The losses of the Masonic Fraternity.—Great Destruction of Masonic Regalia and Paraphernalia.—Organization of the General Masonic Board of Relief.—Amount received in Aid of the Suffering Brethren.
Thelosses of the Masonic fraternity have been computed, and found to be much greater than was at first supposed. The private lodges saved nothing, and all their warrants, banners, jewels, clothing, and other paraphernalia were lost. Some of them even did not rescue their seals; and Hibernia, Union Lodge of Portland, and New Brunswick Lodge, lost their records. The Union Lodge of Portland was a heavy loser. Her loss amounts to$1,250; Albion, No. 1, $850; St. John's, No. 2, about $600; Leinster, No. 9, and New Brunswick, No. 22, foot up to $750 each; and Hibernia, No. 3, to $850.
The Chapters have also fared badly. Carleton Royal Arch Chapter, formed in 1802, lost the seal and $1,150 worth of property; while New Brunswick Chapter meets with a loss of $1,475.
There were two Encampments which met in Masonic Hall. St. John Encampment not only lost $2,300 worth of property, which included the rich regalia of the order, the jewels, banners, charters, and general paraphernalia, but also the seal of the Encampment, and the regalia in the armory, which was owned by the private members. This latter consisted for the most part, of the chapeaux,swords, belts, gauntlets, baldrics, aprons, etc., usually worn by the Sir Knights when on parade and other duty. Hardly a member of the organization saved his masonic clothing. The regalia of this body was especially gorgeous in character, and no better dressed organization, before the fire, existed anywhere. The Union De Molay Encampment experienced the same loss of general wardrobe and appliances. Their loss reaches upwards of two thousand dollars. The bodies of the Ancient and Accepted Rite lost everything but the records. The Royal Order of Scotland—a very select body,—saved their records only; the entire paraphernalia and regalia were lost. All the furniture and furnishings, the organ, etc., belonging to the General Hall Committee of the body, with all the paintings, photographs, and engravings, were destroyed with the rest.
Only the regalia and records, and full register of members belonging to the Grand Lodge were saved. The magnificent library of over four hundred volumes, many of them rare and scarce, and the most complete thing of the kind in the Dominion, was burned. In the work of collecting these books, the Grand Secretary, W. F. Bunting, Esq., spent many years; and the destruction of the noble volumes is a serious and irreparable loss to Freemasonry; many of the books destroyed can never be replaced. Besides this, a good many were of incalculable value, on account of certain associations connected with them, and each one had a little history of its own. Some of them were presentation volumes, others again were outof print, and not a few were high-priced modern text-books, especially valuable to the masonic student. All the blank forms and certificates, fyles of documents and books of constitutions, and all copies of printed proceedings were swept away in the common ruin. Grand Lodge has suffered severely, and her total loss above insurance cannot be less than one thousand dollars; while the loss she has met with which money cannot replace is enormous. Even Carleton Union Lodge, which met on the other side of the harbour, did not escape. Her beautiful banners, which she had lent St. John Encampment at the time of the late ball, were in the lodge room when thefire was sweeping all before it, and they were consequently burned.
The walls of the Lodge-room were always tastefully decorated with well executed engravings on Masonic subjects. These all perished, as well as the handsome auto-type of H. R. H. the Prince of Wales in full Masonic regalia, which was presented to the craft last year, by Thomas Furlong, Esq., and which was greatly admired. An oil painting of P. G. M. Balloch, by Holman, in full Masonic clothing, which hung near the Master's Chair, and a fine picture in oil of "The Ascension," by Dr. T. A. D. Forster, formerly of St. John, were burned along with everything else. Indeed the fraternity will find it impossible to replace a tithe of the useful and ornamental things with which it was surrounded. The order in this city was well equipped, and amply provided with everything.
Notwithstanding, however, that they had suffered so largely themselves, publicly and privately, as individuals and as masons, the leading members of the fraternity at once organized a board of relief and proceeded to care for the wants of the brethren who had met with reverses. The general masonic board of relief is a special organization which grew out of the present calamity, and is separate and distinct from the regular or ordinary relief board of the city. It is composed of city members of the Board of General Purposes of the Grand Lodge, and the presiding officers of all the Masonic bodies of the city. Grand Master R. T. Clinch is Chairman, Grand Treasurer Jas McNichol, Jr., is Treasurer, and Grand Secretary William F. Bunting is Secretary of the board. R. W. Bro. Edwin J. Wetmore is clerk, and has charge of the office and attends daily from three to five o'clock in the afternoon, to receive applications from brethren in distress. The board meets every day, in the office rented for the purpose, from four to five o'clock to consider applications and grant such relief as they deem advisable. In the administration of the fund at their disposal the board exercises great discretion and discrimination. Not only are brethren of the craft helped, but the hearts of their widows and orphans are made glad. Often the board does not wait for a distressed brother to make application for relief, but other means are taken to find out his necessities and aid is sent to him whenever this can be ascertained. All benefits are granted in money, and range from sums of twenty to fifty dollars, payable by check signed always by the treasurer, and one other officer of the board. As soon as money is received it is deposited in the Bank of British North America, in the names of the Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary. The system works admirably and already a great amount of good, in really necessitous cases, has been done. The gentlemen at the head of the board are men of sterling character and reputation, and any funds placed in their hands are judiciously and properly disbursed. Every provision is being made for the coming winter months, when it is expected that sore distress will prevail in the city, and with this in view the board feel the necessity of having a good fund at their disposal to meet the wants of worthy but unfortunate members of the fraternity. Thus far the craft abroad have responded to the needs of the suffering brethren quite liberally. Up to late date these sums have been received:
The Destruction—The Loss—Estimates—The Acreage and Streetage—Has the Land Decreased in Value?—Incomes swept away—What is Left—Hope!—The Insurance—The Corporation Loss—The Dominion Loss—Additional Deaths—The Wounded—The Orange Body.
Informing an estimate of the destruction which the fire has caused great care has been exercised. I have been careful to verify every statement I advance. Thoroughly competent engineers have, at my request, re-surveyed the area through which the fire raged, and I am therefore in a position to give reliable information on a subject which has given rise to much speculation and doubt. The acreage has been taken and the streetage made and the result has shown that the fire destroyed two hundred acres of territory and nine and six-tenths miles of streets. To be more exact the acreage is not quite two hundred acres but so very near it that it may be accepted at that estimate. Not more than two-fifths of the city have been burned and the reader will see the truth of this when he comes to consider that Carleton which forms a part of this city has been untouched by the flames, and all the upper portion of the city has escaped. While the acreage and streetage shew that the city is not totally destroyed, yet what has been burned represented enormous value. The fire penetrated to the very heart of the great commercial centre of St. John. It laid waste the fairest portion of the city. It swept away the palace-houses of our wealthy peopleand destroyed nearly every public building in the place. When one considers all these circumstances and begins to realize the situation, he is apt to form too high an estimate of the loss. He looks around him while going about surveying the ruins, and on every side he sees the great waste and the figures forming in his head grow larger and larger as he proceeds to sum up the result of the sad fire. Every man has his own opinion, and it is curious to observe how widely diversified these opinions are. The cautious man places it at fifteen millions, and his hot blooded and visionary friend with equal show of reason estimates the loss at nearly fifty millions. The estimate ranges widely and wildly. The books of the assessors on examination show a loss to property of much less value than even the owners put upon it before the fire. But one can see how fallacious these results are, when the reader learns that in making up the assessments the assessors value a merchant's stock at not what it is, but what in their opinion they think it should be. For instance, a man has three hundred thousand dollars worth of stock in warehouse. He really owns about fifty thousand dollars worth and owes for the balance. He is not taxed on his debts but on what he is worth. Yet the fire carried away the sum total of the goods in his possession. The assessors' books show hardly a tithe of the actual value of the loss. It can only be correctly stated after a thorough examination, and as nearly as can be ascertained the entire destruction throughout the city reaches upwards of twenty-seven millions of dollars. This is the loss insolid value. But that much money will not replace the goods thus destroyed. There were many things burned which were of what might be called fancy value, and which money can in no way replace. And in making our estimate these things have been valued only nominally. The loss, therefore, in round figures, is not a whit below the amount we have given, $27,000,000. The talk about taxable property is all nonsense. Every man who says so, knows that he is talking nonsense. Hardly a man lives to-day who is taxed in the proportion that he should be. The richer a man is, the more easily he can hide his wealth, and an examination of the assessment books will enable any reader to find a hundred examples in proof of this. Another argument is brought forward. We are told that the land is not burned up, and in that land there is great value. That is true enough, every word of it. The land is not burned out of existence. It is still where it was, but it is by no means as valuable as it was before the fire. A thousand circumstances were brought to bear on it, locality, desirability, and necessity, and all these had an influence in enhancing its value. Most of these reasons, and cogent reasons they were too at the time, have now gone out with the fire. Men who thought they must have a piece of land because it was in a good situation, and because it was located near their own lots, were ready to buy what they wanted at a good price, often merely to carry out some hobby or idea paramount in their minds. But these ideas have vanished. This hobby can be ridden no longer. He can have the lot now if he wants it, at a gooddeal lower rate than he offered for it, but he can't afford it. The owner's means are swept away, and he cannot afford to build again, and is anxious to sell his land, that he can go and rent a house to live in. The land in almost every part of the burnt district will drop, and has already dropped, in value. It is still there, and so it was there a hundred years ago. It is more valuable now than it was then. I don't pretend to say that we are no better off than when the loyalists landed, for we are. Our roads are laid out; our people are thrifty, enterprising, and skilful. The greater portion of the city is still intact. We have a splendid system of water supply and sewerage. We have, or, will have very soon, gas burning again. We will have comforts once more. But what I do mean to say is, that it will take very many years to build the city up again as it was before the fire. It will take very many years to enable the land-owner to realize anything like the price he once commanded for his property. Of course, in the leading business streets there will be but little difference, though it will be felt in a good many quarters. Take some portions of King and Prince William streets, for example. Some men realized a snug income from the rental of the shanties which were erected on good business sites in these streets. They owned the land, and the shanties were theirs. Their whole income came from this source. Their wooden buildings yielded them a far more handsome return for their outlay than many of the massive brick buildings near them did to their owners. Why was this? Simply because they were in a good locality. These shantiesare now level with the earth. The revenue is swept away.These men own the land, but their means are gone. They cannot rebuild. If they did, the rent they would receive would be far less than the rookeries yielded, and they must sell their property or mortgage it. The land has lost a great deal of its value, and it will take a long time for it to regain that loss. We must look these things boldly and seriously in the face. No reflection is made on the people when these statements are advanced. No more enterprising populace lives than the people of St. John. Many are used to hard work. They have hewn out of the solid rock one of the most beautiful cities in the Dominion. They have met a thousand obstacles in their path, and they have swept them all aside. And they will ride over their calamity and begin again the hard road upward. They will rebuild the city once more, and plant bright things where ruin and despair now stand, but we must not flatter ourselves that we have lost nothing, and that our land has not deteriorated in value. It is as wrong to be over sanguine as it is to give way to gloom and do nothing to better our misfortunes. We must work with determination and lose no time. We must show the world—that kind world which has fed the mouths of our poor and clothed the unfortunate—that there is backbone and muscle still left in the city, and that while we have men to work we have no women to weep. It might have been worse. We have lost lives, we have lost all our buildings—we have lost everything that goes to make homehappy, cheerful and bright—we have lost our stores and shops—we have lost a hundred comforts—but, thank God, we have not lost our glorious hope in the future. In that hope is our salvation. It is that hope which stirs us on, which quickens our energy, which tells us that it might truly have been worse. It is the one beautiful thing that is left to us. It is the angel which smiles back to us when we raise our eyes upward. It is the figure in the cloud which says to prostrate man, "Rouse, rouse yourself! all is not lost, there is a future for you all." Ah, yes, it might have been worse. There is desolation all around—there is death in many households—there is mourning and crying and moaning—but hope still sailing grandly near us, so near that we can almost touch her, still smiling sweetly on us, tells us all will yet be well and bids us be of good cheer.
The number of houses burned on the several streets in the city, is sixteen hundred and twelve. They were located as follows:
The number of people rendered homeless foot up to about thirteen thousand, and the number of families to about twenty-seven hundred. As near as can be got, the insurance on merchandise, furniture and buildings, is placed as follows. This is not quite correct but at this hour it is as nearly correct as can be ascertained. It will average this at all events, and amounts in the aggregate to about seven millions of dollars.
Most of the Insurance Companies paid up at once"The Stadacona" pays its liabilities within a year. The "Provincial" has suspended but promises to pay in time and the condition of the "St. John Mutual" is quite hopeless, and will pay scarcely anything. The "Central" of Fredericton, N.B., will pay in a short time, it is said.
The loss to the shipping will amount to about fifty thousand dollars. The St. John Corporation loses heavily, and the insurance which was held on some properties is exceedingly light. The City Hall cost, at the time of its purchase from the directors of the old Commercial Bank, the sum of $23,000. Since then a good deal of money has been expended on it. The insurance was only $15,000. The Police Court and station on Chipman's Hill, which were both burned, the one a wooden building and the other of brick, had insurance to the small amount of $2,000. The Fish Market, useful and by no means ornamental, was insured for $600. The Lower Cove Market, the upper or second story of which contained a public hall, and was used by temperance societies sometimes, was insured for $1,200. In the rear of the first floor of this building, a lock-up was situate, for the accommodation of delinquents and law-breakers in that portion of the city. The city stables on Carmarthen street were uninsured, as was also the toll house at the Carleton ferry landing. The building occupied by Mr. May at Reed's point, and which was owned by the corporation, was insured for$1,000. Two cottages on Orange street were insured for $3,000. These were occupied by Mr. A. J. H. Bartsch, the watch-maker, and by Mr. Chas. Parker. Mr.Samuel Phillips' residence, on Duke street, and which belonged to the corporation, was insured for $400. The warehouses on Pettingill's Wharf had insurance to the amount of $5,000. The barrack and sheds belonging to the city were uninsured. Two-thirds of the fire alarm was destroyed, and all the watering-carts, slovens, hose, &c., belonging to the corporation, were burned. No. 1 engine-house was destroyed. No. 2 experienced a little damage after Dr. Travers' house caught fire. The sidewalks can only be replaced at a heavy cost, and the damage to the wharf property is enormously large.
The Dominion Government loses about half a million dollars. The Custom House and Post Office will be rebuilt at once, and plans are already prepared. All the Government military stores were burned, and the three hundred rifles belonging to the 62nd battalion were lost. Most of the new uniforms belonging to the corps perished likewise. None of the Dominion Government's property was insured, and the loss will therefore be complete.
The list of callings has been carefully gone over, and shows a return of the following, who have been burned out:—
The following list shows the manufacturing establishments, using steam power, which were destroyed, and gives the number of hands employed in each:—
This, and the list above, I use through the permission of Mr. Elder, ofThe Telegraph, who had them carefully made up from reliable sources.
In addition to the number of deaths mentioned in one of the earlier chapters of this book, very large addenda must be made. Since that chapter was written, a good many more persons are known to have perished. The list on the death-roll is very large. Mr. Garret Cotter, a young man, working in the tailoring establishment of Mr. James S. May, as a cutter, and an old man named Peter McGovern, who lived on Straight Shore, met their deaths at the same time and at the same place. A cornice fell from the Adam's building and killed them. Young Cotter lived in Crown Street with his mother. His father met with a violent death some years since, having been killed on the railway. Two young men were drowned in the harbour before the very eyes of horror-stricken spectators. James Kemp, aged 21, formerly a clerk in Michael Farrel's clothing store, and Thomas Holmes, a lad of seventeen years, and who resided in Harding Street with his mother, put out to sea in a small boat laden with what little property they could get into it. The bottom of the boat broke, and the craft filling at once, both men were drowned in a second. The people on vessels in the harbour lying close by theill-fated boat, were so excited at what they saw, and the men sank so rapidly, that nothing could be done to save them, and they perished in full view of those on board. Kemp leaves a wife and one child. Mrs. Cohalan, wife of Wm. Cohalan, was lost in Smyth Street. Her body was never recovered, but it is established beyond all doubt that she fell an early victim. All that was left of Mrs. Bradley, who once lived in Princess Street, were some human bones which were found on her door-step after the fire. The remains of Richard Thomas, an employé in Fred. Fitzpatrick's warehouse in Nelson Street, were found on the site of Richard O'Brien's saloon in Germain Street. Robert Fox, who belonged about the Marsh Road, has been pronounced dead.
The accidents were very numerous, and were of various degrees of importance. In the hurry, the names of all persons who suffered by the fire, and had experienced bruises and fractures, could not be obtained. Some were sent at once to the Public Hospital, and even here there was not time to fully record the names of all who were brought in. The physician in charge, Dr. Hanington, did all in his power to make the unfortunates comfortable and easy. The matron of the establishment and other assistants also rendered efficient and prompt aid. The names of those who were for a while in the Hospital, and received injuries at the fire are Daniel Dooley, John Ross, Patrick Brady, William Coxetter, William Donohoe, Helen Davidson, Bayard Thompson, Walter Lamb (injured at the explosion), Andrew Donovan, Michael Barrett, WilliamPorter, Jeremiah Sullivan, Thomas Sullivan, Richard Powers, John Anderson and George Gallagher. The last two men died in the Hospital from the effects of their wounds.
The thanks of the people of St. John are largely due to C. J. Brydges, Esq., and R. Luttrell, Esq., of the Intercolonial Railway, who promptly placed fast trains at the service of the Relief Committee, and forwarded free passengers and supplies. Excellent service was thus performed, and Mr. Luttrell lost no time in meeting the emergency. Indeed he spent several days in relieving the wants of the sufferers. Few will forget these kindly acts.
In concluding this chapter I might add that the Orange Lodges which met in Mr. Thos. H. Hall's building, King street, lost quite heavily. Their regalia was, for the most part, entirely consumed, but the banners were saved. The insurance on the hall and furniture was only five hundred dollars. The members had gone to a great deal of expense lately in fitting up their lodge-room, which was one of the tastiest in the city. The decorations were very handsome. The loss will reach at least two thousand dollars. A relief organization has been formed by leading brethren of the order, and the wants of sufferers by the fire are being looked after. The Grand Master, Edward Willis, and Messrs. A. G. Blakslee, John A. Kane, J. B. Andrews, Walter McFate, W. A. King, W. Roxorough, James Elliott, and Samuel Devenne, comprise the Relief Committee.
The Books we have Lost—"The Lost Arts"—The Libraries of St. John which were Burned—The Pictures which were Lost—The Few that were Saved—A Talk about Books and Pictures—The Future—What St. John men must Do—Acknowledgments—Conclusion of the Story of the Fire.
Itis only when we come to look around us that we can discover how much we have lost. In one's lifetime a thousand little things are gathered and put away, and we find ourselves turning to them every now and then. Money cannot supply these. Many of them are endeared to us through association. Some are the gifts of friends who have since passed away, never to return, and others again came into our possession in various ways. We may supply, with a portion of our insurance money, a few books, copies of the ones which we have lost, but these will not be the same. They will not be our copies. We love to read our own books. No Suckling can be the same as the one we lost the other day. It was not a rich copy, but it was a whole-souled, generous old fashionedvolume, full of the old Knights daintiest bits of melody. We used to love to linger over the little age-stained page, and recover lines we had lost. And dear old Shenstone, too, is gone. We can easily get another Shenstone, but it won't seem at all like the old copy. In our own books we know just where to find what we want, and new copies never seem the same. And then there are bookswe like to take up now and then, just to fill in the odd moments of our lives; books of engravings and the like, and volumes ofPunch, and great volumes of cartoons of say forty and fifty years ago. These are all gone now and few can be replaced.
What great inroads the fire has caused among our private libraries, what a wreck it has made of those precious books we all loved so dearly. And those pamphlets, too, upon which we placed so much value, and the thousand little odds and ends of literature which we so tenderly gathered year in and year out. And our scrap-books—great, good-natured fellows, with broad sides and liberal pages, ready to take in all sorts of matter. These are no more. And whole hosts of unbound magazines, which we had tied together, and expected every day to send off to the binders. These are ashes too. We hesitate before we turn over the books we rescued from the burning, lest we discover greater losses, and miss fairer treasures. How many sets of books have been destroyed, how many massive tomes have been withered by the heat, how many dainty books of poetry have been swept away!
What lovely companions books are. What glorious friends they make. How kindly they speak to us and tell us what they think. We read gruff Tom Carlyle, and pause at his estimate of Cromwell, and hunt through the histories of England to see what Smollett and Hume have to say about the same grim protector. We run through a few pages of Taine anddiscover how grandly he criticisesthe masters of English literature, but after all we go back fondly to our own Arnold, and read what he has to tell us before we quite make up our mind that the clever Frenchman is right. We sit at the feet of Holmes and read a chapter or two of his matchless Autocrat, and then with our mind full of the delicious sweets, we get down our copy of Hunt and after skimming a page or two of his "Seer," dip into the crisp and sparkling pages of Hazlitt'sRound Table. Ah, yes! the fire may take all else we have if it will only leave us our books. True, a man, as the bard hath it—
"May live without books—what is knowledge but grieving?He may live without hope—what is hope but deceiving?He may live without love—what is passion but pining?But where is the man who can live without dining?"
"May live without books—what is knowledge but grieving?He may live without hope—what is hope but deceiving?He may live without love—what is passion but pining?But where is the man who can live without dining?"
But after all the mind craves as much for food of its kind, as the stomach does for meats and bread.
Though in St. John we had no public library, there were very many private collections of books in the city. Some of them were very large and well-selected. Dr. Wm. Bayard's collection, not one volume of which was saved, was beyond all question the fullest and ripest medical library in the Dominion. It was the accumulation of many years. The collection was begun by his father and added to largely by the Doctor himself. Some rare medical works, rich in plates, costing as high as £30 sterling each, were to be found here, besides books covering the whole range of medical thought and practice. The English classics, exhibiting the very cream of letters, andsome fine specimens of modern literature filled acceptably the doctors shelves. Not a volume was saved. Indeed a photograph album was the only article rescued from the burning house. Mr. James R. Ruel, the Collector of Customs had a fine library, rich in theology and literature of the higher class. Controversialworks, books of science, and the whole range of British Poetry, ever found a welcome on Mr. Ruel's library table. In the departments of History and Geography this library was especially rich and full, and every work of character about the Reformation in England could here be consulted. Mr. Ruel's reading in this department was extensive, and he made writings of this kind his especial study. His whole collection, rare and costly as it was, and representing the labour of many years, perished before a hand could be raised in its defence. Mr. B. Lester Peters's library showed great care and culture in its selection. It too was very complete in History, Biography, Belles-lettres and Theology. Mr. Peters's fine literary taste served him well in making his collection of books, and nearly all his volumes displayed wonderful skill in rich bindings. In old play-wrights, such as Shakespeare, Jonson, Massinger, Beaumont and Fletcher, and the other famous ones of that glorious age in literature—The Elizabethan—Mr. Peters's library was ample. Indeed, in works of this class no finer collection existed in the city. And in poetry which exhibited the rarest thoughts of the bards, in the works of such poets as Milton, Chaucer, Spenser, Dryden, Pope and Clough, Mr. Peters's shelves contained a perfect mine ofwealth. His collection of pamphlets, the labour of thirty years, was unique and full. He had the whole of the famous Connolly and Wilmot controversy, the scattered papers of the late Dr. Gray, the Maturin pamphlets, the Colenso pamphlets, the notes on the Lost Tribes of Israel, and a thousand others, neatly and carefully put away in cases specially prepared for them. Those are all gone, and not a fragment remains. The gorgeous library of John Boyd, Esq., of Queen Square, with its enormous collection of works belonging to modern literature, its rare list of old books, its magnificent sets of presentation volumes from the authors, its numberless volumes that come from the publishers to Mr. Boyd as gifts, were swept away in an instant. The books in Mr. Boyd's cases were a reflex of the owner's taste and judgment. He had not a poor book among the whole. The entire range of English and American essayists, the whole course of British and American poetry, the cream of historical books, the ripest thoughts of the philosopher, the most delightful gems of fiction, the works of the scientists, and the great tomes of biography, clad in the most luxuriant of luxurious bindings, were the companions of Mr. Boyd's study. His lectures, common-place books, scrap-books, in fact everything which he possessed of a literary character were burned. Even the literary notes which he made from time to time in his record books during the odd moments of his too unfrequent leisure, and the bits of criticism on new poems which he occasionally made for future use on the platform and elsewhere, perished in his desk. His entireintellectual labour vanished in an hour. Mr. A. L. Palmer's splendid library with his own valuable annotations, Mr. A. A. Stockton's voluminous and admirable library, begun by his late uncle, and Mr. Chas. W. Weldon's Law and general library were destroyed before their owners could save a single book. The Rev. Dr. Watters's library, so rich in theology and biography, was burned almost entirely. Lately large additions had been made to this delightful collection. A good many of the late Judge Chipman's best books found their way here, and the most of these were lost. Rev. Mr. Stavely's books were all burned, and not one of Rev. Mr. Carey's fine collection escaped. Some of his books were very rare and high-priced. Mr. Robert Britain's books were of general and private interest. The former embraced almost the whole range of English literature, and the latter included the best books on chemistry and science. Indeed in books belonging to the latter class, it will be difficult to find so large a collection anywhere. Mr. J. D. Underhill possessed a library of rare beauty and value. It was very large in historical works and the writings of the principal British, American and French authors. In biography and fiction of the higher order there wasa good supply. Mr. Underhill, for several years, had been a great book-buyer, and hardly a trunkfull was saved. For costly books, handsomely bound, no richer collection existed in St. John than the splendid library of Mr. Fred. R. Fairweather. He had the entire set of Balzac's works in the original, luxuriously and massively bound. His Shakespeares, for he had several editions, copiously illustrated and exquisitely finished, were bound in heavy antique morocco. His books of plates, his dramatic library, his collection of plays of the Cumberland edition, his books on costumes from the time of the Saxons to our own day, represented large value, and a refined and cultured taste. In dramatic literature alone, Mr. Fairweather's library was probably the fullest in the Dominion. Indeed his loss in this department is a positive loss to literature, and a collection such as he owned can never be again supplied. Many of the books are out of print, and cannot be purchased to-day at any price. The books lost in the city, on the day of the fire, will number many thousands of volumes. No city of the size of St. John could boast of finer private collections of books, anywhere. It will be many years before collections as rich, as unique, and as delightful can be procured again.
In pictures, the loss met with is really irreparable. We had no public gallery, because our citizens, whose means admitted it, purchased for the walls of their own houses a charming bit of colour now and then, or a delicate engraving or a drawing. A few of the masterpieces of the English and American artists found their way here from time to time, and in the way of engravings the collection was really quite large. We can only give a tithe of the pictures lost. Dr. McAvenney possessed a decided gem in water-colour, by Birket Foster, and a charming landscape in oil from the brush of Mayner, an Irish artist. The latter was a twenty pounds' picture, and one of the prizes which came to St. John last year from the Irish ArtUnion. It was exceedingly vigorous, and, though small in size, every detail was perfect. In addition to these, Dr. McAvenney lost several fine engravings and one or two exquisite drawings. Dr. Wm. Bayard's loss in pictures is quite large. He owned a capital landscape,The Vale of Strathmore, by John Cairns, of Edinburgh. This was burned, with some others of lesser note, together with a good many engravings, chiefly London Art Union subjects. Mr. R. M. Longmaid lost all but one of his pictures. Some of these were of great value, and included, among a number of others,Francis I. and Henry VIII. on the Field of the Cloth of Gold, by the late G. F. Mulvany, R.H.A., and one of Cairns' Scotch subjects, showing a striking bit of Highland scenery, calledGlen Cairn. The one picture saved was a Welsh Landscape, by A. Vickers. This had been lent to a friend in the upper part of the town, and was accordingly not burned. Mr. Charles Campbell managed to preserve a number of his pictures; among them the boldCoast Scene, by John Cairns, which will be remembered by many who saw it as a very striking study. Mr. W. C. Perley, among the very few articles rescued from his house, saved two very pretty little landscapes, one an Irish scene and the other a delicious specimen of C. C. Ward's art. Mr. B. Lester Peters lost nearly all of his engravings, but succeeded in rescuing a study by F. W. Hulme, and a little gem by A. Vickers. Hon. George E. King saved a few water colours by eminent British artists, which he had. Mr. Donald G. MacKenzie, who had half-a-dozen striking oil paintings, recovered them all a few days after the fire. Mr. John Sears lost heavily in the Department of Art, but saved his one great picture, a portrait which is an undoubted Rubens, and one or two family likenesses. Mr. Stephen J. King, whose treasures consist in drawings by McKewan, Philps and others, and some oil-paintings, saved them all. Mr. W. P. Dole lost a pair of very beautiful water-colour drawings of Canadian scenery, by D. Gale, and three or four excellent engravings. He was fortunate in saving however, two charming works by Hulme, two small bits by Vickers, two by G. A. Williams, one of C. C. Ward's pieces, and one of the late John T. Stanton's best works. Mr. Stanton was a New Brunswick artist of fine taste and decided skill. Mr. Dole also saved some of his water-colours, notably those by Bell Smith and Frantz. The author lost an excellent drawing illustrating an idea in Thackeray, and a number of clever caricatures from the pencil of an amateur artist, Mr. Forbes Torrance, of Como, besides several engravings of merit, and a massive bronze figure representing Painting. Mr. Henry Vaughan lost his large costly painting from the John Miller collection, of Liverpool, England. Mr. James Stewart lost his whole collection of paintings; several of these were of his own work, while a number were by foreign artists. Mr. Stewart copied a landscape painting by an English artist which came out here as a prize, some years ago, and when his work was finished and the two paintings hung side by side, the owner did not know which was his own picture. This copy was for some days in Mr. Notman's studiobefore the fire, and it is believed that it is lost, as no trace has been had of it. The reader will see from this scanty enumeration of known losses, how great has been the destruction in art-treasures alone. We have not even hinted at the wholesale destruction of bronzes, bas reliefs and bits of sculpture and statuary. In these departments the loss has been also very severe. No money can replace these treasures. These were the things which rendered home bright and happy. It is the love of art and literature which refines and beautifies mankind. It is the book and the picture, and the figure of pale marble which rouse a thousand new delights. They take away the brutal in our nature. They lift us up as it were. We look around the room and the eye rests on something beautiful. We feed our tastes. The picture on the wall refines us, the open book fills the mind with a hundred delicate, footless fancies. We breathe a new air. The etchings on the table, the portfolio of drawings and the books of engravings give to our mind a delight as wonderful as it is delicate and delicious. Can money replace these? Can money buy for us these pictures and books which have been for so many years our companions and friends? Can money replace the bronze figure? Can money bring to us again the portrait of the dear one who lies out there in the green wood buried? Can money supply us with that precious volume of poetry which the author gave us just a year before he died? We may make our homes bright again. We may hang pictures on the walls. We may fill to the full our book-cases and hanging-shelves once more withthe great things in literature, but our thoughts will wander back to the days before the fire came and robbed us of all those delights which peopled and filled our homes. But we must not give way altogether to gloom and despondency. We must try and forget the past and devote all our energies, all our brains and skill to the rebuilding of the homes and workshops which have been scattered to the winds. We must never rest till the great end is accomplished; we must never cease working. As Christians, as men, as the proud descendants of a sturdy and stalwart race, we must show the world that we are not a generation of pigmies, and that from these very ashes and ruins a brighter, a more glorious and more prosperous city will arise and resume her old place as the metropolis of the Lower Provinces.
I have told the story of the great fire in St. John in my own way. I have tried to do justice to my theme. Like many others I have passed through the flames, and received as it were my first "baptism of fire."My book has many imperfections. It was necessary that it should be hastily prepared. My publishers demanded this, and gave me a fortnight to write it in. I can therefore claim nothing in favour of the book from a literary point of view, but this I can claim—the history is reliable in every particular. Not a statement within its pages was committed to paper until it was thoroughly and reliably avouched for. I have verified every word which this volume contains; and while the haste in which it was prepared precluded my paying much attention to style, the book is a complete record of the fire as it was, and not as a lively imagination might like it to be. Before taking leave of my readers, I must publicly thank Mr. Joseph W. Lawrence for the splendid aid which he gave me in furnishing the data and historical information about our old churches and other edifices. I had full access to his records and commonplace books, and through these means was enabled to verify much that had come to me in an imperfect condition. To Mr. Gilbert Murdoch, C.E., and Mr. Wm. Murdoch, C.E., of the Water Works and Sewerage Departments, I must also return my thanks, for valuable information about the water supply, for the capital map which accompanies this volume, and for facts connected with the acreage and streetage of the district burned. General Warner, Mayor Earle, Mr. A. C. Smith, Mr. John Boyd, Mr. A. P. Rolph, Mr. Dole, Mr. Hiram Betts, Mr. Elder, Mr. J. L. Stewart, Mr. McDade, Mr. O'Brien, Mr. Stanley, Mr. G. B. Hegan and others, also largely rendered me assistance in collecting information, and to these gentlemen I return my grateful thanks.
The littlepictureof the ruins, by moonlight, of the Germain street Baptist Church, was very kindly supplied by Mr. John C. Miles, a St. John artist of good reputation. I have great pleasure in acknowledging his politeness here, and at this time.
In conclusion, I might add, that to Mr. E. Lantalum belongs the credit of sounding the first alarm of our great fire.