The Story of the Great Fire in St. John, N.B., June 20th, 1877Stewart, George
History
The Story of the Great Fire in St. John, N.B., June 20th, 1877
Stewart, George
Saint John (N.B.) -- Fire, 1877
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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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