Yesterday morning occurred at Yangtszepoo the largest fire which has been Known in Shanghai since the confagr on the French Concession in 1879, w property to the value of Tls. 1,500, destroyed. On the present oveasi fire totally destroyed the Shanghai Ca Cloth Mills on the banks vf the Whangpo, and: the loss is estimated at at least Tis 1,000,000. 'The land on which the wills stood' measures 280 mow and the main building had " frontage of 550 feet one way and 80 feet another and was three stories high, In this building which was shaped lik LI, on the lower floor at the N.AW. end were the scutching machines, and with these the cotton was treated by beaters which made some 1400 revolutions 4 minute, and as the cotton was treated, it came out of the machines in, soft de riy rolls which were wonnd on' rollers, Tr was in this room that the fire commenced it is supposed that the fearful rapidity the machines caused the outbreak through fame hard subst in contact with ings, were burnt as was also a row of ies against the edge of the bank, strange to say three trees between these and the other burning buildings were scarcely damaged. The last build-li nm was the ens use of ing mill although it joined the mill and was between it and the main engine house which were burnt at an early stage, while a pile of straw on the river bank between which and the mai buildings were the stables which were burnt, caught fire, Last of all fire and were burning bright ight. Other freaks of the fre were noticed, for instance most of the seaffulding round the new buildings which were surrounded by the fire was not burnt, while in the interior of the space occupied by the walls of this buildin Wp apart caught fire, and the hollow head of ner had fire in it, Walls fell er the place, with a shook that shook the round for yards round, and scarcely a piece of unburnt timber was left anywhere, rafts, beams, windows and window frames sharing the sane fate, Many foreigners visited the scene and Inspector Wilson with a force of Sikhs wax early on the spot and was the means of The Chsirmen of the Committees are General Committee—Mr. N. J. Hannen. Decoration—,, " F. M. Gratton, Banquet, 3S. Macgregor. Children's " J. Welch, General Purposes D.C. Junsen,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.