THE GREAT BOSTON FIRE.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 128, 1 June 1908, Page 3

THE GREAT BOSTON FIRE.

TEN THOUSAND PEOPLE IN

TENTS

I Ten thousand people are living in tents and temporary shelters at Chelsea, the Boston suburb, to-day, as the result of the disastrous conflagration which yesterday reduced to ashes a populous area two miles long and one mile wide (says a Boston paper of 13th April). Three rag-pickers were responsible for the catastrophe, which destroyed 1000 dwellings, and business houses, thirteen churches, four schools, four banks, two hospitals, twenty-five factories, and many public buildings. In the keen, nipping air they kindled a blaze on a waste piece of ground for the purpose of drying rags. Instantly the roaring wind swept away the burning refuse with hurrt? cane foree t igniting hundreds of pieces of oil-soaked paper, icottort, and cloth,, whirling them high- in .the air, and carrying them with irrestible speed towards a big rag factory. The flames seized fiercely on a three-storey building, enveloping it in a tornado of fire. Thence they leaped to the works of a tramway-car company. Almost before the alarm could be given the entire town seemed to be ablaze. So powerful was the gale that the firemen who in the course of the next hour gathered to the scene from all the -surrounding towns, could not even attempt to stem the. onward rush of the conflagration. So they fought on its flanks, keeping it in a /well-de-fined pathway, and preventing it spreading to the sides. For thirteen! hours—from eleven in the morning until midnight—the firemen laboured at this tremendous task,,and only desisted when the fire slackened after one-quarter of the town of 40,000 inhabitants had fallen prey to the flames. ■ FIFTY LOST BABIES. Early in the afternoon naval reserves had to be summoned to suppress looting, for there were scores of men, negroes for the most part, who, under 'the pretence of rendering assistance, tried to get into the burning banks | and warehouses to seize the masses of j coin and notes which could not be carted to safety. Four negroes lost) their lives in this way, being shot by i marines while robbing a burning jewellery store. The c marines have since been relieved by several companies of militia, who_, armed with ten j rounds of ball cartridge have orders' to shoot at sight any unauthorised prowlers in the two miles of blackened ruins. j . The loss of .life is comparatively small. Though eighty-seven people! are missing, and a number of them were presumably burned to death, two bodies only have been found so far. One is that of a woman, who, when refused permission t-o ie-enter a blazing house, pulled out ay pistol and shot herself through the brain. ! Besides keeping a cordon round the fire-swept zone, the authorities are confronted to-day with problems of the most perplexing character. They have to find the mothers of fifty unidentified babies which were deposited at the police stations by firemen or private citizens while the conflagration was at its height. A boy brought to one station a baby less than six months old, which he had picked up in the gutter ._ He was followed by a woman carrying a pair of twins a year old which a frantic mother thrust into her arms as she stood in the street, saying, "Here hold these; I've got to get the others." What became of the mother is not yet known. ■ Two women became mothers while the houses in which they lived were in flames. They were successfully removed on ambulances to hospitals. One of them was named Mrs Smoke, and lived in Ash Street, which is now a heap of cinders. FEEDING THE HOMELESS. But the most difficult problem of all for the authorities is to provide the homeless with food and shelter. ', A thousand army tents were erected today in the open spaces of the town, and "bread lines" were organised in various quarters. Notwithstanding all the aid thus offered, there is much suffering. All the public buildings of Boston have been placed at the disposal of the homeless, who, according to the official estimates published by the Mayor, this afternoon, now number 15,000. i Already £10,000 has been contributled by private citizens for the supply of food, raiment, and shelter to the sufferers, and Mr Roosevelt has telegraphed to the authorities offering any assistance the Federal Government is j able to furnish. The insurance companies do not place the liabilities at a total larger than £1,000,000, though the damage is greatly in excess of that sum. ' _ ..■-■", I One phase of the situation which is greatly interesting Americans is the attitude of the British, insurance companies towards the disaster. "The English," observed a prominent underwriter to-day, "are firmly convinced that the whole country is destined to burn up. I predict that the Chelsea conflagration will act as the last straw in inducing the British companies to withdraw their agencies from this country."

Rugby football threatens to cause domestic trouble in a certain home near Wellington. A distressed married woman, whose husband has taken to playing the game on Sundays, wrote a half-tearful, half-threatening letter to the Wellington Rugby Union. The letter ran:—"l am writing to you in reference to my husband playing, and warn you that I forbid it, which I have also told some of the members of his team. If you allow it I will take his child and put it right in the middle of the game, which means that it will block the play. It also means breaking up my home, for I will leave him. If you don't stop him playing I will appeal to higher quarters." The committee, having no jurisdiction over Sunday matches, resolved that it could not assist the distressed lady.

To learn how to hit goals and ay-end penalties, study the Rules of the Game of Hockey. Price, threepence, at "Egress" Office.