughts of the philosopher, the most delightful gems of
fiction, the works of the scientists, and the great tomes of biography,
clad in the most luxuriant of luxurious bindings, were the companions of
Mr. Boyd's study. His lectures, common-place books, scrap-books, in fact
everything which he possessed of a literary character were burned. Even
the literary notes which he made from time to time in his record books
during the odd moments of his too unfrequent leisure, and the bits of
criticism on new poems which he occasionally made for future use on the
platform and elsewhere, perished in his desk. His entire intellectual
labour vanished in an hour. Mr. A. L. Palmer's splendid library with his
own valuable annotations, Mr. A. A. Stockton's voluminous and admirable
library, begun by his late uncle, and Mr. Chas. W. Weldon's Law and
general library were destroyed before their owners could save a single
book. The Rev. Dr. Watters's library, so rich in theology and biography,
was burned almost entirely. Lately large additions had been made to this
delightful collection. A good many of the late Judge Chipman's best
books found their way here, and the most of these were lost. Rev. Mr.
Stavely's books were all burned, and not one of Rev. Mr. Carey's fine
collection escaped. Some of his books were very rare and high-priced.
Mr. Robert Britain's books were of general and private interest. The
former embraced almost the whole range of English literature, and the
latter included the best books on chemistry and science. Indeed in books
belonging to the latter class, it will be difficult to find so large a
collection anywhere. Mr. J. D. Underhill possessed a library of rare
beauty and value. It was very large in historical works and the writings
of the principal British, American and French authors. In biography and
fiction of the higher order there was a good supply. Mr. Underhill, for
several years, had been a great book-buyer, and hardly a trunkfull was
saved. For costly books, handsomely bound, no richer collection existed
in St. John than the splendid library of Mr. Fred. R. Fairweather. He
had the entire set of Balzac's works in the original, luxuriously and
massively bound. His Shakespeares, for he had several editions,
copiously illustrated and exquisitely finished, were bound in heavy
antique morocco. His books of plates, his dramatic library, his
collection of plays of the Cumberland edition, his books on costumes
from the time of the Saxons to our own day, represented large value, and
a refined and cultured taste. In dramatic literature alone, Mr.
Fairweather's library was probably the fullest in the Dominion. Indeed
his loss in this department is a positive loss to literature, and a
collection such as he owned can never be again supplied. Many of the
books are out of print, and cannot be purchased to-day at any price. The
books lost in the city, on the day of the fire, will number many
thousands of volumes. No city of the size of St. John could boast of
finer private collections of books, anywhere. It will be many years
before collections as rich, as unique, and as delightful can be procured
again.
In pictures, the loss met with is really irreparable. We had no public
gallery, because our citizens, whose means admitted it, purchased for
the walls of their own houses a charming bit of colour now and then, or
a delicate engraving or a drawing. A few of the masterpieces of the
English and American artists found their way here from time to time, and
in the way of engravings the collection was really quite large. We can
only give a tithe of the pictures lost. Dr. McAvenney possessed a
decided gem in water-colour, by Birket Foster, and a charming landscape
in oil from the brush of Mayner, an Irish artist. The latter was a
twenty pounds' picture, and one of the prizes which came to St. John
last year from the Irish Art Union. It was exceedingly vigorous, and,
though small in size, every detail was perfect. In addition to these,
Dr. McAvenney lost several fine engravings and one or two exquisite
drawings. Dr. Wm. Bayard's loss in pictures is quite large. He owned a
capital landscape, _The Vale of Strathmore_, by John Cairns, of
Edinburgh. This was burned, with some others of lesser note, together
with a good many engravings, chiefly London Art Union subjects. Mr. R.
M. Longmaid lost all but one of his pictures. Some of these were of
great value, and included, among a number of others, _Francis I. and
Henry VIII. on the Field of the Cloth of Gold_, by the late G. F.
Mulvany, R.H.A., and one of Cairns' Scotch subjects, showing a striking
bit of Highland scenery, called _Glen Cairn_. The one picture saved was
a Welsh Landscape, by A. Vickers. This had been lent to a friend in the
upper part of the town, and was accordingly not burned. Mr. Charles
Campbell managed to preserve a number of his pictures; among them the
bold _Coast Scene_, by John Cairns, which will be remembered by many who
saw it as a very striking study. Mr. W. C. Perley, among the very few
articles rescued from his house, saved two very pretty little
landscapes, one an Irish scene and the other a delicious specimen of C.
C. Ward's art. Mr. B. Lester Peters lost nearly all of his engravings,
but succeeded in rescuing a study by F. W. Hulme, and a little gem by A.
Vickers. Hon. George E. King saved a few water colours by eminent
British artists, which he had. Mr. Donald G. MacKenzie, who had
half-a-dozen striking oil paintings, recovered them all a few days
after the fire. Mr. John Sears lost heavily in the Department of Art,
but saved his one great picture, a portrait which is an undoubted
Rubens, and one or two family likenesses. Mr. Stephen J. King, whose
treasures consist in drawings by McKewan, Philps and others, and some
oil-paintings, saved them all. Mr. W. P. Dole lost a pair of very
beautiful water-colour drawings of Canadian scenery, by D. Gale, and
three or four excellent engravings. He was fortunate in saving however,
two charming works by Hulme, two small bits by Vickers, two by G. A.
Williams, one of C. C. Ward's pieces, and one of the late John T.
Stanton's best works. Mr. Stanton was a New Brunswick artist of fine
taste and decided skill. Mr. Dole also saved some of his water-colours,
notably those by Bell Smith and Frantz. The author lost an excellent
drawing illustrating an idea in Thackeray, and a number of clever
caricatures from the pencil of an amateur artist, Mr. Forbes Torrance,
of Como, besides several engravings of merit, and a massive bronze
figure representing Painting. Mr. Henry Vaughan lost his large costly
painting from the John Miller collection, of Liverpool, England. Mr.
James Stewart lost his whole collection of paintings; several of these
were of his own work, while a number were by foreign artists. Mr.
Stewart copied a landscape painting by an English artist which came out
here as a prize, some years ago, and when his work was finished and the
two paintings hung side by side, the owner did not know which was his
own picture. This copy was for some days in Mr. Notman's studio before
the fire, and it is believed that it is lost, as no trace has been had
of it. The reader will see from this scanty enumeration of known losses,
how great has been the destruction in art-treasures alone. We have not
even hinted at the wholesale destruction of bronzes, bas reliefs and
bits of sculpture and statuary. In these departments the loss has been
also very severe. No money can replace these treasures. These were the
things which rendered home bright and happy. It is the love of art and
literature which refines and beautifies mankind. It is the book and the
picture, and the figure of pale marble which rouse a thousand new
delights. They take away the brutal in our nature. They lift us up as it
were. We look around the room and the eye rests on something beautiful.
We feed our tastes. The picture on the wall refines us, the open book
fills the mind with a hundred delicate, footless fancies. We breathe a
new air. The etchings on the table, the portfolio of drawings and the
books of engravings give to our mind a delight as wonderful as it is
delicate and delicious. Can money replace these? Can money buy for us
these pictures and books which have been for so many years our
companions and friends? Can money replace the bronze figure? Can money
bring to us again the portrait of the dear one who lies out there in the
green wood buried? Can money supply us with that precious volume of
poetry which the author gave us just a year before he died? We may make
our homes bright again. We may hang pictures on the walls. We may fill
to the full our book-cases and hanging-shelves once more with the great
things in literature, but our thoughts will wander back to the days
before the fire came and robbed us of all those delights which peopled
and filled our homes. But we must not give way altogether to gloom and
despondency. We must try and forget the past and devote all our
energies, all our brains and skill to the rebuilding of the homes and
workshops which have been scattered to the winds. We must never rest
till the great end is accomplished; we must never cease working. As
Christians, as men, as the proud descendants of a sturdy and stalwart
race, we must show the world that we are not a generation of pigmies,
and that from these very ashes and ruins a brighter, a more glorious and
more prosperous city will arise and resume her old place as the
metropolis of the Lower Provinces.
I have told the story of the great fire in St. John in my own way. I
have tried to do justice to my theme. Like many others I have passed
through the flames, and received as it were my first "baptism of fire."
My book has many imperfections. It was necessary that it should be
hastily prepared. My publishers demanded this, and gave me a fortnight
to write it in. I can therefore claim nothing in favour of the book from
a literary point of view, but this I can claim--the history is reliable
in every particular. Not a statement within its pages was committed to
paper until it was thoroughly and reliably avouched for. I have verified
every word which this volume contains; and while the haste in which it
was prepared precluded my paying much attention to style, the book is a
complete record of the fire as it was, and not as a lively imagination
might like it to be. Before taking leave of my readers, I must publicly
thank Mr. Joseph W. Lawrence for the splendid aid which he gave me in
furnishing the data and historical information about our old churches
and other edifices. I had full access to his records and commonplace
books, and through these means was enabled to verify much that had come
to me in an imperfect condition. To Mr. Gilbert Murdoch, C.E., and Mr.
Wm. Murdoch, C.E., of the Water Works and Sewerage Departments, I must
also return my thanks, for valuable information about the water supply,
for the capital map which accompanies this volume, and for facts
connected with the acreage and streetage of the district burned. General
Warner, Mayor Earle, Mr. A. C. Smith, Mr. John Boyd, Mr. A. P. Rolph,
Mr. Dole, Mr. Hiram Betts, Mr. Elder, Mr. J. L. Stewart, Mr. McDade, Mr.
O'Brien, Mr. Stanley, Mr. G. B. Hegan and others, also largely rendered
me assistance in collecting information, and to these gentlemen I return
my grateful thanks.
The little picture of the ruins, by moonlight, of the Germain street
Baptist Church, was very kindly supplied by Mr. John C. Miles, a St.
John artist of good reputation. I have great pleasure in acknowledging
his politeness here, and at this time.
In conclusion, I might add, that to Mr. E. Lantalum belongs the credit
of sounding the first alarm of our great fire.
ADDITIONAL LIST OF DONATIONS.
MONEY.
A friend $2 00
Ailsa Craig Presbyterian Church, Ont. 18 60
Ayr Knox Church and Sacred Concert 76 00
Allendale, Ont. Methodist Church 6 60
Augusta, Me. 820 40
Barrie, Ont. 166 00
Baltimore, Md. 80 62
Bobcaygeon Orangemen 15 00
Bangor, Me. 5,000 00
Belfast, Ireland £300 Stg
Buffalo, N. Y. $179 83
Chicago Union Stock Yards 105 25
Chippawa, Ont. Trinity Church 38 65
Chicago Apollo Musical Club, Concert 990 75
Chicago, Ill. 2,050 00
Chatham, N. B. 250 00
Capt. Thompson, ss. "Britannia," 500 00
Charlottetown, P. E. I. 500 00
Charlottetown Odd Fellows' Entertainment 208 00
Departmental Clerks, Ottawa 445 53
Edinburgh, Scotland £100 Stg
Ed. L. Evans, Rondeau, Ont. $2 00
E. & J. Burke, Dublin, Ireland 250 00
Fredericton, N. B. 2,000 00
Fergus, Ont. 20 50
Geo. M. Fowler, British Consul, Aènfuegos $100 00
Glasgow, Scotland £1,000 Stg
Great Western Railway Employees $450 00
G. W. Davis, Boston, Mass. 14 11
Galt, Ont., Churches 114 69
Greenville, Nova Scotia 16 00
Huron Co. Council, Ont. 2,000 00
Hayden, Gere & Co., New York 25 00
Hastings Co. Council Ont. 1,000 00
Jacob E. Klotz, Hamburg, Ont. 25 00
Mackenzie, Flatlands, N. B. 2 00
M. McLeod, Cardigan, P. E. I. 18 20
Miss Logan, Orillia, Ont. 10 00
Mansfield, P. E. I. 55 50
New York 2,105 90
Oshawa Benevolent Society 30 00
Petrolia, Penn. 200 00
Presbyterian Churches, Wentworth, N. S. 13 00
Pictou, N. S. 5 00
Portland, Me. 4,500 00
Philadelphia, Penn. 1,109 80
Picton, Ont. 300 00
P. E. I. R. R. Employees 62 45
Stewiacké 40 00
St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Chelsea, Mass. 5 00
Springhill Mines, U. S. 18 95
Toronto 400 00
Uxbridge, Ont. 51 40
Victoria Co. Council, Ont. 400 00
Wingham, Ont. 15 50
Woodstock, Ont. Literary Institute 37 25
Waterloo Co. Council, Ont. 1,000 00
Woodstock, N. B. 151 00
Wm. Ingalls, Bolton, England £5 Stg.
Wroxeter and Fardwick Presbyterian Churches $55 24
Windsor, Ont. 500 00
Yorkville, Ont. 300 00
SUPPLIES.
Augusta, Me, clothing.
Brunswick, Me, clothing.
Carter & Co., Elora, Ont., potatoes.
Chicago Union Stock Yards, large quantity supplies.
C. Fawcett, Sackville, N. B., stoves.
D. Fiske, Fredericton, N. B. tracts.
D. G. Smith, Chatham, N. B. clothing.
Isaac M. Bragg, Bangor, Me., clothing.
J. Borland, Bowmanville, stoves.
James Stewart & Co., Hamilton, Ont., stoves.
J. C. Risteen, Fredericton, supplies.
James Hamilton, Port Elgin, potatoes.
J. L. Goodhue, plasterers' hair.
Milwaukee, Wis., supplies.
Montreal, supplies.
Mount Stewart, P. E. I., supplies.
Prof. John Owen, Cambridge, Mass., offers books and magazines
for a library.
Salem, Mass., supplies.
Stewiacké, clothing.
Thurston Hall & Co., Cambridgeport, supplies.
Wm. Openheim & Son, New York, clothing.
ADDENDA.
SUPPLEMENTARY DONATIONS.
MONEY.
Bridgetown, Maine $70 00
Dungannon 29 10
Cornwall, Ontario 300 00
Portsmouth, N. H. 697 00
Salem 70 00
Newfoundland Government 2,000 00
Kingston, N. B. 20 00
Stayner, Ontario 75 00
Detroit, Michigan 427 81
Baden, Ontario 2 00
Stewart Henry, Montreal 25 00
Bear River, Nova Scotia 105 00
Hughes, Thomas, London, England £10 00
St. George's Church, Trenton, Ontario $15 00
St. John County Agricultural Society 400 00
Winnipeg _Free Press_ 53 05
Chesterfield, Ontario, Presbyterian Church 57 00
Bailey & Noyes, Portland, Maine 25 00
Port Hope 8 00
Sydney, C. B. 295 40
Musquodoboit 5 25
Listowel, Ontario 140 35
Coristine, James & Co., Montreal 100 00
" " Employés 71 60
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 100 00
Bark "Cedar Croft," Captain and Crew £5 3 0
Mayor of Brooklyn, New York $50 00
Loeser & Co., Brooklyn, New York 50 00
Winnipeg 300 00
Bridgewater, Nova Scotia 128 25
Norfolk County Council, Ontario 500 00
Ward & Payne, Sheffield, England £10 0 0
Kingston, Ontario $340 00
Oakville Odd Fellows' Open-air Concert 75 00
Victoria, British Columbia 800 00
Caledonia Restaurant, Winnipeg 21 50
Mount Stewart, P. E. I. 25 50
Virginia City, Nevada 250 00
Thomas Frith & Sons, Sheffield, England 250 00
Nellie H. Carleton, St. John, N. B. 3 64
Chicago, Illinois 601 75
Windsor, Nova Scotia 23 00
Attleboro 15 21
Westmoreland and Botsford Parishes, New Brunswick 95 25
J. J. Ronaldson & Sons, Sheffield, England 97 76
Diocese of Huron, Ontario 2,000 00
Toronto "Sons of England," Kent Lodge 30 00
Trenton Concert 61 00
Quebec 4,558 85
Great Western Railroad Employés 300 00
Methodist and Baptist Churches of Caledonia, N. S. 3 37
Sent to G. Sidney Smith, Esq., for distribution,
from Major-General and Mrs. Beauchamp Walker £15 0 0
Mrs. A. G. Foley, Peterboro', Ontario $5 00
Sent to Rev. Dr. Maclise for distribution:--
From Houlton, Maine, by John McMaster 250 05
From Goodwill Church, Montgomery, New York, by
Rev. J. M. Dickson 20 00
Sent to Oddfellows' Fund:--
Lynn, Mass., Providence Lodge 50 07
Clinton, Ontario, Warriner Lodge--Per J. B. King 75 00
Westville, Nova Scotia, Scotia Lodge 50 00
Boston Oddfellows--Per Grand Master Perkins 340 00
Humboldt Bay, Cal., Eureka Lodge 20 00
Woonsocket, Rhode Island, Woonsocket Lodge 20 00
Empire Lodge, St. Catharines, Ontario 50 00
Sarnia Lodge, Sarnia, do. 43 00
Cuyahoga Lodge, Cleveland, Ohio 50 00
Romeo Lodge, Stratford 25 00
Monami Lodge, Mechanics' Falls, Maine 25 00
Crystal Wave Lodge, Pugwash, Nova Scotia 11 00
E. Ashley, Wilmot, C. E. 20 00
Engineering Department I. C. Railway 492 67
Locomotive Do 1,281 68
Traffic and other Do 347 70
J. S. Fry & Son, Bristol, England £10 Stg.
John Carruthers, Kingston, Ont. 100 00
From returns in detail, just furnished by the Oddfellows' Lodges, the
results of the fire, in relation to its effects on individual members
appears to have been as follows:--
----------------------------------------------------------------------
NAME OF | Present |No. of | Dependents | Total Suffer-| Approximate
LODGE. | Member- |Suf- | on | ers and | value of
| ship. |ferers.| Sufferers. | Depend's. | Property lost
| | | | | by Sufferers.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pioneer, | | | | |
No. 9 | 198 | 78 | 182 | 260 | $392,860 00
Beacon, | | | | |
No. 12 | 118 | 36 | 94 | 130 | 113,550 00
Peerless,| | | | |
No. 19 | 83 | 10 | 34 | 44 | 26,560 00
Siloam, | | | | |
No. 29 | 44 | 28 | 28 | 56 | 24,440 00
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals | 443 | 152 | 338 | 490 | $557,410 00
Less Insurance | 140,052 00
---------------
Net approximate Loss | $417,358 00
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Many of the sufferers had _no_ insurance. The supposed superiority of
the fire department, and general efficiency of the water supply, having
led to a false security--to a popular belief that it was impossible for
St. John to be scourged by fire, as Boston and Chicago had been.
SENT TO MASONIC FUND.
Grand Lodge of Quebec $200 00
A Brother, Newcastle, N. B. 4 00
National Lodge, Chicago 23 62
Knights Templars, Portland, Maine 117 00
Germania Lodge, Baltimore 18 93
Grand Lodge, Louisiana 189 00
Carleton Union Lodge of Carleton, N. B. 50 00
Grand Lodge of Wisconsin 94 50
St. John's Lodge, Toronto 150 00
Phoenix Lodge, Nashville, Tenn. 947 00
Grand Lodge, Utah 56 70
St. Andrew's Lodge, Frederickton, N. B. 25 25
Loge des Coeurs Unis, Montreal 50 00
Rising Virtue Lodge, Mount Moriah Chapter,
and St. John's Commandery, Bangor, Me. 284 25
Detroit Commandery 94 50
Springfield do. 500 00
SUPPLIES.
Halifax, N. S., 25 Stoves.
Boston Y. M. C. Union, Clothing.
Montreal, Clothing.
Musquodoboit, Clothing.
Toronto, Meats.
Taylor, Robert, Halifax, N. S., Boots.
Peke & Eaton, Halifax, N. S., Tea.
Hart, R. T. & Co., " Supplies.
Victoria Corner, N. B., 12 pairs Boots.
Canterbury Ladies, Bedding.
Bridgetown, N. S., Supplies.
Rev. C. McMullin, Hartland, N. B., Butter.
Norwich, Ontario, Clothing.
Philadelphia Maritime Exchange, Clothing.
Gibson, Alexander, York County, Supplies.
A BRIEF ACCOUNT
OF THE
FIRE IN THE TOWN OF PORTLAND,
SATURDAY MORNING, 20TH OCTOBER, 1877.
Just four months after the great calamity in St. John, the people of the
Town of Portland were called upon to endure a hardship of almost equal
dimensions. In one sense their endurance demanded even greater strength,
for their trouble came, not in summer when the grass was green, and the
air was soft and balmy, but in the very heart of a New Brunswick Fall,
when the wind pierced the coarsest garment, and the ground was white
with frost. It was in the small hours of the morning too, that men and
women, half asleep and palsied by terror, rushed wildly into the street,
shivering with cold and trembling with fear, as they heard the mad bell
tolling the alarm. They lived in the merest tinder boxes, and in many of
these were domiciled three, and sometimes four and five families. It was
a fire of terrible importance, and at one time the destruction of the
whole town was feared. But the lesson which the fire of June 20th
taught had a salutary effect on the people, and, aided by a brave band
of firemen, they made every effort to stay the onward march of the
flames, and in this, success was partly attained. The fire destroyed
seven blocks of buildings, and threw into the street two hundred and
ninety-five families, which numbered, in the aggregate, fully three
thousand persons. Of buildings swept away, there were ninety-seven
dwelling houses, the Methodist Church and the Temperance Hall. The
actual loss is estimated at two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and
the insurance scarcely reaches the sum of seventy thousand dollars. One
man suffered a horrible death, and a number of people were injured more
or less seriously. The fire was indeed a sore and bitter trial, and had
it not been that the community had only a short time before experienced
the horrors of the greater conflagration, the present calamity would
have ranked as one of the great fires of Canada. Coming so soon after
the St. John's scourge, men failed to realize at once the magnitude of
destruction which it caused. But those who had twice passed through the
flames knew to their cost, and realized in an instant, what it was to be
burned out a second time. Seven hundred persons from the burnt district
of St. John's had taken up their residence in the suburban town. They
were in most cases poor in a pecuniary sense, but their bands were
strong, and their hearts were not downcast. The flames had carried away
all their earthly possessions, and they found themselves the day after
the fire comparatively penniless. But there was work to do, and these
men and women sternly resolved to do it. They removed to Portland,
secured quarters there, and had just completed their arrangements for
the winter, when this fresh trouble broke out, and once more they found
themselves, with twenty-three hundred others, in the street without a
home, and no sheltering roof over their heads. Their lot was indeed a
sad one, and no wonder is it, that some of them were loud in complaint,
and that many, women walked down from Fort Home that day, and wept
bitterly at the heartrending sight which met their eyes. They saw
desolation on the plain below, and tall chimneys kept watch and ward
over a field of smouldering embers. The steam engines still continued to
play on the dying flames, though the sixth hour of the fire had long
since passed away, and men in command hurried along the streets now
giving orders, and now working with the rank and file, striving to save
what remnants of property yet remained unburned, and caring for the
immediate needs of sufferers.
The fire broke out at a quarter to three o'clock in the morning, and
originated in a wood-house in the centre of the block, between Main and
High Streets. This wood-house was in the rear of Henry Pratt's house,
and as fire had been discovered in this locality, twice recently, many
believed that it was the fiendish work of an incendiary. The fire spread
with great rapidity, though there was little wind at the time, and by
three o'clock the entire block, Main Street on the north, Chapel Street
on the south, Acadia Street on the east, and Portland Street on the west
was one mass of flame. In another hour the fire raged more violently,
and was extending to the lower streets. The firemen, who were early on
the spot, worked with untiring energy, and displayed almost superhuman
endurance and wonderful courage. Aid from the city came very soon after
the fire was observed, and the new contingent also worked with admirable
nerve, and exhibited splendid skill in preventing the conflagration from
spreading. Members of the Town Council, with Chairman Henry Hilyard at
their head, made extraordinary efforts to keep the flames back, and
indeed the whole arrangements for fighting the fire were excellently
conceived and well carried out.
At five o'clock the fire had reached its height. The blocks from Main
Street to High Street, inclusive, were completely obliterated, and only
gaunt chimneys remained. From High Street to the very water's edge the
flames sped on unresisted. Camden Street was burning, the large houses
on the foot of Portland Street, the houses from Temperance Hall, in
Simonds Street to Thomson's slip were consumed. Rankin's wharf with
immense piles of dressed lumber was threatened with immediate
extinction. The steamers "Ida Whittier," "Xyphus," and "Victor," were for
a time in danger. Three tug boats arrived opportunely, and the water
which they threw saved the wharf and lumber. At half-past eight the fire
was subdued.
The property destroyed consisted of all the houses in Main Street
between Jones's corner and Orange corner; all on Chapel Street, all on
Acadia Street except a small block and the greater part of Chapel
Street; all along the east side and part of the west side of Portland
Street, the east side of Simonds Street from High Street to the water,
and both sides of Camden Street. Of course a great deal of drunkenness
prevailed and numerous arrests were made. Thieving, as usual, was
largely indulged in.
The saddest event of the day was the loss of life. George Baxter, a ship
carpenter, who dwelt in High street, was found in a charred state in the
ruins of his house. It is thought he went in to save some of his
effects, and being unable to make his way out again he was smitten to
the ground and suffered one of the most terrible of deaths. The other
casualties were John Henry Maher, slightly injured, James Ennis badly
cut on the head. Nicholas Ryan fell off Dickinson's house, Chapel
Street, and sustained serious bruises. Mrs. Reed was struck by a falling
ladder. John Cobalan, jr., had one of his fingers broken, and Mrs.
Nowlan was slightly hurt. Wm. Carr and James Kennedy were injured
slightly.
The destruction of the Methodist Church is a very serious loss. It was
built in the year 1841, and succeeded the structure built in 1828, which
was destroyed in the former year. The first trustees were Alex. McLeod,
Samuel H. McKee, George Whittaker, William Nesbit, H. Hennigar, Robert
Chestnut, Robert Robertson, G. T. Ray, John B. Gaynor, George Lockhart,
James Bustin, John Owens and Francis Jordan, Rev. Messrs. R. Williams,
J. B. Story, and S. Busby were strong supporters of the church in its
young days and were long identified with its interests. On the first
Sunday after the fire of 1841 the congregation met in the open air and
prayed and sang hymns. The Rev. Mr. Allen addressed the people from a
rock. Rev. Mr. Teed was the pastor at the time of the present fire. When
he came to preside over its destinies he found the church struggling
with a debt, and he worked with great zeal to free it from this burden.
The Temperance Hall was one of the most useful institutions in the town,
and many will deplore the destruction of this building.
The following is a complete list of the buildings burned. The first name
mentioned in each case is that of the owner, the other, that of the
occupants:--
_Main street, south side, from Acadia street to Portland
Street._--Mr. Woods, occupied by self as a boarding house, and by
R. Jones as a grocery store--two families.
Andrew Pratt, by self as a dwelling; Miss Pratt as millinery store;
Henry Pratt, as dwelling; and by Mr. Hopkins as a book store--4.
Chas. Long, James Meally, tin shop; Robt. Adamson, and John W.
Perkins--3.
Wm. Gray, by self, Gray & Scott, meat store; Mrs. Cotner--4.
Widow Gordon, by self as a grocery store and dwelling--1.
Widow McJunkin, by self as a boarding house, and by Robert C.
Gordon, as a liquor store, and by John S. Mitchell--3.
John Bradley, by A. G. Kearns, as a grocery and liquor store--1.
Thos. McColgan, by T. M. & S. B. Corbett, groceries; Thos.
McMasters, hair-dressing saloon; John Carlin, S. R. Lindsay, Wm.
Hooper, Messrs. Kyle & Tait--7.
_Portland street, east side, from Chapel to Main street._--Thomas
McColgan, by self as a liquor store; Edward Brown, Joshua
Russel--3.
_Chapel street, north side, east from the Pond to Portland
street._--Wm. Dickson's house (damaged), by self, Robert Currie,
Widow McAnulty, Arthur McCauslin--4.
Widow Farson, by self, Wm. Conway, Widow Gallagher, Geo. Kimball,
Daniel Leary, John Mohan, Jas. Daley, Mrs. Daley, Mrs. Knowles,
Chase & McCallum--11.
Charles Long, by self, John Law--2.
Barn belonging to Wm. Gray.
Barn belonging to Robt. Gordon.
Barn belonging to John McJunkin estate.
Barn belonging to John Bradley.
_Chapel street, south side, from Portland street east to
Water._--Miss Mary Long, by Mrs. McArthur, Mr. Appleby and Mrs.
Gorral--3.
Chas. Long, by self and son as grocery and dwelling; Chas. Colwell,
Alex. Long, Abraham Craig--5.
Mrs. Nancy Lackey, by Local Preacher Oram, Miss McJunkin, John
McJunkin--3.
Joseph Reed, by Samuel Baker, Frank Crawford--2.
Barn belonging to Sarah Irvine.
Arthur Rodgers, by self, Mrs. Clancey, Arthur Desmond and Mr.
Long--4.
Widow Sullivan, by Thos. Sullivan--1.
John Damary, by self and Thos. Damary--2.
John Corrigan, by self--1.
Thos. Currie, by self and John Quinn--2.
Wm. King's house, damaged considerably.
_Acadia street, east side, from High street to Main street._--Mrs.
Sarah Irvine, occupied by self, Thomas Kerr, Nancy Irvine, Messrs.
Campbell & Hartt--5.
Geo. McMonagle, by self as a grocery and dwelling; Widow Nelson,
William McGuire, John McGuire, David Smith--5.
Mrs. Farson, by Mrs. Gallaher, Mrs. McCacherin--2.
Geo. McMonagle, by Thomas Sharp and Patrick Bogan--2.
Alex. Duff (house damaged considerably), by Thomas McGill and Henry
McCarthy--2.
_Acadia street, west side, from High to Main street._--Joseph Reed,
by self, Andrew Crawford, Wm. McConnell, Mrs. Wark--4.
Widow Farson, by self as grocery and liquor shop and dwelling;
Jeremiah Sullivan, James Brown, David McBurney, Jeremiah Speight,
widow Marley--6.
_Portland street, east side, from High street to Main
street._--John Connolly, by Messrs. Smith, as a grocery store,
Capt. Rawlings, of the Portland Police, and by David Speight, as a
boarding house--3.
Methodist Parsonage, occupied by Rev. Mr. Teed, Pastor of the
Portland Methodist Church--1.
[The houses of Mr. McColgan are mentioned in connection with
buildings on Main and Chapel streets.]
_High street, north side, from Portland street east to
water._--John Brooks, by George Wetmore, Wm. C. Dunham--2.
Thomas Polly, by self, John Alcorn, John Humphreys--3.
George Smith (brick cottage), by self and Robert Smith--2.
George Ruddock, by self and George Brown--2.
Widow Ruddock, by Mr. Ellis--1.
Andrew Myles, by self, Messrs. Porter and Rogers--3.
Edward Sergeant, by self and Mr. Stantiford--2.
George Young, by self and Mrs. Upham--2.
Robert Ewing, by self, Walter Brown, R. A. H. Morrow--3.
Edward Elliot, by Geo. Jenkins, John Green, Frank Wallace--3.
Capt. Aubrey, by self and Mr. Reed--2.
Edward Elliott, by self and Mr. McAllister--2.
_Portland street from Rankin's wharf to Camden street._--Alex. --
Ferguson, by self, Captain Buckhard, and Wm. Sleeth.
Hugh Montague, Robert and Joseph Carson--3.
John Irvine, by self and Widow Craig.
John McCachney, by self, mother and Jas. McCachney.
Geo. Carter, by self, Joseph Murphy, Geo. Carter, Jr.--3.
T. Travis, by self, as grocery and liquor store and dwelling.
August Mavison, Mr. Wilson, Mrs. Riley and another--5.
_Camden street, south side, from Portland street to Acadia
street._--James Bartlett, by self, Henry Bartlett, Archibald
Tatton, Capt. Bartlett, James Tubman--5.
John McJunkin, by self, Capt. Charles Harper, Harry Bassett--3.
Arthur Kyle, by self, John Cunningham, John O'Connell, Mr. Rebels,
Mrs. McDormott, William, John Hammond--6.
_Acadia street, from Camden South to water._--Daniel O'Hara, by
self, and Chas. Hara--2.
Patrick Dawson, by self, Peter Nelson, and a family from the City
burnt district--3.
Mrs. Hamilton, by self--1.
Wm. Carter, by self--1.
_Portland street, west side, from Camden to High street._--Wm.
McIntyre, by self, Geo. Giggy, Geo. Morgan, James Power, Harry
Stephens, Wm. Gillan, and a family from the City burnt district--7.
[In rear house belonging to David Breen, occupied by self and N.
Frizzle.]
Thomas McMasters, by self, John Boyd, Widow McJunkin, James Ryder,
Messrs. Mullay, Brown and Christopher--7.
Widow Kerr, by self--1. [Mr. Murdock's house in rear, by one
tenant--1.]
Wm. A. Moore, occupied by self as a dwelling, John Currie,
groceries; James Pender, Joseph McIntyre, the Misses Darrah--5.
_Portland street, east side, from Camden to High street._--Richard
Anderson, by self and Samuel Devennie--2.
Richard Anderson, by William Hill, as a grocery store and dwelling;
John Rubins, tailor shop, James McCord--4.
Robert McIntyre, by Bernard Gallagher, dwelling and grocery store,
Samuel ----rett, Richard McIntyre--3.
Robert McIntyre, by self, Ike Munroe, Oliver Colwell, Robert Black,
Ca---- ----rrington--5.
Wm. McIntyre, by Wm. Maxwell and Robert McMurray--2.
Wm. McIntyre, by Jacob Brown, Misses Sharp, Duke Brown, Geo.
DeLong, Levi DeLong--5. [House in rear occupied by Joseph Lee and
John Mullay--2.]
Benj. Lawton, by self and brother--2.
_Camden street, north side, from Simonds east to water._--Thos. W.
Peters, by Thomas Mansfield, as a dwelling and a grocery store,
John Nowlin, Jeremiah Sullivan and two others--5.
Thos. W. Peters, by Mr. Leonard and Edward Cutten--2.
John Higgins, by self--1.
George Grear, by self, John Ross, John Cooper, Mr. McLean--4.
Richard Anderson, by Harry Laskey, John Thompson, Miss Osborne--3.
Widow Wilson, by self, H. Brockings, Widow Bailey--4. [Unoccupied
house in rear.]
Stephen Murphy, by self, Messrs. Hamilton, Ralston and Hoolahan--4.
_Acadia street, west side, from Camden to High street._--Wm.
Searle, by Hugh Hutchinson, Wm. Bell--2.
James Bartlett, by David Doherty, Mr. Fitzgerald--2.
Robt. McKay, by self, Messrs. Irvine and Munroe--3.
Mr. Reed, by Thomas Graham and another--2. [Rear house owned by Mr.
Reed.]
Thomas Youngclaus, by Messrs. Stayhorn, Kirk and Beaton--3.
James Kyle, by self and Mr. McGee--2.
Widow Ruddock, by self and a family whose name could not be
learned--2.
Wm. Elliott, by self, James Smith and John Devennie--3.
_Acadia street, east side, from Camden street to High
street._--John H. Crawford, by self, as a grocery and dwelling--1.
Thomas Gillespie, by Mr. Tait, Joseph Allen, Widow Garvey and Widow
Boyne--4.
_High street, south side, westward from water._--John McDermott, by
self, Patrick Carlin and Thomas Smith--3.
Miss Daley, by Wm. Peacock, Widow Knodell and Joseph Speight--3.
George Baxter, by self as dwelling and grocery store; and by Mr.
Dunham--1.
Geo. Baxter, by Messrs. Wilson, and Kirk and another--3.
Widow Young, by self, Wm. Young, and George Easty--3.
Patrick Flynn, by Messrs. Stack and Thompson Kennedy, and Widow
Logan--3.
James Scott, by self, and James Barbour--2.
Joseph Sullivan, by self--1.
Joseph Logan, by self, Widow Buchanan, Widow McDermott--3.
Temperance Hall, owned by Governor Tilley, J. C. Edwards, and
Portland Division, S. of T.
_Simonds street, east side, from High street to water._--Andrew
Johnston's house, occupied by four families--1.
Paul Gillespie, by John Buckley, James Gillespie, and Mr.
Akerley--2.
Widow, by self, James Spence, and Charles Brown, and two others--5.
Widow Crawford, by self, as dwelling and grocery shop, and by James
Buckley--2.
Alex. Urquhart, by self--1.
Thos. W. Peters, by Widow Morrison, John Morrison and Mrs.
Wilson--3.
LOSSES OF INSURANCE COMPANIES.
PROVINCIAL.
Thos. McColgan, $1600
Methodist Church, 3000
Wm. Elliott, 1200
Chas. Long, 1200
Mrs. S. J. Young, 500
R. Jones, 600
------
Total, $8100
LANCASHIRE.
Capt. Aubrey, $800
Thos. Travis, 800
Other claims about, 1400
------
Total, $3000
NORTHERN.
Methodist Church, $4000
Mrs. Buchanan, 1000
Geo. Baxter, 800
Robt. McHarg, 800
------
Total, $6600
NORTH BRITISH AND MERCANTILE.
Mrs. Gordon, $900
John Connolly, 1600
T. W. Peters, 2500
Methodist Church (re-insurance), 1000
------
Total, $6000
QUEEN.
Geo. Ruddock, $1200
Methodist Mission House, 2400
James Scott, 1700
H. Montague, 800
John McKechnie, 800
Robert Rankin, 2000
Do., 1500
R. Ewing, 1200
E. Sargent, 800
E. Elliott, 1000
A. Johnston, 700
Jas. Pender, 500
Estate Jas. Kerr, 600
------
$15,200
Partial losses, 1000
------
Total, $16,200
CITIZENS'.
Messrs. Corbett, 400
Mrs. Farson, 1200
Wm. McIntyre, 1250
Chas. Long, 1100
John Bradley, 400
David Breen, 300
Wm. Gray, 200
Mary Long, 400
Thomas McMaster, 600
R. McIntyre, 700
Arthur Rodgers, 700
Thomas Youngclaus, 800
------
Total, $8050
ROYAL CANADIAN.
Mary Ann Daley, $600
CANADA FIRE AND MARINE.
Thomas Aubrey, $100
Mary Long, 300
John McDermott, 600
Ann Leckey, 500
Margaret Curry, 200
R. C. Gordon, 1200
G. F. Smith, 800
Gertrude Farson, 1500
F. C. Dunham, 550
G. F. Jenkins, 500
John Greer, 500
John Reed, 200
------
Total, $6950
ÆTNA.
G. McMonagle, $1000
McIntyre, 600
James Bartlett, 300
A. R. Ferguson, 2000
------
Total, $3900
HARTFORD.
Jos. Stubbs, $500
Jas. Boyle, 400
John Brook, 1000
Geo. R. Rigby, 300
Richard Anderson, 1000
------
Total, $3200
IMPERIAL.
R. A. H. Morrow, $200
R. Flynn, 1000
Samuel Gillespie, 1200
John Brook, 1000
Wm. Ruddock, estate, 1400
Mrs. Sarah Irvine, 800
Robert Rankine, 1500
------
Total, $7100
BRITISH AMERICAN.
James Bartlett, $400
Mrs. S. Osborne, 100
------
Total, $500
ISOLATED RISK.
R. Jones, $ 500
Chas. Long, 400
------
Total, $900
The Guardian, $4000
The National, 500
Western, 200
At eleven o'clock the Portland Town Council met to consider the best way
in which relief for the sufferers could be administered. The Mayor of
St. John, Dr. Earle, the High Sheriff, and Harris Allan, Esq., of the
Relief and Aid Society, were present. On motion it was resolved that
the council should attend to the wants of the homeless, and committees
were immediately appointed to perform the various duties incumbent on
them. These were Couns. Chesley and Munro, to look up school-houses;
Couns. McLean and Holly, clearing engine house; Couns. Puddington and
Cochran, securing cooking stoves; Couns. Purdy and Hamilton, supplying
provisions; Couns. Gilbert and Austin, straw mattrasses; Chairman, H.
Hilyard and Couns. Chesley, Shelter, His Lordship Bishop Sweeny, and
Messrs. Robert H. Flaherty, and F. Hazen having offered the committee
the use of their buildings, were publicly thanked for their kindly
forethought. On the night of the fire upwards of fifty families were
provided with shelter by the authorities.
On Monday, 22nd October, at a general meeting of St. John Relief
Committee, it was decided that temporary relief should be at once given
to the poor. This lasted one week. At the expiration of that time the
Board of Directors, consisting of the whole Council of the Town of
Portland were in a position to administer their own relief. The
committees of the societies are as follows:--
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
The Chairman, and Messrs. Chesley, Duff, Puddington and Cochran.
SHELTER COMMITTEE.
Messrs. Gilbert, Austin, Purdy and J. H. Parks.
VISITING COMMITTEE.
Chairman, and Messrs. Holly and Maher.
SUBSCRIPTION COMMITTEE.
Messrs. Puddington, Cochran, Maher and Holly.
A very efficient ladies' committee was promptly organized, and through
their noble efforts a vast deal of suffering was prevented, Mrs. Simon
Baizley, Mrs. Barnhill, Mrs. D. B. Roberts, Mrs. Thomas Hilyard, Mrs.
Teed, Mrs. Almon and others comprised this committee.
Up to November 28th, 1877, the following donations have been received in
aid of the people who were burnt out:--
CASH.
St. John Relief Committee $5,000 00
Hon. Isaac Burpee 100 00
Rev. Wm. Armstrong 25 00
Rev. Geo. Armstrong 20 00
George A. Schofield 10 00
A. Cochran, Halifax, N. S. 1 00
Mrs. Parnther 5 00
Rev. T. Partridge, collection taken at Rothsay 30 50
G. Sidney Smith, Esq., 10 00
Draft from Wheelright, Anderson & Co. Boston,
Mass., $50 American currency 48 50
Norman Robertson 10 00
Wm. Wright, Esq., Liverpool, England, £100 stg. 479 32
Wm. Shives Fisher 4 00
Proceeds of entertainment at Fairville 50 70
Proceeds lectures by Bishop Fallowes of the
Reformed Episcopal Church 45 00
Collection from St. Jude's Church, S. S.
Thanksgiving Day 12 75
George W. Roberts, Liverpool 100 00
SUPPLIES.
P. Nase & Son, twenty barrels potatoes, one chest tea.
Vroom & Arnold, thirty barrels potatoes.
James J. Follows, two barrels cabbages.
Chas., Fawcett, (Sackville, N. B.) four stoves.
Manchester, Robertson & Allison, goods to amount of one hundred
dollars.
Geo J. Fisher, thirty rolls roofing paper.
Thomas Cusack, blankets to value of $75.
Transcriber's Note
Illustrations have been moved near the relevant section of the text.
I have used "=" in the text to denote use of an ornamental font.
Inconsistencies have been retained in hyphenation, punctuation,
spacing between initials, spacing between alphabetic sections in
lists, italicization and capitalization except where indicated in
the list below. Alphabetization of list items has been left as-is
as has double punctuation such as ".:". The author has stated that
this book "has many imperfections" due to the speed in which it was
prepared in order to meet the publisher's timeline. It is clear that
some sections of the text were more carefully edited than others
prior to publishing. Consequently, I have made (and notated)
typographical corrections only for sections in which the majority of
the text adheres to a general standard of hyphenation, punctuation,
etc.
Within Footnote "M," there is a picture of a pointing hand within the
text. Instead of the hand symbol, I used "==>".
Here is a list of the minor typographical corrections made:
- "1831" changed to "1841" on Page iv
- "Palace" changed to "Place" on Page v
- "Andrews" changed to "Andrew's" on Page v
- Period added after "Cent" on Page vi
- "Elgir" changed to "Elgin" on Page 32
- Period removed ampersand on Page 32
- "D. D." changed to "D.D." on Page 43
- "to day" changed to "to-day" on Page 45
- "hun" changed to "hundred" on Page 57
- Text before "Legislature" is unclear and has been replaced by a
long dash
for Footnote E at the end of Chapter V
- Long space removed between "priests" and "who" on Page 75
- Period added after "Friary" on for Footnote E at the end of
Chapter VI
- "gronnds" changed to "grounds" on Page 85
- Comma added after "Esq." on Page 87
- "The" changed to "the" for Footnote "M" at the end of Chapter
VII
- Comma changed to period after "Holmes" for Footnote "M" at the end
of Chapter VII
- Comma changed to a period after "eyes" on Page 102
- Period added after "A" on Page 111
- Period added after "BANK" on the caption for the illustration that
is now on Page 113
- Extra space removed after "that" on Page 117
- Period added after "Capt" on Page 126
- Double quote added before "O" on Page 132
- Comma added after "&c." on Page 132
- Period added after "Mr" on Page 134
- "Esq,," changed to "Esq.," on Page 135
- "Esq,," changed to "Esq.," on Page 137
- "the" added before "loveliest" on Page 140
- Period added after "St" on Page 141
- Period added after "Street" on Page 143
- Period added after "side" on Page 151
- Period added after "Rev" on Page 165
- "p 166." removed from the anchor to Footnote S on page 165 since it
refers to placement of the footnote in the printed version of book
- "citty," changed to "Citty" followed by an emdash on Page 167
- Period added after "present" on Page 167
- "depart ments" changed to "departments" on Page 182
- Comma removed after "Mouldings" on Page 185
- Comma removed after "Brunswick" on Page 185
- Comma removed after "Scotia" on Page 185
- Comma removed after "Montreal" on Page 185
- Comma added after "Cameron" on Page 185
- Comma removed after "Co." on Page 185
- Comma added after "Coughlan" on Page 186
- Comma removed after "jr." on Page 186
- Comma added after "Torre" on Page 187
- Comma removed after "Logan" on Page 192
- Comma added after "Leonard" on Page 192
- Comma added after "Lipman" on Page 192
- Comma added after "Littlejohn" on Page 192
- Comma added after "May" on Page 193
- Comma removed after "Pengilly" on Page 196
- Space added after "Stewart" on Page 200
- "Auctioner" changed to "Auctioneer" on Page 200
- Comma added after "Wetmore" on Page 201
- "Oddfellows" changed to "Odd Fellows" to match
Table of Contents on Page 203
- Period added after "due" on Page 203
- "bbls." changed to "bls" on Page 220
- "ORTH" changed to "NORTH" on Page 221
- Comma removed after "McNamara" on Page 223
- Comma removed after "Homer" on Page 233
- Comma removed after "McLaughlin" on Page 233
- Colon after "$1,250" changed to a semicolon on Page 239
- "fir" changed to "fire" on Page 241
- "hese" changed to "These" on Page 248
- Comma added after "happy" on Page 248
- "1,000" changed to "$1,000" on Page 252
- Period changed to a comma after "volume" on Page 259
- "iscover" changed to "discover" on Page 260
- Comma added after "works" on Page 262
- "a a" changed to "a" on Page 264
- Comma changed to a period after "Ont" on Page 271
- Comma changed to a period after "Me" on Page 271
- $ added before "2" on Page 271
- There is an initial after "Alex.", but it is unclear. I have
replaced it with a short dash on Page 286
- The name after "Samuel" is unclear. I have replaced the missing
section with a long dash on Page 287
- Both names are unclear. I have replaced the missing sections with
long dashes on Page 287
- Period added after "Mrs" on Page 288
- Comma added after "about" on Page 288
- Comma removed after "stg." on Page 292
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of the Great Fire in St.
John, N.B., June 20th, 1877, by George Stewart
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