At about five minutes past one o'clock on Satur the fire alarm of the ded four bells, notiliying that a fire was in progress in the English settlement, and the glare reflected in the sky indies ted that it was of large proportions. The different. Fire Compan turned out smartly, and it was asce: tained thatthe seme of the outbreak was located in on Road, at the junction of the Yang-ang Crvek, By the time the firemen ived the flames had a gond he'd of a block of Chinese houses, and with such fierceness did they spread that in a short time the buildings on both sides of Fokien Road were ablaze, At the earlier slages of the fire the water pressure was very poor, the jets hardly reaching t" the roofs of the houses, and of course the efforts of the firemen were severely handicapped. However the steam engines soon arrived, and when they got to work the improved pressure of water e-abled the Brigvle to operate under more equal condilieux, and they soon began to get the firnes under control. The entire block of houses from the Creek to the first lane northward and to the alleyway eastward was utterly demolished, excepting the fronts of the shops on th" north side; and on the west side of Fokien Road the hones were burnt out to the same extent north-Allogethiy from thirty-five to y hongs and houses were destroyed, while the contents only of a few of the shops were insured, the Sun and the Manchester Companies being interested a small extent, The property belongs to David Sassoon's and A. Cushny, and che loss is estimated at Ts. 11,000. - There have been three fires previously in this locality, and the blocks are marked red on the Insurance Companies' phus, but the present outbreak is the most serious that has occurred. On neither of the former occasions did the s the road. Great as the damage was it was all effected within an hour, and at 2.15 a.m, there was hardly a spark to be seen. Several members of the Brigade had narrow escapes from injuries by falling wal's, A Iarze crowd gathered, but the police kept ample space clear for the firemen. It is unfortunate that the water supply was so
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.