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. —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 Street10

Mill Street20

Drury Lane17

Smyth Street20

North Street5

North Market Slip8

Hare's Wharf1

Robertson Place1

Fire Proof Alley2

North Market Wharf11

Nelson Street18

Dock Street26

Market Square6

South Market Wharf16

Ward Street10

Peters' Wharf11

Johnston's Wharf2

Lovett's Slip1

St. John, "Water" Street51

Canterbury Street19

Prince William Street95

Germain Street87

Charlotte Street84

Sydney Street75

Carmarthen Street59

Wentworth Street34

Pitt Street38

Sheffield Street52

Main Street58

Britain Street101

St James Street98

Pagan Place9

Harding Street15

Queen Square, south side10

Queen Square, north side10

St Andrew Street17

Queen Street80

Mecklenburg Street44

Duke Street105

Horsfield Street17

Orange Street42

Princess Street106

Church Street10

Leinster Street45

King Square, south side6

King Street60

____

Total1612

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 & Mercantile800,000

Lancashire500,000

Provincial100,000

Liverpool, London & Globe480,000

Guardian420,000

Canada Fire & Marine50,000

Citizens200,000

National140,000

Royal520,000

Commercial Union420,000

Royal Canadian350,000

Western90,000

Imperial480,000

Ætna246,000

Hartford148,000

Phenix of Brooklyn60,000

British America27,000

Stadacona320,000

Central, of Fredericton60,000

St John Mutual75,000

Northern500,000

Canada Agricultural8,000

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 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:—

Architects4

Auctioneers7

Bakers11

Banks5

Bankers, Private4

Barristers80

Blacksmiths10

Block and pump makers8

Boarding-houses55

Boat builders5

Bookbinders5

Book stores7

Boot and shoemakers38

Boot and shoe stores14

Brass founders6

Builders27

Cabinet makers9

Clothiers29

Commission merchants93

Confectioners6

Dentists9

Druggists8

Dry goods (wholesale)14

Dry goods (retail)22

Dining and oyster saloons10

Flour dealers32

Fruit dealers7

Grocers (wholesale)40

Grocers (retail)102

Gasfitters and plumbers9

Hair dressers13

Hardware stores8

Hotels14

Insurance agents29

Iron merchants8

Liquor dealers (wholesale)27

Liquor dealers (retail)116

Livery stables8

Lumber merchants12

Marble works6

Merchant tailors36

Newspapers7

Painters13

Photographers6

Physicians and surgeons15

Printers (job work)10

Riggers7

Sailmakers5

Ship chandlers14

Ship smiths8

Stove dealers8

Tobacconists7

Undertakers4

Watchmakers and jewellers12

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 DrakeBlock maker5

John E. TurnbullSash factory18

Armstrong Bros.Foundry10

T. Rankine & SonsBakery30

S. R. Foster & SonTack manufacturers50

W. D. AitkenMachinist10

John NorrisAuger maker2

R. A. SaundersPattern maker2

Wm. LoweWood turner1

Wm. Smith & Co.Ship-smith8

H. AllanBrass foundry8

Maxwell, Elliot & BradleyShip smiths4

Dearborn & Co.Coffee and spices10

J. AkroydMachinist1

J. SmithFoundry4

Geo. F. ThompsonWhite lead man'r7

D. McLaughlin & SonsBoiler makers15

T. McAvity & SonsBrass manufacturers16

Bradley Bros.Block makers—

Geo. R. BentOrgans—

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.