An extensive fire occurred on the morn of the 10th inst., in the French Concession. Te began about 3.30.a, mn., and raged for two hours with great fury, favoured as it was high wind. By'6.30., however, the were defining its utmost ill that time it had covered a considerable are: property.
The reality lies i the firet street parallel with the continuation of the French Bund, at its extreme end, being bounded on the north by the City Moat, while from Rue de PEst westward it compreienis four streets, At dawn the fire was being vigorously attacked on three sides, and promised to yield before tive hose—each running some 12-1400 feet to reach the low water inthe River. The Hook and Ladder Companies and a detachment from the '¢ Cadmus" were also at work, and the fire was brought under shortly after six o'clock. A wide and smoking ruin marks the place. The burnt-out area extends about 120 yards south to north—from the Whangpoo side to the City Wall; and 180 east to west—from the Moat to Fohkien Road, The number of houses destroyed may be roughly estimated at nearly 200. The firemen succeeded in saving 30 or 40 on the south and west sides of the square, Forty men from the Cadmus, under Lieut, placed their services at the disposal of the Chief Engineer of the Fire Department and gave val We regret to aay that while a portion of t detachment and some Chinese were pulling down a house, a wall fell and one of the sailors sustained a fracture of the leg. Two of were also hurt, one having a thigh broken sides receiving other injuries. The ennes returned to shed about 7 o'clock, 8 of the fire were left to the of District Engineer Charrier aiid the French Police.
The following are the most precise de-we have been able to get of the At. the early "hour we ted, the alarm was given at ti ast Gate Station of the French Police, that fire had broken out in a wil" warehouse for the sale of Chi nese crackers, jose-paper, and such flammable articles, This house was close by the City Mont, and as the wind was blowing strongly from the S.E., the fire rapidly rose and spread among the congeries of lightly built Chinese houses which bordered the Mont. It was at once apparent that only extraordinary exertions could stop it, and the alarm was passed on to the Central Station on the Concession, Thence, from some interruption, it was found impossible to communicate with the English Central Station, and the first imation of the outbreak received there bencon glare of the fire itself against the sky. The height of the flam the direction of the wind led to the delieg that it was much nearer than it really was, and the fireball hastily summoned the firemen to duty. Aheavy shower of rain falling at the time retarded the movements of the engines, but they were run uj the long distance which some of them had to go, with commendable speed. As usual in such emergencies, it was low water; the moat was unavailable, and the river separated by a considerable distance from the scene of the conflagration, necessitating the unrolling of long lengths of hose. Meanwhile the fire raged with pitiless fury, and Chinese far from its original source began to remove their household goods, of which a large pile rapidly accumulated in the widest freet opening to the Bund—the Rue de la Paix we believe. Foreign spectators feared that the extent of the devastation had not yet been nearly reached, the high wind and the cessation of the rain favouring the spread of the fire in the direction of the Concession. Fortunately in its progress it encountered a stronger block of buildings, bounded by high firewalls and cut off also by a narrow lane.
the south side a liar but weaker check was given it, and just as it seemed likely to overcome both obstacles, the wes came to the rescue. The continuation of the Rue de Est was altogether lost in flame, which had cleared n length of 100 yards from the moat and was steadily burning its way towards the Bund. Here No. 5 Kin-lee-yuen engine, the nearest to the spot and first to get' into play, attacked it, and though at first little impression was made, the towering flames drooped under the stream of water, and were stayed altogether at the first stout partition wall. The Deluge here added its strength to the other engine, but its efficiency was detracted from by the bureting of some pieces of hose. The French Municipal engine, also fed from the River, was directed to play on the fre from a lane which enabled it to got in rear of the line of buildings bounding the south side, and thus, with the force at work in the Rue de Est, to save a corner. Fora few minutes the fire threatened to get through this southern boundary, but as. the Rue Whangpoo) of inflammable the Miholoongs cleared the street (known
continuations, and the engines successfully beat the flames back, The Victoria and were also posted on the nding up two fine streams of water, which were directed to cooling the firewall on ti ready spoken of, and to repelling the advances of the fire on the further side of this block, where the situation offered leas resistance. As there was risk of its spreading in this direction, the timely aid offered by the Cadmus men was directed to pulling down a corner house which would have aided its advance; and while they were doing a0, a high wall, on the right of the little lane where they were engaged, toppled over and showered an avalanche of hot bricks into the roadway. The Chief Engineer marked the danger, shouted a warning which' enable thin reach of it to was buried to th when disinterred, to hi jured; and one of the Cadmus party, struck by " falling beam, had his leg badly fractured, "Both men wore removed to Hospital. The Cadmus men did their work well, and deserve acknowledgement both for their assistance and the courteous manner in which it was tendered to the Chief Engineer. From the Moat, the French Gas Engine, No. 6, attempted to play on this corner, but water was scarce and thick. About 6 o'clock, however, it became apparent that the fire was conquered, and that the firemen had only to give it the last quietus, while the party of demolition devoted their energies to bringing down the still dangerous walls of the house which had caused the unfortunate accident.
Altogether, considering the disadvantages of the situation—the distance both from the engine houses and from a good water supply, the material the fire had to work on, and the disagreeable weather the firemen had to encounter, we must compliment the Fire Brigade on the energy
achieved. Without a strong and well-they "displayed, and' the results they managed organisation, the spread of the fire would practically have been illimitable and the Chief Engineer,-Mr. Mackenzie, and his aides in all positions deserve every credit for the judicious and effective way in which they worked. A party of men from the Russian gunboat Sobul arrived to ive assistance, but by this time fresh forces had become unnecessary.
We have already indicated the extent of the disaster, and believe 200 to be
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.