CONSTANTINOPLE.

Auckland Star, Volume I, Issue 161, 15 July 1870, Page 2

CONSTANTINOPLE.

Constantinople, June 6th. —About one o'clock yesterday afternoon, a fir» broke out which : spread with alarming rapidity through the richest; quarters- of the city. The flames were first discovered in an old building on the north , Bide. of ithe Golden Horn. A strong wiud was blowing at the time, and the fire quickly, communicated to tho adjoining buildings. Ti.e efforts 'fitMie firemen and citizens to stop its progress i^ere of no avail, and in a few hours the residences of the English, and Portuguese Ambassadors' Consulates, the Naomi Theatre, I many churches aud mosques, and thousands of houses, and the richest Stores and shops ia the city, were reduced to ashes. Tho loss of life by the falling walls was fearful. It is estimated that at least 30 people w, re killed or injured by this eausejaione. *Thalt>sj of property is incalculable. Tho fire at tliisiimir is still burning furiously, and the eibi&ent of the people beggars description."' Constantinople, Juno 6,—The conflagration is cheeked, though the flames are still raging fiercely at some points. The flames canuot spread, for the houses are blown up, and the fire is abated. The loss is immenso. The burned district-is one of the • wealthiest quarters. The archives and plate of the British Legation were saved. A New York, June 6.—Specials .say a private dispatch from Constantinople says thattke massacre of the Jew* in Roumania was from four to eight .thousand ; other, dispfttchep say that the stories heretofore telegraphed have been greatly exaggerated, and that the n^assaere <lid not exceed three thousand. Among the Jews in New York there is manifesto- a disposition -to postpone act-oti: ih' the;' Atter till more positive information* is obtained.1-' A communication' from Vienna states that since the publication, in Austria, of the laws on religious liberty, a strange movement has arisen among the population of that city. In the courseof lesfttban, two years abput ,680 ■ persons of both sexes have abjured Christianity for the Jewish faith, and these persons are on the increase. ..'. i/•.!.• ifII ; 1 Constantinople, June 9.?-Tbe great fire inthePera district is si bdiied. Qrerjeven thousand buildings of all-sorts wero.di«.BSiiojed, many of the best in tho city. The loss of life has greatly exceeded the estimate., ,Some 'days ago the remains of one hundred and fifty humau beings were found. It is supposed that, this number represents one-half the actual loss. The total loss is computed at twenty-five million pounds sterling. The English Underwriters suffer heavy losses. The Archives of tho. British Embassy were saved. '; Constantinople, June 9. —The kiss qfhfe by the bohflagr_tion"is frightful; sonic families were hemmed in by the flames and perished, in full view 'of the spectators. rJ; hf purio among the people was terrible ; maiiydoit all presence 'of mind and were unablef*o s*Te themselves; others, in despair, m»dei*BOi!*ffort to fly. Some Turks shut themselves in hvty' ing houses, refused assistance, and irict Iketf fate without .a, murmur; i Two hundred and fifty persons were buried to death pi; killed by falling walls; hrany more are ihissing.