Chinese Settlement Practically Wiped Out: $1,000,000 Damage and Entire Population Homeless: Tragedy, Caused by Gambler's Lamp The following may be regard as {in the nature of an official. state-
Kiuling, Jan. 5.
An unbelievable disaster haa overtaken the Chinese settlement st Kuling, the greater part being entirely wiped out by fire. All the forge shops. and business houses, the Medical Mission, Hotels and] schools now are, total ruins. The ow Post Ofice withstood the fire fand the Chinese Yamen opposite was only saved by the most desperate efforts. Had the latter Rone, nothing could have saved the Estate property. adjoin From the Post Office right along! through West Street, up to. th market, and a little beyond, not house is standing on either side of the street, "Down the old Kiukiang Road' for about three. fourths of the way, everything is burnt up in like manner. 'The large now hotels and smaller' houses on! the new Kiukiang Road also are wiped out, The lower Women's Hospital building caught fire and afilfered some damage, but was saved, On the conservative estimate of 2 Chinese surveyor, the damage cannot be less than a million dollars, The fire originated in a teashop at the junction of the Kiukiang Road and the Main Street, morning, Sunday. At that time the flames were leaping high and could be seen from the valley, the red glare in the sky coming over Sunset Ridge, lighting up all the North Hill and up to the top of Hankow Gorge. Three of the Kuling Municipal Councillors soon were in the Gap, rendering all the help they could—Messrs. John Berkin, JI, Duff and" Ernest €. Cooper with' Mr, Gulston, the outside manager.
Those who have visited will remember the narrow alley by which their chairs entered the main" street from the hill road. 'At the right hand corner of this alley was a small, tumble-down eating-house, and it was there that Several men were gambling, when their lamp burned low for lack' of oil. One of them got more oil] and poured it into the heated lamp and it flared up and began to burn the room. The gamblers ran away, fearing to be caught, and the flames quickly spread' from house to house, all dry as tinder from the long drought, and fanned by the high wind which seemed to} blow in every direction, The flames at one time" were] making straight for the foreign part of Kuling, all the good shops at
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.