Part 8

Human culture may be said to have begun with fire, of which the uses increased in the same ratio as culture itself. To save the labour expended on the initial process of procuring light, or on carrying it about constantly, primitive men hit on the expedient of a fire which should burn night and day in a public building. The Egyptians had one in every temple, the Greeks, Latins and Persians in all towns and villages. The Natchez, the Aztecs, the Mayas, the Peruvians had their "national fires" burning upon large pyramids. Of these fires the "eternal lamps" in the synagogues, in the Byzantine and Catholic churches, may be a survival. The "Regia," Rome's sacred centre, supposed to be the abode of Vesta, stood close to a fountain; it was convenient to draw from the same spot the two great requisites, fire and water. All civil and political interests grouped themselves around the prytaneum which was at once a temple, a tribunal, a town-hall, and a gossiping resort: all public business and most private affairs were transacted by the light and in the warmth of the common fire. No wonder that its flagstones should become sacred. Primitive communities consider as holy everything that ensures their existence and promotes their welfare, material things such as fire and water not less than others. Thus the prytaneum grew into a religious institution. And if we hear a little more of fire worship than of water worship, it is because fire, being on the whole more difficult to obtain, was esteemed more precious. The prytaneum and the state were convertible terms. If by chance the fire in the Roman temple of Vesta was extinguished, all tribunals, all authority, all public or private business had to stop immediately. The connexion between heaven and earth had been broken, and it had to be restored in some way or other--either by Jove sending down divine lightning on his altars, or by the priests making a new fire by the old sacred method of rubbing two pieces of wood together, or by catching the rays of the sun in a concave mirror. No Greek or Roman army crossed the frontier without carrying an altar where the fire taken from the prytaneum burned night and day. When the Greeks sent out colonies the emigrants took with them living coals from the altar of Hestia, and had in their new country a fire lit as a representative of that burning in the mother country.[1] Not before the three curiae united their fires into one could Rome become powerful; and Athens became a shining light to the world only, we are told, when the twelve tribes of Attica, led by Theseus, brought each its brand to the altar of Athene Polias. All Greece confederated, making Delphi its central hearth; and the islands congregated around Delos, whence the new fire was fetched every year.

_Periodic Fires._--Because the sun loses its force after noon, and after midsummer daily shortens the length of its circuit, the ancients inferred, and primitive populations still believe, that, as time goes on, the energies of fire must necessarily decline. Therefore men set about renewing the fires in the temples and on the hearth on the longest day of summer or at the beginning of the agricultural year. The ceremony was attended with much rejoicing, banqueting and many religious rites. Houses were thoroughly cleansed; people bathed, and underwent lustrations and purifications; new clothes were put on; quarrels were made up; debts were paid by the debtor or remitted by the creditor; criminals were released by the civil authorities in imitation of the heavenly judges, who were believed to grant on the same day a general remission of sins. All things were made new; each man turned over a new page in the book of his existence. Some nations, like the Etruscans in the Old World and the Peruvians and Mexicans in the New, carried these ideas to a high degree of development, and celebrated with magnificent ceremonies the renewal of the _saecula_, or astronomic periods, which might be shorter or longer than a century. Some details of the festival among the Aztecs have been preserved. On the last night of every period (52 years) every fire was extinguished, and men proceeded in solemn procession to some sacred spot, where, with awe and trembling, the priests strove to kindle a new fire by friction. It was as if they had a vague idea that the cosmos, with its sun, moon and stars, had been wound up like a clock for a definite period of time. And had they failed to raise the vital spark, they would have believed that it was because the great fire was being extinguished at the central hearth of the world. The Stoics and many other ancient philosophers thought that the world was doomed to final extinction by fire. The Scandinavian bards sung the end of the world, how at last the wolf Fenrir would get loose, how the cruel fire of Loki would destroy itself by destroying everything. The Essenes enlarged upon this doctrine, which is also found in the Sibylline books and appears in the Apocrypha (2 Esdras xvi. 15).

See Dupuis, _Origine de tous les cultes_ (1794); Burnout, _Science des religions_; Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_, cap. xx. (1835); Adalbert Kuhn. _Die Herabkunft des Feuers und des Gottertranks_ (1859); Steinthal, _Uber die ursprungliche Form der Sage von Prometheus_ (1861); Albert Reville, "Le Mythe de Promethee," in _Revue des deux mondes_ (August 1862); Michel Breal, _Hercule et Cacus_ (1863); Tylor, _Researches into the Early History of Mankind_, ch. ix. (1865); Bachofen, _Die Sage von Tanaquil_ (1870); Lord Avebury, _Prehistoric Times_ (6th ed., 1900); Haug, _Religion of the Parsis_ (1878). (E. Re.)

FOOTNOTE:

[1] Curiously enough we see the same institution obtaining among the Damaras of South Africa, where the chiefs, who sway their people with a sort of priestly authority, commit to their daughters the care of a so-called eternal fire. From its hearth younger scions separating from the parent stock take away a burning brand to their new home. The use of a common prytaneum, of circular form, like the Roman temple of Vesta, testified to the common origin of the North American Assinais and Maichas. The Mobiles, the Chippewas, the Natchez, had each a corporation of Vestals. If the Natchez let their fire die out, they were bound to renew it from the Mobiles. The Moquis, Pueblos and Comanches had also their perpetual fires. The Redskins discussed important affairs of state at the "council fires," around which each _sachem_ marched three times, turning to it all the sides of his person. "It was a saying among our ancestors," said an Iroquois chief in 1753, "that when the fire goes out at Onondaga"--the Delphi of the league--"we shall no longer be a people."

FIRE AND FIRE EXTINCTION. Fire is considered in this article, primarily, from the point of view of the protection against fire that can be accorded by preventive measures and by the organization of fire extinguishing establishments.

History is full of accounts of devastation caused by fires in towns and cities of nearly every country in the civilized world. The following is a list of notable fires of early days:--

GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND

798. _London_, nearly destroyed.

982. " greater part of the city burned.

1086. " all houses and churches from the east to the west gate burned.

1212. " greater part of the city burned.

1666. " "The Great Fire," September 2-6. It began in a wooden house in Pudding Lane, and burned for three days, consuming the buildings on 436 acres, 400 streets, lanes, &c., 13,200 houses, with St Paul's church, 86 parish churches, 6 chapels, the guild-hall, the royal exchange, the custom-house, many hospitals and libraries, 52 companies' halls, and a vast number of other stately edifices, together with three of the city gates, four stone bridges, and the prisons of Newgate, the Fleet, and the Poultry and Wood Street Compters. The fire swept from the Tower to Temple church, and from the N.E. gate to Holborn bridge. Six persons were killed. The total loss of property was estimated at the time to be L10,731,500.

1794. _London_, 630 houses destroyed at Wapping. Loss above L1,000,000.

1834. " Houses of Parliament burned.

1861. " Tooley Street wharves, &c., burned. Loss estimated at L2,000,000.

1873. " Alexandra palace destroyed.

1137. _York_, totally destroyed.

1184. _Glastonbury_, town and abbey burned.

1292. _Carlisle_, destroyed.

1507. _Norwich_, nearly destroyed; 718 houses burned.

1544. _Leith_, burned.

1598. _Tiverton_, 400 houses and a large number of horses burned; 33 persons killed. Loss, L150,000.

1612. " 600 houses burned. Loss over L200,000.

1731. " 300 houses burned.

1700. _Edinburgh_, "the Great Fire."

1612. _Cork_, greater part burned, and again in 1622.

1613. _Dorchester_, nearly destroyed. Loss, L200,000.

1614. _Stratford-on-Avon_, burned.

1644. _Beaminster_, burned. Again in 1684 and 1781.

1675. _Northampton_, almost totally destroyed.

1683. _Newmarket_, large part of the town burned.

1694. _Warwick_, more than half burned; rebuilt by national contribution.

1707. _Lisburn_, burned.

1727. _Gravesend_, destroyed.

1738. _Wellingborough_, 800 houses burned.

1743. _Crediton_, 450 houses destroyed.

1760. _Portsmouth_, dockyard burned. Loss, L400,000.

1770. " " " Loss, L100,000.

1802. _Liverpool_, destructive fire. Loss, L1,000,000.

1827. _Sheerness_, 50 houses and much property destroyed.

1854. _Gateshead_, 50 persons killed. Loss, L1,000,000.

1875. _Glasgow_. Great fire. Loss, L300,000.

FRANCE

59. _Lyons_, burned to ashes. Nero offers to rebuild it.

1118. _Nantes_, greater part of the city destroyed.

1137. _Dijon_, burned.

1524. _Troyes_, nearly destroyed.

1720. _Rennes_, on fire from December 22 to 29. 850 houses burned.

1784. _Brest_. Fire and explosion in dockyard. Loss, L1,000,000.

1862. _Marseilles_, destructive fire.

1871. _Paris_. Communist devastations. Property destroyed, L32,000,000.

CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN EUROPE

64. _Rome_ burned during 8 days. 10 of the 14 wards of the city were destroyed.

1106. _Venice_, greater part of the city was burned.

1577. " fire at the arsenal, greater part of the city ruined by an explosion.

1299. _Weimar_, destructive fire; also in 1424 and 1618.

1379. _Memel_ was in large part destroyed, and again in 1457, 1540, 1678, 1854.

1405. _Bern_ was destroyed.

1420. _Leipzig_ lost 400 houses.

1457. _Dort_, cathedral and large part of the town burned.

1491. _Dresden_ was destroyed.

1521. _Oviedo_, large part of the city destroyed.

1543. _Komorn_ was burned.

1634. _Furth_ was burned by Austrian Croats.

1680. _Furth_ was again destroyed.

1686. _Landau_ was almost destroyed.

1758. _Pirna_ was burned by Prussians. 260 houses destroyed.

1762. _Munich_ lost 200 houses.

1764. _Konigsberg_, public buildings, &c., burned. Loss, L600,000.

1769. " almost destroyed.

1784. _Rokitzan_ (Bohemia) was totally destroyed. Loss, L300,000.

1801. _Brody_, 1500 houses destroyed.

1859. " 1000 houses destroyed.

1803. _Posen_, large part of older portion of city burned.

1811. Forest fires in Tyrol destroyed 64 villages and hamlets.

1818. _Salzburg_ was partly destroyed.

1842. _Hamburg_. A fire raged for 100 hours, May 5-7. During the fire the city was in a state of anarchy. 4219 buildings, including 2000 dwellings, were destroyed. One-fifth of the population was made homeless, and 100 persons lost their lives. The total loss amounted to L7,000,000. After the fire, contributions from all Germany came in to help to rebuild the city.

1861. _Glarus_ (Switzerland), 500 houses burned.

NORTHERN EUROPE

1530. _Aalborg_, almost entirely destroyed.

1541. _Aarhuus_, almost entirely destroyed, and again in 1556.

1624. _Opslo_, nearly destroyed. Christiania was built on the site.

1702. _Bergen_, greater part of the town destroyed.

1728. _Copenhagen_, nearly destroyed. 1650 houses burned, 77 streets.

1794. " royal palace with contents burned.

1795. " 50 streets, 1563 houses burned.

1751. _Stockholm_, 1000 houses destroyed.

1759. " 250 houses burned. Loss, 2,000,000 crowns.

1775. _Abo_, 200 houses and 15 mills burned.

1827. " 780 houses burned, with the university.

1790. _Carlscrona_, 1087 houses, churches, warehouses, &c., destroyed.

1802. _Gothenburg_, 178 houses burned.

1858. _Christiania_. Loss estimated at L250,000.

1865. _Carlstadt_ (Sweden), everything burned except the bishop's residence, hospital and jail. 10 lives lost.

RUSSIA

1736. _St Petersburg_, 2000 houses burned.

1862. " great fire. Loss, L1,000,000.

1752. _Moscow_, 18,000 houses burned.

1812. " The Russians fired the city on September 14 to drive out the army of Napoleon. The fire continued five days. Nine-tenths of the city was destroyed. Number of houses burned, 30,800. Loss, L30,000,000.

1753. _Archangel_, 900 houses burned.

1793. " 3000 buildings and the cathedral burned.

1786. _Tobolsk_, nearly destroyed.

1788. _Milau_, nearly destroyed.

1812. _Riga_, partly destroyed.

1834. _Tula_, destructive fire.

1848. _Orel_, large part of the town destroyed.

1850. _Cracow_, large part of the town burned.

1864. _Novgorod_, large amount of property destroyed.

TURKEY

The following fires have occurred at _Constantinople_:--

1729. A great fire destroyed 12,000 houses and 7000 people.

1745. A fire lasted five days.

1750. In January, 10,000 houses burned; in April, property destroyed estimated from L1,000,000 to L3,000,000. Later in the year 10,000 houses were destroyed.

1751. 4000 houses were burned.

1756. 15,000 houses and 100 people destroyed. During the years 1761, 1765 and 1767 great havoc was made by fire.

1769. July 17. A fire raged for twelve hours, extending nearly 1 m. in length. Many of the palaces, some small mosques and nearly 650 houses were destroyed.

1771. A fire lasting 15 hours consumed 2500 houses and shops.

1778. 2000 houses were burned.

1782. August 12. A fire burned three days: 10,000 houses, 50 mosques and 100 corn mills destroyed; 100 lives lost. In February, 600 houses burned; in June, 7000 more.

1784. August 5. A fire burned for 26 hours and destroyed 10,000 houses, most of which had been rebuilt since the fires of 1782. In the same year, March 13, a fire in the suburb of Pera destroyed two-thirds of that quarter. Loss estimated at 2,000,000 florins.

1791. Between March and July 32,000 houses are said to have been burned, and as many in 1795.

1799. In the suburb of Pera 13,000 houses were burned and many magnificent buildings.

1816. August 16. 12,000 houses and 3000 shops in the finest quarter were destroyed.

1818. August 13. A fire destroyed several thousand houses.

1826. A fire destroyed 6000 houses.

1848. 500 houses and 2000 shops destroyed. Loss estimated at L3,000,000.

1865. A great fire destroyed 2800 houses, public buildings, &c. Over 22,000 people were left homeless.

1870. June 5. The suburb of Pera, occupied by the foreign population and native Christians, was swept by a fire which destroyed over 7000 buildings, many of them among the best in the city, including the residence of the foreign legations. Loss estimated at nearly L5,000,000.

1797. _Scutari_, the town of 3000 houses totally destroyed.

1763. _Smyrna_, 2600 houses consumed. Loss, L200,000.

1772. " 3000 dwellings burned. 3000 to 4000 shops, &c. consumed. Loss, L4,000,000.

1796. " 4000 shops, mosques, magazines, &c., burned.

1841. " 12,000 houses were burned.

INDIA

1631. _Rajmahal_. Palace and great part of the town burned.

1799. _Manilla_, vast storehouses were burned.

1833. " 10,000 huts were burned, March 26. 30,000 people rendered homeless, and 50 lives lost.

1803. _Madras_, more than 1000 houses burned.

1803. _Bombay_. Loss by fire of L600,000.

CHINA AND JAPAN

1822. _Canton_ was nearly destroyed by fire.

1866. _Yokohama_, two-thirds of the native town and one-sixth of the foreign settlement destroyed.

1872. _Yeddo_. A fire occurred in April during a gale of wind, destroying buildings covering a space of 6 sq. m. 20,000 persons were made homeless.

1873. " A fire destroyed 10,000 houses.

UNITED STATES

1679. _Boston_. All the warehouses, 80 dwellings, and the vessels in the dockyards were consumed. Loss, L200,000.

1760. " A fire caused a loss estimated at L100,000.

1787. " A fire consumed 100 buildings, February 20.

1794. " 96 buildings were burned. Loss, L42,000.

1872. " Great fire, November 9-10. By this fire the richest quarter of Boston was destroyed. The fire commenced at the corner of Summer and Kingston streets. The area burned over was 65 acres. 776 buildings, comprising the largest granite and brick warehouses of the city, filled with merchandise, were burned. The loss was about L15,000,000. Before the end of the year 1876 the burned district had been rebuilt more substantially than ever.

1778. _Charleston_ (S.C.). A fire caused the loss of L100,000.

1796. " 300 houses were burned.

1838. " One-half the city was burned on April 27. 1158 buildings destroyed. Loss, L600,000.

1802. _Portsmouth_ (N.H.), 102 buildings destroyed.

1813. " 397 buildings destroyed.

1820. _Savannah_, 463 buildings were burned. Loss, L800,000.

1835. _New York_. The great fire of New York began in Merchant Street, December 16, and burned 530 buildings in the business part of the city. 1000 mercantile firms lost their places of business. The area burned over was 52 acres. The loss was L3,000,000.

1845. " A fire in the business part of the city, July 20, destroyed 300 buildings. The loss was L1,500,000. 35 persons were killed.

1845. _Pittsburg_. A large part of the city burned, April 11. 20 squares, 1100 buildings destroyed. Loss, L2,000,000.

1846. _Nantucket_ was almost destroyed.

1848. _Albany_. 600 houses burned, August 17. Area burned over 37 acres, one-third of the city. Loss, L600,000.

1849. _St Louis_. 23 steamboats at the wharves, and the whole or part of 15 blocks of the city burned, May 17. Loss, L600,000.

1851. " More than three-quarters of the city was burned, May 4. 2500 buildings. Loss, L2,200,000.

1851. " 500 buildings burned. Loss, L600,000.

1850. _Philadelphia_. 400 buildings burned, July 9. 30 lives lost. Loss, L200,000.

1865. " 50 buildings burned, February 8. 20 persons killed. Loss, L100,000.

1851. _Washington_. Part of the Capitol and the whole of the Congressional Library were burned.

1851. _San Francisco_. On May 4-5 a fire destroyed 2500 buildings. A number of lives lost. More than three-fourths of the city destroyed. Loss, upwards of L2,000,000. In June another fire burned 500 buildings. Loss estimated at L600,000.

1857. _Chicago_. A fire destroyed over L100,000. 14 lives lost.

1859. " Property destroyed worth L100,000, Sept. 15.

1866. " Two fires on August 10 and November 18. Loss, L100,000 each.

1871. " The greatest fire of modern times. It began in a barn on the night of the 8th of October and raged until the 10th. The area burned over was 2124 acres, or 3-1/3 sq. m., of the very heart of the city. 250 lives were lost, 98,500 persons were made homeless, and 17,430 buildings were consumed. The buildings were one-third in number and one-half in value of the buildings of the city. Before the end of 1875 the whole burned district had been rebuilt. The loss was estimated at L39,000,000.

1862. _Troy_ (N.Y.) was nearly destroyed by fire.

1866. _Portland_ (Maine). Great fire on July 4. One-half of the city was burned; 200 acres were ravaged; 50 buildings were blown up to stop the progress of the fire. Loss, L2,000,000 to L2,250,000.

1871. October. Forest and prairie fires in Wisconsin and Michigan. 15,000 persons were made homeless; 1000 lives lost. Loss estimated at L600,000.

BRITISH NORTH AMERICA

1815. _Quebec_ was injured to the extent of L260,000.

1845. " 1650 houses were burned, May 28. One-third of the population made homeless. Loss from L400,000 to L750,000. Another fire, on June 28, consumed 1300 dwellings. 6000 persons were made homeless. 30 streets destroyed. Insurance losses, L60,770.

1866. " 2500 houses and 17 churches in French quarter burned.

1825. _New Brunswick_. A tract of 4,000,000 acres, more than 100 m. in length, was burned over; it included many towns. 160 persons killed, and 875 head of cattle. 590 buildings burned. Loss, about L60,000. Towns of Newcastle, Chatham and Douglastown destroyed.

1837. _St John_ (New Brunswick). 115 houses burned, January 13, and nearly all the business part of the city. Loss, L1,000,000.

1877. _St. John._ Great fire on June 21. The area burned over was 200 acres. 37 streets and squares totally or in part destroyed; 10 m. of streets; 1650 dwellings. 18 lives lost. Total loss, L2,500,000. Two-fifths of the city burned.

1846. _St John's_ (Newfoundland) was nearly destroyed, June 9. Two whole streets burned upwards of 1 m. long. Loss estimated at L1,000,000.

1850. _Montreal_. A fire destroyed the finest part of the city on June 7. 200 houses were burned.

1852. " A fire on July 9 rendered 10,000 people destitute. The space burned was 1 m. in length by 1/2 m. in width, including 1200 houses. Loss, L1,000,000.

SOUTH AMERICA

1536. _Cuzco_ was nearly consumed.

1861. _Mendoza_. A great fire followed an earthquake which had destroyed 10,000 people.

1862. _Valparaiso_ was devastated by fire.

1863. _Santiago_. Fire in the Jesuit church; 2000 persons, mostly women and children, perished.

WEST INDIES

1752. _Pierre_ (Martinique) had 700 houses burned.

1782. _Kingston_ (Jamaica) had 80 houses burned. Loss, L500,000.

1795. _Montego Bay_ (Jamaica). Loss by fire of L400,000.

1805. _St Thomas._ 900 warehouses consumed. Loss, L6,000,000.

1808. _Spanish Town_ (Trinidad) was totally destroyed. Loss estimated at L1,500,000.

1828. _Havana_ lost 350 houses; 2000 persons reduced to poverty.

1843. _Port Republicain_ (Haiti). Nearly one-third of the town was burned.

Since this list was compiled, there have been further notable fires, more particularly in North America, the great conflagrations at Chicago, Baltimore and San Francisco being terrible examples. But speaking generally, these conflagrations, extensive as they were, only repeated the earlier lessons as to the necessity of combating the general negligence of the public by attaching far greater importance to the development of fire-preventive measures even than to the better organization of the fire-fighting establishments.

It may be of interest to mention notable fires in the British empire, and London in particular, during the decade 1890 to 1899:--

Port of Spain (Trinidad) March 4, 1895 New Westminster (British Columbia) Sept. 10, 1898 Toronto (Ontario) Jan. 6, 10, and March 3, 1895 Windsor (Nova Scotia) Oct. 17, 1897 St John's (Newfoundland) July 8, 1892 London--Charterhouse Square Dec. 25, 1889 " St Mary Axe July 18, 1893 " Old Bailey and Fleet Street Nov. 15, 1893 " Tabernacle Street, Finsbury June 21, 1894 " Bermondsey Leather Market Sept. 13, 1894 " " " " May 17, 1895 " Minories Nov. 10, 1894 " South-West India Docks Feb. 8, 1895 " Charlotte and Leonard Streets, Finsbury June 10, 1896 " Cripplegate Nov. 19, 1897 Nottingham Nov. 17, 1894 Sheffield Dec. 21, 1893 Bradford Nov. 30, 1896 Sunderland July 18, 1898 Dublin May 4, 1894 Glasgow--Anderston Quay Jan. 16, 1897 " Dunlop Street April 25, 1898

As to fires in any one specific class of building, the extraordinary number of fires that occurred in theatres and similar places of public entertainment up to the close of the 19th century calls for mention. Since that time, however, there has been a considerable abatement in this respect, owing to the adoption of successful measures of fire prevention. A list of some 1100 fires was published by Edwin O. Sachs in 1897 (_Fires at Public Entertainments_), and the results of these fires analysed. They involved a recorded loss of life to the extent of 9350 souls. About half of them (584) occurred in Europe, and the remainder in other parts of the world. Since the publication of that list extraordinary efforts have been made in all countries to reduce the risk of fires in public entertainments. The only notable disaster that has occurred since was that at the Iroquois Theatre at Chicago.